After Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood announced on Tuesday that no examinations will take place in the country until June 15 and that O’ and A’ Level exams will now take place in the October-November cycle, students are now demanding Teacher and School Assessed Grades with the hashtags #ShafqatDestroysOurCareer and #ResignShafqatMahmood trending on social media.
Students are arguing that their study schedules have been disrupted because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and are demanding Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs) and School Assessed Grades (SAGs). On the other hand, some are even proposing other ways of promoting the students without exams.
Postponing exams can’t be only contingency plan in face of an unpredictable pandemic giving us uncertain timelines. Govt must use this time to immediately develop local mechanism to evaluate #Matric#Inter students through School Assessed Grades if situation remains same in June.
How can a Fed Min of Education be helpless before a Pvt Examination Board like @CambridgeInt which does business in Pakistan & earns millions of pounds every year in fee. Fight our case @Shafqat_Mahmood. Get the deadline changed, get Cambridge to offer #SAGs to Pakistan or Resign
@Shafqat_Mahmood clearly messed up with what he did. This is a complete failure of the Pakistani Education system. Why weren’t SAGs awarded to Cambridge. This year there is enough evidence for board students too as they also expected SAGs.#ShafqatDestroysOurCareer
Pakistan is currently experiencing a deadly third wave of COVID-19 with fears of an India-like situation. According to the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), 5292 cases and 201 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.
In lieu of rising cases of COVID-19 Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood on Tuesday announced that no examinations will take place in the country until June 15.
“O’ and A’ Level exams have been cancelled and will now take place in the October-November cycle,” said the minister in an announcement.
“Exams of Classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 which were supposed to begin from the end of May have been delayed further,” added the minister. “No board exams will be held till mid-June (June 15).”
He also added that another meeting of the NCOC will decide in the third week of May to decide whether these exams will be postponed further or not.
Addressing health concerns of students and parents All exams cancelled till June 15 and depending on the spread of the disease may even go further. Cambridge exams postponed till Oct/Nov for all grades. Only exception for those in A2 who have a compulsion to take exam now
University admissions in Pakistan will be aligned for class 12 and A2 who will be taking exams in Oct/Nov. This is to ensure no one loses a year. For A2 who have some compulsion to take exams now, every attempt will be made to provide safe venues. Not more than 50 students
They will take place as scheduled for those students who have to take them for one reason or another. The rest of A2 can take exams in Oct/Nov and we will adjust Pakistani universities admission accordingly https://t.co/tbLn1l4EiD
#ImranKhanCancelExams and #ImranKhanJawabDou were among the top trends on Twitterfrom the past few days as National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and the Government of Pakistan refused to cancel this year’s O’ and A’ Level exams and went on to take the exams as scheduled.
Pakistan is currently experiencing a deadly third wave of COVID-19 with fears of an India-like situation and students argued that the exams not only pose a risk to their health but they have also been unable to prepare for them because of school closures. The high courts in Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Karachi also dismissed students petitions.
Swara Bhasker has thanked Pakistan for showing kindness to India “during this devastating times”.
“Heartening to see Pakistani civil society and social media reach out in solidarity and kindness to India, during this devastating time,” wrote the actor on social media.
She continued: “This despite the fact that our media and mainstream public discourse have consistently mocked and vilified Pakistanis.”
“Thank you for your bada bada dil padosi,” she added.
Heartening to see Pakistani civil society & social media reach out in solidarity & kindness to India, during this devastating time.. this despite the fact that our media & mainstream public discourse have consistently mocked & vilified Pakistanis.. Thank u 4 ur bada dil Padosi
Twitter in Pakistan trended with hashtags showing solidarity to India, which alsomelted Kangana Ranaut’s heart, prompting her to thank Pakistan for extending prayers.
Prime Minister Imran Khan and other cabinet members also extended their prayers for India and Faisal Edhi had also written a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering help in tackling COVID-19 in India.
Atif Aslam also extended his prayers for the neighbouring country.
Praying for #India as the country battles the worst #Covid-19 surge the world has witnessed. Let’s all – irrespective of the place we live in – strictly follow the SOPs to avoid further burdening our healthcare systems.#HumanityFirst#PakistanstandswithIndia#indianeedoxygen
India recorded over 350,000 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Monday, taking the country’s total infections to over 1.73 crores. Of these, over 28 lakh cases are currently active while 1.43 crore people have recovered after testing positive. With 2,812 new fatalities, the death toll is now over 1.95 lakh, The Indian Express has reported.
As per Indian media reports, from the first wave of COVID-19, the demand for medical oxygen had increased from 700 metric tonnes per day to 2,800 metric tonnes per day. However, in the past few days, the demand has reached nearly 5,000 metric tonnes per day.
On Sunday, 5,611 people tested positive for COVID-19. The third wave of coronavirus seems to be spreading quite fast. On Saturday, 157 people died due to coronavirus in Pakistan. This was the highest number ever recorded since the pandemic broke out in the country. Last year the highest number of deaths was 153 in June. On the other hand, people are not following basic SOPs like wearing masks or sanitising hands or maintaining social distancing. The interior ministry has notified army deployment for the implementation of COVID-19 SOPs. Hopefully, people will now follow SOPs.
In the wake of the third coronavirus wave, the government has started walk-in vaccination for those between the age of 60 to 64. But the problem is that the vaccination process in Pakistan is quite slow. According to a report in Dawn, if Pakistan continues its vaccination drive at this rate, “it will take more than three years to cover 20 per cent of the country’s population”. Even the private vaccines are not much in numbers. Unless and until we accelerate our vaccination drive, it will be very difficult to deal with this pandemic. We have seen how horrible the situation is in neighbouring India. Prime Minister Imran Khan and several cabinet ministers as well as many Pakistanis expressed their solidarity with India. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted: “As a gesture of solidarity with the people of India in the wake of the current wave of COVID-19, Pakistan has officially offered relief and support to India, including ventilators, Bi PAP, digital X-ray machines, PPEs and other related items.” Qureshi added that Pakistan believes in a policy of humanity first. We should not take the situation in India lightly. No hospital beds and acute oxygen shortage in India is scary. Unfortunately, the hospital capacity in Pakistan as well as oxygen supply is also reaching its capacity. Some hospitals in cities like Islamabad are full. ICU beds were more than 90 per cent full a few days ago in Lahore. Oxygen supply ended in two hospitals in Quetta. This is all frightening but real. We need to be more careful and follow SOPs strictly while the government needs to focus more on the vaccination process.
On Saturday, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan tweeted:
“I want to express our solidarity with the people of India as they battle a dangerous wave of COVID-19. Our prayers for a speedy recovery go to all those suffering from the pandemic in our neighbourhood & the world. We must fight this global challenge confronting humanity together.”
I want to express our solidarity with the people of India as they battle a dangerous wave of COVID-19. Our prayers for a speedy recovery go to all those suffering from the pandemic in our neighbourhood & the world. We must fight this global challenge confronting humanity together
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed support for the people of India in the current wave of COVID-19.
We express our support to the people of India in the wake of the current wave of #COVID19 infections, that has hit our region hard. On behalf of the people of Pakistan, I extend our heartfelt sympathies to the affected families in #India.
Apart from PM Imran and cabinet ministers, Pakistanis also expressed their solidarity with India. #PakistanStandsWithIndia trended as number 1 on Twitter.
The hashtag #PakistanstandswithIndia represents the best side of Pakistan. We must choose solidarity and empathy over hate and enmity. Only peace and cooperation in our region can help us prepare for existing and coming disasters.
A video of a police officer in Mumbai requesting the Muslim community to pray for the coronavirus pandemic to end during Ramzan on a loudspeaker has gone viral on social media.
“Main ne suna hai kay taraweeh ki namaz mein bohat jaldi suni jati hai to aap namaz me yahi mangna ke COVID hamare shehar se, hamare daish se jaldi chala jae (I have heard that Taraweeh prayers are heard, so please that COVID leaves our city and the country soon), the policeman can be heard saying in the video.
Meanwhile, Pakistanis are extended their prayers for residents of it’s neighbouring country as India fights a deadly second wave.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry and Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi also extended their prayers for India.
#PakistanstandswithIndia and #IndiaNeedOxygen were some of the top trends on the microblogging website.
Farhan Saeed, Shaan and Shoaib Akhtar were also among those who prayed for those suffering in India.
All our prayers with Indian people in these difficult times. May Allah make it easier for India and the entire world . Know that we are praying for you ! Heart warming to see #PakistanstandswithIndia as the top trend in Pakistan. Humanity should and did win.
The current COVID situation in India is heart breaking my prayers for all who are suffering .. if the govt of India had invested in health care rather than defence spendings things would have been much better …♥️ prayers from Pakistan may ALLAH be with you
Earlier on Friday, the Managing Trustee ofEdhi Foundation Faisal Edhi wrote a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and offered help to manage the deadly second wave of coronavirus in India.
India posted a record tally of 346,786 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, while daily deaths from COVID-19 also jumped by a record, government data released on Saturday showed.
As per Indian media outlets, from the first wave of COVID-19, the demand for medical oxygen had increased from 700 metric tonnes per day to 2,800 metric tonnes per day. However, in the past few days, the demand has reached nearly 5,000 metric tonnes per day.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday announced that there will not not be a complete lockdown but in order to control the situation, people must follow SOPs. PM appealed to the nation that if they follow SOPs and wear masks regularly, Pakistan will not have to take any strict measures. PM said that despite suggestions of lockdowns in cities, he has not taken this decision as it affects the poor the most. “Be careful yourself. Otherwise we will have no other option.”
PM said that the Pakistan Army will assist the police in imposing SOPs.
Key decisions taken by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC):
Schools in districts with positivity rates above 5% closed until Eid
Markets to close at 6pm. Only shops selling essential goods to operate after 6pm
Outdoor and indoor dining banned during Ramzan
Indoor gyms to be closed
Offices to close at 2pm daily with 50% capacity. Rest of the staff to work from home
وزیراعظم عمران خان کی کورونا وباء کی موجودہ صورتِ حال سے متعلق اہم گفتگو https://t.co/WNRXwSEa9E
— Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) April 23, 2021
Managing Trustee of Edhi Foundation Faisal Edhi, in a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has offered help to manage the deadly second wave of coronavirus in India.
“We, at the Edhi Foundation, have been closely following the current impact that the COVID-19 crisis has had on the people of India,” read the letter. “We are very sorry to hear about the exceptionally heavy impact that the pandemic has had on your country, where a tremendous number of people are suffering immensely.”
Faisal further wrote: “As a neighbouring friend, we sympathise with you greatly and during this strenuous time, we would like to extends our help in the form of a fleet of 50 ambulances along with our services to assist you in addressing, and further circumventing the health conditions.”
“We will arrange all the necessary supplies that our team needs to assist the people of India,” added the letter further.
“I, Faisal Edhi, Managing Trustee of the Edhi Foundation, am personally offering to lead and manage the humanitarian team from my organisation,” said Faisal.
He continued: “Importantly, we are not requesting any other assistance from you, as we are providing the fuel, food, and other necessary amenities that our team will require.”
“Our team consists of emergency medical technicians, office staff, drivers, and supporting staff,” stated Faisal further. “In order to implement our proposed service, we only request your permission to enter India as well as any necessary guidance from the local administration and police department.”
“We look forward to assisting you in managing the current humanitarian crises, and hope only to provide our help in whatever way that we can, for the benefit of the people of India,” he concluded.
On Thursday, India recorded theworld’s highest daily tally of 314,835 COVID-19 infections in a single day and hospitals in India are running out of medical oxygen. As per the Indian media news outlet, In the first wave of Covid-19, the demand for medical oxygen had increased from 700 metric tonnes per day to 2,800 metric tonnes per day. However, in the past few days, the demand has reached nearly 5,000 metric tonnes per day.
Earlier, Bushra Ansari, who is also Sumbul’s sister, had shared the news of Sumbul testing positive for coronavirus.
“My darling sister Sumbul Shahid is fighting a battle with coronavirus these days. Please pray for her speedy recovery. Char Chand salamat rahain ameen,” said Ansari.
Sumbul last appeared in ARY Digital’s masala drama Nand.
Actor Asad Siddiqui, who is also Zara Noor Abbas’s husband, took to Instagram stories and requested to pray for Sumbul’s recovery.
“A request to all, please pray for Sumbul Shahid, sister of Asma Abbas and Bushra Ansari. She’s on ventilator. May Allah keep us all safe and healthy,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Faysal Quraishi, Aagha Ali and Yasir Hussain prayed for the actor’s swift recovery.
Sending duas for actress #SumbulShahid who is currently on the vent. Allah aap ko bohot sehat de. IA praying that you recover soon. pic.twitter.com/g3FBQYxY7V
India is in the grip of a deadly second wave of the coronavirus. During the ongoing crisis in the country, people are trying to help in every way they can.
Madhuri Dixit also stepped in to play her part by posting a video of herself showing how to properly wear a mask to avoid getting infected with the virus.
In the video, Madhuri can be seen showing the right and the wrong way of wearing a mask.
On Thursday, India marked a grim milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic reporting 314,835 new cases in the last 24 hours, the highest one-day tally anywhere, Reuters has reported. The previous record one-day rise in cases was held by the United States, which had 297,430 new cases on one day in January, though its tally has since fallen sharply.
Meanwhile, India will let all citizens aged over 18 get COVID-19 vaccinations from May 1, the government said on Monday.
Meanwhile, at least 22 patients died on April 21 in a hospital in western India after a disruption to their oxygen supply caused by a leaking tank, the health minister said, as a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases soaks up supplies of the crucial gas.
