O/A level students end protest in Lahore after meeting Punjab minister for higher education

• Students meet Punjab Minister for Higher Education Raja Yassir Humayun Sarfraz.
• Sarfraz says decision to hold exams will be taken at the NCOC meeting.
• The students had staged a protest outside the Governor House.

LAHORE: The students of O and A Levels ended their protest on Monday after meeting Punjab Minister for Higher Education Raja Yassir Humayun Sarfraz.

The students had staged a protest outside the Governor House, however, following the meeting, they cleared the way for traffic. The students, in their protesting, were calling upon the government to delay their exams in light of the prevalent coronavirus situation.

Sarfraz, during the meeting, said a meeting would be held tomorrow at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) where education and health ministers will decide on whether or not to extend the schools closure.

"The decisions to hold exams will be taken at the NCOC meeting," he added.

Cambridge International Examinations, in a statement, had announced that the O level exams will take place from May 15, while A level exams will be held as “timetabled”.

“Cambridge International AS and A Levels to go ahead as timetabled, O Levels and IGCSEs to take place from May 15,” read the statement.

Earlier, given the uncertain coronavirus situation, PPP's provincial leader Naeem Khan Omerzai had asked the prime minister and Chief of Army Staff (CAOS) to take notice of the unrest among parents of students getting education under the Cambridge Education System.

According to the report in The News, the PPP leader said parents had been spending millions of rupees on their children's education but the policies of the incumbent government had disappointed many parents about their children’s education.

He said the "responsible people of the Cambridge Education System board had postponed examinations" throughout the world but the Pakistani authorities were bent on taking examinations from the students.

It is due to the ongoing pandemic that the students could neither complete their education courses nor prepare for the examination, he added.