ISLAMABAD: Exams scheduled across Pakistan's educational institutions in March will be delayed as schools and colleges were closed for majority of 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
This postponement announcement was made by Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood Friday.
He told a delegation of private schools during a meeting that instead of March, the exams will be held in May or June.
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The minister said summer vacation for educational institutions will be less this year to mitigate the students' learning losses caused by the pandemic-induced campus closures during the first and second waves of coronavirus.
The academic year, he said, will start in August.
In November 2020, the federal government, on recommendations by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), had announced that educational institutes will remain closed from November 26 to January 10.
The students will study at home or get weekly homework till December 24 and winter vacations will start December 25. All examinations have been postponed except admission and recruitment tests.
The schools are scheduled to reopen on January 11.