Special health guidelines needed to conduct O/L exams next January

Around 700,000 O/L students to sit for the exams

The Education Ministry has sought guidelines from the health sector on the conduct of the G.C.E Ordinary Level ( O/ L) exams in January, the Education Ministry Secretary Kapila Perera said.

As around 700,000 students would be sitting for the exams next year, special guidelines will be needed to conduct the examination, Prof. Perera added.

The exam has been scheduled to be held from January 18 to 28, next year.

Prof. Perera said even though the education and health authorities were able to conduct the Advanced Level (A/L) examinations successfully last month, despite the COVID-19 threat, for the O/L exams special guidelines would be needed as more students would be seated in each hall.

He also said some 35,000 teachers too would be involved in the process.

Health Services Director General Asela Gunawardena said they are in the process of preparing the guidelines for the exams.

Meanwhile, an Education Ministry official said all other preparations were being made to conduct the exams in January, instead of being postponed again. Usually, the O/L exams were held in December.

The inability of schools to complete the O/L syllabi in time, had also been taken into consideration in the preparation of exam papers.

The Education Ministry had also planned to carry out a survey to find out how far schools had completed the syllabi.