ANOTHER A/L CRISIS
Secrecy of question papers compromised
With the GCE A/L examination still in crisis over the Z-score fiasco, the confidentiality of the 2012 A/L question papers have been compromised because of the method adopted by the Examinations Department to send amendments to erroneous questions, education sector professionals said yesterday.
At a media briefing organised by nine trade unions comprising teachers and principals, Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin said the contents of the question papers had become accessible to several parties because the amendments were being sent via fax.
“Amendments are usually included in each packet of question papers prior to dispatching them to coordinating centres. They are sealed for greater safety, as question papers are treated with utmost secrecy. But because of the method followed this year to send amendments, the contents of the question papers have been made available to many others prior to the examination date,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said the present method followed by the Examination Department in sending amendments showed the irresponsible attitude of the relevant officials concerning their duties.
Giving an example, Mr. Stalin said the amendments to errors in the Physics paper II held this Monday and the amendments to the Agriculture paper were faxed to coordinating centres on the previous Saturday.
“This has compromised the contents of the Physics paper II as the nature of the question could be clearly comprehended days prior to the scheduled date,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said some of the examination centres had not received the amendments on time as a result of the irregular method of sending the amendments.
“The examination centres at Roy-
This has compromised the contents of the Physics paper II as the nature of the question could be clearly comprehended days prior to the scheduled date
al College had not received the amendment on the Physics paper II, due to a complication in the Coordination centre. A large number of students were distressed and who would vouch for the fate of examination centres in rural areas if this was the state of affairs in examination centres in one of the main schools in the country,” he asked.
Meanwhile, All Ceylon United Teachers’ Union President the Venerable Yalwela Pannasekara said it was for the first time in the history of the A/L examinations in the country, that such a vast number of blunders were being reported in the question papers.
So far, a range of subjects including Combined Maths, Agriculture, Sinhala, Physics and Logic papers contain errors.