Candidates to lose 14-marks due to erroneous A/L Political Science Paper 1

Complaints that this year’s GCE Advanced Level ( A/ L) Political Science paper had a series of blunders which may deprive students of 14 marks, has gone unattended, a senior lecturer warned.

Ruhuna University’s Senior Lecturer in Political Science Dr Upul Abeyratna said that the Examination Department and Board of Controlling Examiners has disregarded the claims of several educationists on errors in the 2013 GCE A/L exam Political Science paper.

He said that it has caused thousand’s of students to pay for a mistake by authorities responsible for setting the paper.

At present the Political Science paper is being assessed.

He added that, even though answers to the Multiple Choice Questions ( MCQ) of the relevant paper have been prepared, the Controlling Examiners Board has failed to compensate for the questions which had mistakes.

He explained that Paper 1 consisted of 50 questions, with two marks for each question. “Seven questions in this paper had clear mistakes, and the candidates lost 14 marks as a result. Even a single mark makes a big difference in this competitive exam, and these mistakes where students are deprived of 14 marks, is unacceptable,” Dr Abeyratna said.

He called on the authorities to take immediate action to rectify the mistakes and do justice to the students.