Open Book, Tabs at future Exams: Commissioner Gen. of Exams

Open Book Exams allowing candidates to bring books in their syllabus to the exam will be introduced in the future, as a way of evaluating the practical knowledge and skills of the students, said Commissioner General of Exams W.M.N.J. Pushpakumara.

He said the OBEs are successfully implemented in many other foreign countries, in addition to the use of a tab. However, the questions in an exam will not be solely based on the matter in the books, and will be tested on the practical knowledge as well.

He said it will be introduced in 2019 for certain parts of some subjects for the Ordinary Level or Advanced Level exams, which will be expanded in the future.

Meanwhile, a new digital technology will be used for printing O/L and A/L Question papers from next year, instead of the current Offset printing technology. He said the Ministry of Education has granted Rs 500 million to import new machines.

Mr Pushpakumara said currently nearly 60 personnel are needed for the complete process of preparing Question papers manually.

According to the new process, Question papers will be printed and packed automatically, with only 2 officials needed for the entire procedure.

He further said that an additional unit that will automatically select questions for Question papers will also be introduced by 2019, to improve the confidentiality and time efficiency of exams.

He said that, questions fed to the system will be automatically selected according to the given structure.