LAHORE – The Punjab Education Department has issued a notification announcing that board-level examinations will now also be held for Grade 5 and Grade 6 students across the province.
According to the notification, the exams will be conducted by the Punjab Education Curriculum and Training Assessment Authority (PECTA).
The decision comes in response to the poor performance of students in recent Grade 9 and 10 board exams.
The department stated that the move aims to strengthen students’ academic and mental preparedness from an early stage, which in turn is expected to improve future board exam results in higher classes.
School heads across Punjab have been instructed to begin preparations immediately and have also been asked to submit a School Academic Improvement Plan to the authorities.
However, the move has drawn criticism from the Punjab Teachers’ Union, which pointed out that similar attempts to hold board exams for Grades 5 and 8 in the past had failed twice.
Teachers have urged the government to avoid repeated experimental policies and instead formulate a comprehensive, long-term educational and assessment strategy in consultation with all stakeholders.
