For close to a month now, there has been a fair amount of controversy surrounding the holding of Cambridge International ‘O’ andMinister. Not only were these basic and valid concerns continuously raised on various social ,forums and within the federal cabinet as well, but also through multiple court petitions. By ignoring all such warnings and forcing children to sit exams despite the prevailing health crisis and serious risk posed by the most lethal and viral wave of the Coronavirus pandemic the country has seen so far, the Education Minister has displayed gross negligence and the sort of carelessness and ignorance unbecoming of a well-educated senior federal minister.
Naturally, speculation is now rife that there are vested interests at play, forcing decisions that are contrary to common sense and protocols that become standard when the virus is spreading at an uncontrollable rate, especially considering how this current strain is proving lethal for children who remained relatively unscathed in the past two cycles. The NCOC, after taking account of the situation, has delayed exams till the October/November session, except for around 20,000 A2 students who have no option but to take them now. All told, no promotions will happen without exams, whenever they are conducted. This has rendered the whole ‘exercise’ a pointless escalation in the virus’ threat level. Students have been subjected to unnecessary stress and confusion that was easily avoidable, had better sense prevailed and all stakeholders been consulted in the decision-making process as opposed to the autocratic approach thus far adopted. The only logical solution here is and was school-assessed grades, a process that has been refined and is more accurate than last year’s.
