The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa primary and secondary education department has chosen to implement a two-semester system in place of the current annual examination system, for all grades up to grade 8.

The new exam system, according to Education Secretary Muhammad Khalid, will reduce the academic strain on instructors and pupils and stop learning losses caused by months of vacation, Dawn was informed.

"The idea of changing the examination system has already received formal consent from Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur," he stated.

According to him, the course will now be split into two equal sections to lessen the workload for both teachers and students. He also mentioned that tests will be administered at the conclusion of each semester and that the grades from the two semesters will be given equal weight.

Since the students' grades were not taken into account when preparing for the annual exam, the secretary said that neither teachers nor students took the current midterm exams seriously.

In order to make schoolbags smaller and lighter, he stated that distinct books will be printed for each semester.

Parents often lament that their children's health is negatively impacted by large school backpacks, he added.

Under the current arrangement, students in both the summer and winter zones took two breaks from their studies because of summer and winter vacations, but Mr. Khalid stated that in the future, the breaks would disappear when the exams for each semester were held before the holidays.

After the semester system is implemented, he claimed, students will have total freedom during their holiday.

Co-curricular and extracurricular activities will be used to fill the pupils' leisure time, he stated.

According to the secretary, the department had scheduled summer and winter holidays in both zones to offer students practical and digital training.

During summer break, he explained, the pupils would be involved in the plantation initiative.

According to a statement released by the Chief Minister's House, the provincial government has chosen to reorganize the academic calendar by instituting fall and spring semesters in schools located in summer and winter zones as part of its reform strategy.

Additionally, it stated that the system will first be used in kindergarten through eighth grade classes.

The academic year in the summer zone will start on September 1st, and the fall semester will run from September 1st to December 31st, according to the facts. January 16 is when the spring semester will start, and it will end on May 31.

Spring semester will run from March 1 to June 30, and fall semester will run from August 1 to December 22 in the winter zone. The academic year will begin on March 1.

According to the statement, there will be distinct exams for each semester, and the results from both sets will be given equal weight when determining the final results.

For two semesters, the government has been thinking about dividing the curriculum into two halves to lessen the number of textbooks that students must use.

Minor changes will be made to the current holiday schedule for both the summer and winter zones. These breaks, however, will be used for teacher training, student summer and winter camps, free textbook distribution and delivery, successful enrollment drives, and technical training programs for students.

The statement stated that because of the different climates in the summer and winter zones, it was decided to keep the academic years separate.

It further stated that in addition to giving students lots of chances to participate in extracurricular activities and learn technical skills, the system would guarantee the best possible use of public funds.