International school teachers for paper marking: Exams Department to go ahead with plan
The Examinations Department will go ahead with a proposal to enlist teachers from international schools for paper marking despite objections from trade unions, a senior Education Ministry official said.
The Examinations Commissioner General Sanath Pujitha said the Ministry plans to obtain the services of international school teachers to mark English medium papers due to the shortages of Government and private school teachers.
Mr Pujitha said priority will be given to teachers in the subjects of science, physics, biology, chemistry and mathematics. He also said, only those who have taught the local syllabus for three years will be enlisted.
Mr Pujitha said even though teacher unions are opposed to the plan, they should realise these teachers had obtained the same degrees obtained by the local school teachers.
He also said, currently due to the lack of qualified teachers they are forced to recheck the papers to make sure the papers have been marked correctly.
Meanwhile, the Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) said the Government had been employing Government school teachers who are qualified and posted to schools, after training in Government training institutions. But private and international schools’ methodology in teacher recruitment is not clear, they said.
The CTU further said their qualifications in marking A/ L exam papers is questionable. They also pointed out that these teachers teach Edexcel and the Cambridge syllabi and are not familiar with the local syllabus.
CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said this will gravely affect the students who sit for exams. He also said it is discriminatory to the 247,000 teachers serving in Government schools.
“We condemn such actions, and if this plan is implemented despite our protests we will be forced to take severe action,” he said. (C )
The initial circular released by the Education Ministry announced that the 2020 Advanced Level examinations will be held from September 7 to October 2.
Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin told the Education Times, uncertainty of the exam date had left teachers clueless on how they should guide their students. He said this might also result in causing mental stress for school children.
“This is a competitive exam where almost 360,000 children are put to test. If they had decided on September 7, why are they planning on changing the date and creating uncertainty?” Mr Stalin said.
Mr Stalin said teachers and principal unions had not been invited for any of the discussions held by the President or the Ministry regarding this matter. He also said there is no point in obtaining opinions from the people, when attention should be given to the opinions of teachers and principals.
Last month Education Minister Dullas Alahapperuma issued instructions to the Education Ministry and the Examinations Commissioner General to reconsider the dates allocated for the GCE Advanced Level exams.
The instructions were given following a request made by concerned parties to postpone the exams due to the inability of covering the syllabus due to the pandemic situation which limited the number of school days.
The relevant authorities said a decision will be made when school activities resume on July 6 and the dates for the examinations will be announced on the first weekend after school starts, after teachers’ and principals’ concerns and ideas have been taken into consideration.
The education unions called the online survey conducted by the Education Ministry a ‘sham’ to buy time for the ‘tuition mafia.’ The CTU said the Government had already set September 7 as the date for the A/L exams and the Ministry’s online survey is comical.
CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said last week the Education Ministry Secretary and Additional Secretary had met with the Examinations Commissioner General, Director General Health Services, and the Acting Police IGP and tuition groups to set a date for the exams and to discuss the best way to set the exam papers.
The CTU also said September 7 was the date decided on according to opinions expressed by tuition group masters who participated. Mr Stalin said to have no school teachers and principals present at this meeting was a ‘joke’. He also said this action only postpones the exams further, and students who are not informed about the exam dates will end up suffering from unnecessary stress and psychological issues.