No more copying with MCQs at O/L, A/L: Exams Dept
The Examinations Dept has come up a novel way of overcoming copying at the upcoming GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) and Advanced Level ( A/ L) examinations this year, said a senior officer of the Dept.
The Dept will mix the sequence of the questions in the Multiple Choice Questions ( MCQ’s) of Paper I in the 2 exams, so that students will not be able to use systems like displaying the number of the answer using sign language.
Commissioner General of Examinations Sanath Pujitha said the decision was taken after evaluating the answer
scripts of Papers I and II, where a marked difference of the answers provided were found.
"In some cases candidates have got all 40 answers correct in Paper I (MCQ) and just 10 to 15 marks in Paper II, where the student has to write. This indicates the related student may have copied," he said.
“Our maiden foray is to the Middle East, and we have requested the Foreign Affairs Ministry Secretary to select 2 countries/ areas where large numbers of Sri Lankans are residing. Teams from the Exams Dept. are ready for Examination work,” he said.
“We can arrange all Test administration proceedings while funding should be borne by parents, Sri Lankan schools and Education institutes overseas, including logistics and Examination paper preparation. For the feasibility study, candidate’s profile inter alia, country, gender, age, subjects and medium have been requested from the Foreign Ministry,” he added.
"Among the subjects high in demand are Sinhala and History. Some parents want their children to do the local O/ L exam, while some want their children to do subjects that represent the Sri Lankan identity," he said.
The Dept said, if this is a success, they would consider con- ducting local O/L’s in countries where Sri Lankan expatriate population is high.
“Our Dept has conducted local O/L/ exams only in South India, for Lankan students in refugee camps. But now there are many Lankans overseas with families, in Europe, Australia and other parts of Asia,” Mr. Pujitha said.
Sri Lanka's Permanent Mission in Geneva, in a recent press release said the Examinations Dept, that has the mandate to conduct and certify all public school examinations, has informed about the possibility to conduct GCE O/L Exams overseas in the future.
“It is learnt that a considerable number of expatriates are working abroad, especially in Middle East countries. These expatriate's children may be studying at international schools and appearing for foreign exams, while some students may wish to take GCE O/L Examination with the prescribed subjects or part thereof,” the release stated.