ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) is all set to sign an agreement with the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) for conducting Urdu international examination in Hong Kong soon as federal cabinet has already given a go-ahead to the federal board in this regard.

“As you known, the federal cabinet on Tuesday approved our summary, now, we are waiting for minutes of the cabinet meeting before moving forwards for signing agreement with the HKEAA,” said the FBISE Chairman Qaiser Alam, adding that draft agreement has been prepared and soon after getting minutes, the board will sign the agreement.

“We can get it signed through mail or any other online mode,” he said.

He said that FBISE is going to conduct Examination of Urdu language for the students of Hong Kong with the name Urdu International, adding that other international students would also be eligible to opt for this facility.

Cabinet has already given a go-ahead to the federal board

In this regard a draft agreement agreed upon by both FBISE and Hong Kong Education Board (HKEAA) has been approved by the Federal Cabinet which will be signed by both the parties in a few days.

“This educational endeavour of Pakistan will usher in an era of recognition of the Pakistani system of assessment and examination in the comity of nations. This initiative exhibits the trust that countries are reposing in the validity and reliability of the system of examinations of FBISE,” he said.

The board chairman said that this step of launching exam service in Hong Kong will promote a soft image of the country apart from winning international laurels for our national language and culture.

The board official said that there will be two papers, Reading & Writing 70 marks and Essay writing 40 marks, adding that the contents were compatible with national standards of Urdu Curriculum and board will conduct two annual exam in year and marks of the Urdu International will be incorporated in the HSSC level equivalent Certificate of HKEAA.

Earlier, on Tuesday Interim federal cabinet headed by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar gave a go-ahead to FBISE for holding the exams of Urdu in Hong Kong to provide a chance to Pakistani students to remain attached to their national language.

The officials Dawn spoke to said that there are dozens of Pakistani students in Hong Kong, which used to learn Urdu under Cambridge exam system, however, they said that Cambridge was not holding the exam of Urdu for the last around two years.

They said that to keep the Pakistani students attached with the national language there was the need of holding exams over there by FBISE, adding that with this initiative only Pakistani students could get benefit, but Indian and Nepali students will also have options to learn Urdu.

When contacted, Federal Secretary Education Waseem Ajmal Chaudhry, who has been working on this issue for the last many months, appreciated interim education minister Madad Ali Sindhi for getting approval of the ministry’s summary.

He said that there was a demand of the Pakistani community in Hong Kong for an Urdu exam.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2023