Tag: Shafqat Mehmood

  • #100MostHandsomeMen2021: Twitter nominates Imran Khan, Shafqat Mahmood and Fawad Khan

    100 Most Handsome Men of 2021 is trending on Pakistani Twitter with users nominating different personalities, but if you look at the trend, the top three men who are being nominated are Prime Minister Imran Khan, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood and Actor Fawad Khan.

    Have a look at some of the nominations:

    A user also shared Imran’s old pictures to make his case strong.

    We are drooling over this picture of Fawad Khan.

    People still remember Tahir-ul-Qadri.

    It is hard to make a choice here.

    https://twitter.com/SamShehzada2/status/1400474131766956041
  • ‘Board exams to be held after July 10,’ says Shafqat Mahmood

    ‘Board exams to be held after July 10,’ says Shafqat Mahmood

    Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood said on Wednesday that board exams for students of classes nine and 10 would be held only for elective subjects and mathematics while exams for students of classes 11 and 12 would be held for elective subjects only.

    Mahmood’s press conference came after he chaired a meeting of provincial education ministers and officials from education departments.

    Mahmood said that the issue of resolving the complaint of non-completion of courses by the students was discussed in today’s meeting. “Several months ago, we reduced the curriculum by 40 per cent to make it easier for teachers and students to prepare,” said the minister.

    “It has been decided in the meeting of inter-provincial education ministers that the ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th examinations will start after July 10,” stated Mahmood. He further added that in this regard, the 10th and 12h examinations will be held first.

    “This decision is taken as students have different streams and directions so they will sit in exams related to their particular subject of interest,” he said.

    “We have also asked boards to keep some gap between the exams,” he said, as he explained the government had taken several steps to ease the process on the students as the educational institutions could not complete the course work.

    Mahmood said that the 10th and 12th classes are currently underway. “We have decided to open schools and colleges for the ninth and 11th classes so that they can prepare,” said the minister. “If we do not conduct the exams, then students will not even employ minimum efforts to study,” said the federal minister.

    “No student will be awarded grades without attempting examinations this year,” the education minister added.

    Mahmood further stated that the teachers conducting the board examinations need to be fully vaccinated.

    “There will be no review of the decision to take the exams. Children must prepare for their examination. We have been very lenient with the legitimate demands of the students,” concluded Mahmood.

  • ‘Mild symptoms and quick recovery are because of vaccination’: Shafqat Mahmood

    ‘Mild symptoms and quick recovery are because of vaccination’: Shafqat Mahmood

    Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood on Wednesday said that he has tested negative for the coronavirus and has resumed work from today.

    The minister shared the news on Twitter: “By the grace of Allah, I have fully recovered. My latest two tests are negative. Going back to work today.”

    “The mild symptoms and quick recovery are without a doubt because of the vaccination,” Mahmood tweeted. He stressed that “vaccines work and are the best defence against this horrible disease”.

    Last month, Shafqat Mahmood tested positive for coronavirus.

  • Board exams to be held after June 15, announces Shafqat Mahmood

    Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood has announced that board exams will start after June 15 with priority for Grade 12 and 10 so that they can take admissions in universities without any delay.

    The minister said the decision was taken in an Interprovincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) that took place on Wednesday.

    “Intermediate and Matric exams would be given priority so that results can come in before university admissions,” said Mahmood, adding that respective boards will announce the exact date of the exams later.

    In lieu of rising cases of COVID-19, Shafqat Mehmood earlier announced that no examinations will take place in the country until June 15. The decision came after increased pressure by students for the cancellation of exams.

    However, after the cancellation of exams, students are now demanding Teacher and School Assessed Grades, arguing that their study schedules have been disrupted because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

  • No truth in rumours, exams to be held as per schedule: Shafqat Mahmood

    Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood has rubbished all rumours about the cancellation of exams.

    The minister tweeted that the students of grade 9 and 11 will sit for their exams as per the scheduled timetable given by their respective boards.

    Mahmood added that there was no truth to the rumours circulating regarding the cancellation of the exams.

    Last month, Mahmood and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan had announced that as per the suggestion of the National Command and Operation Centre, all board exams had been postponed till June 15.

    “Exams of 9, 10, 11 and 12, which were supposed to begin from the end of May, have been delayed further,” the minister said. “No board exams will be held till mid-June (June 15).”

    Mahmood added that another meeting of the NCOC will decide in the third week of May whether these exams will be postponed further or not.

  • Private schools request Cambridge for School Assessed Grades

    With the government announcing that all exams are cancelled until June 15, students are now demanding School Assessed Grades. In this regard, Jibran Nasir who has been a vocal advocate for the student throughout shared a screenshot of an email written to students by the CEO of Cedar College Karachi to inform them that schools in the city are uniting for a joint effort to get School Assessed Grades option for students.

    “In a situation that is evolving rapidly, I am happy to report that in the meeting that we had with school leaders of O’ and A’ Level schools from across Karachi, we reached a unanimous decision to write Cambridge International as one unified block requesting that they give our students the option to op for school/teacher assesses grades for the June 2021 exam series,” read the email.

    The email further stated, “We hope that the fact that we are all speaking with one voice, and have one message will have a greater impact on Cambridge International with respect to allowing Pakistani students the option of taking school assessed grades.”

    “May this become a nationwide effort. Schools are filling shoes of [the] government as Education Minister remains absent,” wrote Jibran in the caption.

    Jibran Nasir also shared names of other private schools who are in favour of School Assesses Grades and requested other schools to do the same.

    Students have been demanding Teacher and School Assessed Grades with the hashtags #ShafqatDestroysOurCareer and #ResignShafqatMahmood trending on social media. They argue that their study schedules have been disrupted because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Students accuse Shafqat Mahmood of ‘destroying careers’, demand resignation

    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.

    https://twitter.com/dauddogar/status/1387313554647363585

    https://twitter.com/ahmedhaseeb48/status/1387315787459928065

    https://twitter.com/RajaAliuzZaman2/status/1387304518354935808?s=20

    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.

  • Govt cancels all exams until June 15

    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.

    The minister also took time to answer the questions of students :

    #ImranKhanCancelExams and #ImranKhanJawabDou were among the top trends on Twitter from 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.

  • Asim Azhar backs students, urges Shafqat Mahmood to cancel exams again

    Asim Azhar backs students, urges Shafqat Mahmood to cancel exams again

    After Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood announced that there will be no delay or cancellation of exams, Asim Azhar once again voiced his support for students, urging the minister to reconsider his decision in view of the ongoing third wave of COVID-19 across Pakistan.

    “A, AS, O Level and IGCSE exams will be held as per the date sheet announced by CAIES,” said Mahmood, asserting they will be no cancellation or delay in the exams.

    Mahmood added that Cambridge has assured that all SOPs will be strictly followed.

    Responding to the announcement, the singer said: “Who will be responsible if kids take COVID back to their homes just so they could appear in exams?”

    In another tweet, Azhar urged Mahmood to rethink his decision.

    “Abhi bhi waqt hai, bacho pe tars khaalain,” said Asim.

    Earlier, Twitter had raged with students advocating for the cancellation of board exams this year following the deadly third COVID-19 wave across the country.

    Students demanded to cancel board exams 2021 amidst their disturbed learning schedules. Several students were also demonstrating on the streets so that the government take proper notice of their demands.

    #ExamCancelHoga, #cancelboardexams2021 and #ShafqatMahmood were among the top trends on the micro-blogging site as social media users and students expressed their concern over the sharp rise in cases of COVID-19 and its effect on their studies.

    Asim and Hadiqa Kiani had also voiced their support for the students over exams cancellation.

  • Govt’s ‘Rehmatul-Lil Alameen Scholarship’ to also cover non-Muslims

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has launched the Rehmatul-Lil Alameen scholarship program for underprivileged students, Radio Pakistan has reported.

    As per details, a budget of 27.93 billion rupees has been approved for this national-level program which will be used over the next five years. The program will be implemented in 129 public sector universities across the country.

    Speaking at the inauguration ceremony in Islamabad, PM Imran said the scholarship will be available to all Pakistanis including non-Muslims, adding that the federal government will annually provide Rs 5.5 billion for 70,000 scholarships. 

    PM Khan said that under the scholarship program a total of 350,000 scholarships will be provided in five years at a cost of Rs 28 billion.

    He further said that the provincial governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will also separately provide scholarship to the students.

    Read more – Pakistanis appreciate PM Imran for ‘Koi Bhooka Nahi Soye Ga’ programme

    The premier asserted that the government is especially focusing on the education sector with the aim that “our youth learn from the Sunnah of Hazrat Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wa Salam Khatim-un-Nabiyeen“.

    Meanwhile, speaking on the occasion, Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood said the Rehmatul-Lil Alameen Scholarship is a nationwide program and will be implemented in 129 universities across the country.  He said fifty percent scholarships will be given to women whilst two percent to specially-abled persons.

    Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry and Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari also announced the news on social media, encouraging those eligible to apply for it.

    The provinces are also separately pursuing the Rehmatul-Lil Alameen Scholarship program. In Punjab, one billion rupees has been approved for this scholarship program annually, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has allocated Rs 427 million for it.