Students, activists and schools demand school-assessed grades from Shafqat Mahmood

Students, activists and schools demand school-assessed grades from Shafqat Mahmood

A day after the announcement made by Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood on the cancellation of exams and recommencement after June and July, the Twitter erupted with a series of trends mounting pressure on the minister to opt for school-assessed grades since the coronavirus spread surges.

From trends admiring and praising the education minister to condemning and accusing him for the academic policy announcements, Shafqat Mahmood has maintained the love and hate relationship with the Twitter users since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020 in Pakistan.

Also Read: Govt decides to make Holy Quran teachings compulsory for schools

After his recent announcement regarding the O level and A level exams to be deferred to October/November session and AS Level exams will continue as scheduled, the students from Cambridge board took to Twitter demanding the minister approach the Cambridge Board to allow Pakistani students to pick school assessed grades (SAGs) option.

In the last two days, the students put their demands forwards using trend #ShafqatsnGetUsSAGs

Activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir who has been actively involved in supporting students at various instances, including standing against Pakistan Medical Council last year, has asked the education not to “waste more time” while asking students to mount pressure by beginning a trend.

Responding to Nasir’s call, a Twitter user told the minister that he was not running for exams and even attached a screenshot of his mock exams to force Mehmood to change his decision.

Abdu Rehman Amjad wonders when will education minister “wake up and take a stand for Pakistani students” while all schools and colleges are in the support of getting SAGs now.

Wajahat Kazmi said that the demand for School Assessed Grades by the Cambridge students isn't a free pass. He stated that people often end up confusing them with messed up Expected Grades of last year. “This time the results are going to be handed out based on evidence (not expectations & favors),” he said.

Also Read: Sindh education boards are on the verge of bankruptcy