brand logo

A/L and Grade 5 exams postponed by a month

19 Jul 2021

  • A/L from 15 Nov.-10 Dec., Grade 5 Scholarship on 14 Nov.
  • Teachers TUs request further postponement to Dec. or next yr
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Both the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level (A/L) and Grade Five Scholarship examinations have been postponed by a month to November considering the current situation, Education Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris announced yesterday (19). The A/L examination, which was scheduled to be held in October 2021, will now be held from 15 November to 10 December 2021 and the Grade Five Scholarship examination, which was also scheduled to be held in October 2021, is scheduled to be held on 14 November 2021. However, teachers’ trade unions claim that the postponement of the A/L examination scheduled for October 2021 to November 2021 does not provide sufficient time to cover the curricula as schools have been closed for a long time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They have requested the Education Ministry and the other authorities to postpone the A/L examination at least until December 2021 or January 2022. The Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) President Priyantha Fernando, when contacted by The Morning, said that the A/L examination should be postponed until at least December 2021 or January 2022 as the educational activities of students have not been carried out properly for a long time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “School children have lost about 213 school days since 12 March last year. Also, due to the lack of facilities for online education, many students were not able to learn online. Given these issues, the curricula of almost all classes were not covered properly and we are therefore of the view that holding the A/L examination in November 2021 will be unfair to the students,” he explained. Fernando further said that the Government should intervene and formulate a programme to address the existing problems of teachers to follow the proper health guidelines, and thereby open schools at least by mid August, to cover the curricula. “Even if the exam is postponed until January next year, there will be no point of doing so if the curricula are not covered and arrangements are not made to restore education,” he noted. Meanwhile, the Ceylon Teachers Services Union (CTSU) Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe also said that the holding of the A/L examination in November this year would not be fair for the students. He said that students sitting for the examination should be given some time to prepare for school activities which have not been carried out properly since the bombings on Easter Sunday in April 2019. Jayasinghe also added that many students have not benefited from the online education system. “There are students in some provinces who do not attend any tuition classes, and rely solely on what is taught in the schools. It will be a great injustice for such students if the examinations are to be held without covering the curricula,” he added. However, when queried regarding the Government’s decision to postpone the Grade Five Scholarship examination to November, Fernando pointed out that there is no problem with regard to the date on which the Scholarship examination is to be held, as it is not a competitive examination like the A/L examination. “The A/L exam is a major milestone in determining the future of students, but the Scholarship exam is not an essential exam, so there is no problem in holding it,” he further added. Attempts to contact Prof. Peiris to inquire whether the views of trade unions would be taken into account with regard to the holding of examinations proved futile.    


More News..