New identification number to track student performance from scholarship exam onwards

The Examinations Department will next year introduce a student identification number to be used in the Grade Five scholarship examination and other public exams until university entrance, a senior official said.

The facility will enable students to have easy access to their records, Examinations Commissioner General Sanath Pujitha said.

Accordingly, students will be required to use the same number at the G.C.E Ordinary Level and Advanced Level examinations.

The proposal is being implemented on a recommendation by an expert committee which studied the examination system. The Committee made 18 recommendations.

Mr Pujitha said the number would be useful to monitor the progress of the students from Grade five onwards.

"We will have discussions with the authorities, including the Unive r s i t y G r a n t s Commission, to see whether other achievements of the student could be entered into the database which would be devel- oped and maintained," he said.

He said the history of the students would be available in the database which would be useful for a comprehensive analysis to improve the education system.

“For instance we will have the details of the school dropouts, their performance from the Grade five scholarship exam to O/L and A/L exams. It will also be easy to analyse information about the schools and their performance," the Commissioner General said.

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