BY Buddhika SamaraweeraClaiming that most teachers involved in paper marking duties pertaining to the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level (O/L) and Advanced Level (A/L) Examinations related to 2021 have not received the related payments to date, leading teachers’ trade unions have warned that it will have a negative impact on the examinations to be held in the future.Speaking to The Morning,Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU) General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe claimed that many teachers engaged in paper marking duties pertaining to the said examinations have not been given the related payments so far. He said that although the necessary financial allocations have been made, the Department of Examinations has not yet completed the payments. “Teachers joined these duties in the midst of many difficulties such as the fuel shortage and transportation crisis in the past few months. They had to wait in queues for days to get fuel. Therefore, it is very unfortunate that their payments have not been made yet. Due to this kind of irresponsible acts of the department, challenging situations may arise regarding the examinations to be held in the future,” he claimed.Meanwhile, Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) President Priyantha Fernando, speaking to The Morning, stated that usually, these payments should be made within a short period of time after the conclusion of paper-marking activities, but that many teachers have not received the payments yet. He said that the department was informed on several occasions to make the related payments promptly, taking into account the difficulties faced by teachers. “The department said that the financial allocations that have been made to make these payments are not sufficient, but that is not an acceptable fact. As there was no increase in the payments for teachers, there is no reason why the allocations made for this purpose are not sufficient. The department is not making the relevant payments at a time when they should be paid with some increase, given the current situation. This situation will definitely have a negative impact on future examinations,” he added.The department was not available for comment.Due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation, the three main examinations students in the country sit for – the Grade Five Scholarship, O/L, and A/L – were postponed on a number of occasions in 2021. Accordingly, the Grade Five Scholarship Examination which is usually held in August each year was held on 22 January 2022, the A/L Examination which is usually held in August each year was held from February to March 2022, and the O/L Examination which is usually held in December each year was held from May to June 2022.
