Educational officials in Herat said that the attendance of girl students has dropped--with several weeks until the end of the school year--and they attribute this to the cancellation of the annual examination, a decision made by the provincial schoolteachers' council.  

Based on the decision, the students would be directly inducted into their next scheduled grade.  

“The student of grade seven will be directly promoted to grade eight. The students of grade 12 will be graduated from school,” said Mohammad Sabir Mashal, head of the council. “And therefore some disorder is resulting at schools.

After a long delay in the resumption of secondary school and high school for girls, the government last week allowed the girl students from grade 7 to 12 to attend their schools in Herat province. 

Herat is one of the seven provinces where girls of secondary and high school age are allowed to attend their schools. In 27 of 34 provinces, the girls from grade 7 to 12 are still not allowed. 

However, some of the students urged the officials to include the annual examination of schools for this year. The students said that the cancellation of the examinations would affect the education system. 

“The students of grade 12 have their university entrance ahead and they should have full preparation for entrance. When the private institutions are closed and they also don’t take our examinations, it really affects our future,” said Mansoora Islmaili, a student of grade 12.  

“When there is no examination, there is no motivation for studying. If there is no examination, we will not study our lessons” said Hamida Rasoli, another student.  

The Islamic Emirate officials said earlier that they are working on ways to provide a safe environment for female students across the country.  

Some teachers said that cancellation of examinations affects the morale of the students.  

“If there is no education, there is no hope for the next year among the students. The motivation that the students have recently found will be lost again,” said Halima Sarwari Nadira, a teacher.