AL exam to be postponed despite the many consequences: Minister
The GCE (A/L) examination is to be rescheduled for early January, after taking into consideration appeals to postpone the examination.
Education Times learns that the examination will start in early January and will be completed within the month.
A formal announcement by the Commissioner General of Examinations Amith Jayasundara is due to be made in the next few days.
Education Minister Susil Premajayantha earlier strongly campaigned for the timely conduct of the A/L examination on the grounds that the examination calendar could be restored only by conducting A/Ls in November/December this year.
According to the original schedule the A/L exam was due to commence on November 27 and end on December 21.
However, Minister Premajayantha told Education Times that they had taken into consideration the concerns raised by students, and decided to differ the examination.
He said that the delay in paper marking due to trade union action by those involved in paper marking had caused a delay in issuing the results and thereby those planning to sit the exam for the second time were affected.
He added that they had also taken into consideration that there was an increase in the number of candidates sitting the exam for the second time; and in order to provide them more time the exam is being differed. Some 18,000 students are due to sit the exam for the second time.
Minister Premajayantha in a statement to Parliament earlier this week pointed out some of the consequences of delaying the A/L examination.
Among them were the delay in students completing the exam and applying to higher educational institutes and applying for foreign institutes. The loss of foreign scholarship opportunities, the delay in completing OL examinations and the likelihood of delaying recruitment examinations to government institutions are among the other consequences.
A formal announcement by the Commissioner General of Examinations Amith Jayasundara is due to be made in the next few days.