KARACHI: Regarding the unrest among Cambridge International students in Pakistan about which a report was published in this newspaper on Tuesday, Sept 22, the international assessment board has responded on Wednesday that the October/November exams session cannot be postponed or cancelled as per their demands.

A statement from Cambridge International`s country director Uzma Yousuf reads as follows: `We have listened to your concerns about Cambridge International`s approach to the Nov 2020 exam series. We are grateful to you for engaging with us and we would like to take this opportunity to respond. We understand that you would like Cambridge International to offer an alternative to examinations in the Nov 2020 exam series. However, this is unfortunately not possible.

`We want to reassure you that we have been exploring alternative options extensively what form they might take and how we would deliver them. However, we have had to conclude that it would not be possible to of fer both exams and an alternative [such as predicted or calculated grades] in the same series without placing the delivery of both at risk.

`We have not taken our decision lightly. Our priorities since the pandemic first disrupted the lives of Cambridge students back in January have been to keep students safe and make sure they can progress with their education.

`With this in mind, we maintain frequent contact with education authorities, partners, as well as Cambridge International Schools worldwide. The majority of schools entering candidates for the November 2020 series tell us that their governments including the government of Pakistan are allowing them to hold exams. Therefore, we have prioritised running an exam series over running an alternative series without exams [as we did for June 2020].

We believe exams remain the fairest and most reliable way to assess student achievement. Moreover, the majority of our schools are also telling us that they prefer to run exams.

`Our Associate, the British Council, has been made aware of local government regulations and health advice.

They will be following all government safety measures, as well as their own internal safety protocols, to ensure that the Nov 2020 exam series takes place safely for all Cambridge students in Pakistan, whether they are private or school candidates.

`If a student does not feel comfortable or ready to take exams at this time, they can withdraw their entry through their school, or through the British Council if they are a private candidate. They can enter for exams in any of our future exam series, for example, June 2021.