Education Ministry permits students to sit in E-Cat/engineering exams

ISLAMABAD (APP): Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training on Wednesday decided to permit all those students, who had either taken or would be appearing in FSc / O-Level exams, to sit in the E-CAT/engineering exams for admission to universities.

The decision to the effect was taken during a meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood here at his office.

Various options were discussed in detail in the meeting to save the educational year of the students and ensure their early admission in the engineering universities, which had already been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting also decided that A2 students of Cambridge, whose result was expected in January, would be allowed to appear in the E-CAT/engineering exams. The universities would award them provisional admission, which would be conditional with their final exams and results.

Shafqat Mahmood, while lauding the decision of authorities concerned and the Engineering Council in consultation with the Higher Education Commission, said the current year had been a challenge for the students and educational institutions. “We have to take difficult decisions in this regard,” he added.

The decision, he said, would help save the educational year of students.

Besides high officials of Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), the meeting was attended by HEC Executive Director Dr Shaista Sohail, Quaid-i-Azam University Vice Chancellor and Chairman of Vice Chancellors Committee Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, Punjab University VC Prof Niaz Ahmad Akhtar, University of Engineering & Technology Lahore VC Dr Syed Mansoor Sarwar, Secretary Higher Education Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prof Dawud Khan, Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology VC  Prof Ehsan Ullah Khan Kakar, NED Karachi VC Prof Dr Sarwish Lodhi and Punjab Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid.