KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani said on Tuesday that exams of matriculation and intermediate in the province would be held in July and the decision regarding exams of the classes up to eight would be made within the next few days.

Speaking at a press conference at Bilawal House, he said the Sindh government had already decided to conduct exams from IX to XII classes across the province in July while other provinces had not made any such decision.

Saeed Ghani says decision with regard to exams of other classes will be taken in a couple of days

“All the decisions are made in the meetings of the steering committee in consultation with the experts and all stakeholders in the education department. We have already made this decision and in a day or two, the decision regarding examinations from class I to VIII would be made and announced,” he said.

Shortage of teachers

To a question, he said that there was a shortage of teachers in Sindh and the government would recruit 37,000 teachers through a test by the Institute of Business Administration-Sukkur but there was some delay in the process due to prevailing Covid-19 situation.

He said that after the increase in coronavirus cases in the province, the government unwillingly made difficult decisions so that the spread of the virus could be contained.

“Now some political parties only want to score points on the back of traders to oppose the recent measures but they are actually not doing any service to people,” said Mr Ghani.

“We have already solved the problems through dialogue with traders. And we will do it again. There’s no crisis-like situation. And those who want to exploit this situation would not succeed,” he said.

He claimed that a number of activists associated with other political parties were joining the ruling party in Sindh amid its growing popularity and non-violent policy.

Ex-MQM lawmaker joins PPP

During the press conference he also introduced Mirza Khalilullah, a former MPA of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) who was settled in Europe a few years ago, and said that he had joined the Pakistan Peoples Party.

“Mirza Khalilullah is a former MQM member of the Sindh Assembly and in charge of London Nine Zero. He was lately associated with the PSP [Pak Sarzameen Party] as its Europe and UK vice president. He has joined PPP. We welcome him. This is a welcome sign and true reflection of democratic struggle and non-violence policy,” he said.

He again opposed the idea of postponing the elections in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, saying the Constitution had no such provision.

Criticising the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government for attacking the democratic norms after “growing inflation and poor economic condition”, he said that the AJK Constitution was very clear and elections could not be delayed, come what may.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2021