2024 Grade 05 Scholarship Exam results will be released soon: PM

Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education and Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya says that the results of the 2024 Grade 05 Scholarship Examination will be released as soon as possible.

Dr. Amarasuriya made this remark while speaking during today’s (23) parliamentary session.

Responding to a question raised regarding the matter in the Parliament, the Prime Minister stated that the situation which led to the delay of the releasing of results was a “misfortune”, adding that the answer sheets evaluation activities of the examination is currently underway.

However, she assured that the releasing of results and the process of admission of students to Grade 06 will be expedited.

An investigation was launched on September 20, 2024 by the Department of Examinations after allegations surfaced regarding the leakage of three questions from the 2024 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination. 

While the initial probe revealed only three questions were leaked, controversy escalated as some parents, staging protests and holding press conferences, claimed that the entire question paper had been compromised. 

Following this, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) took over the investigation, uncovering that the Director of the Planning Division of the National Institute of Education (NIE) and a school teacher were involved in the incident. Both were arrested and remanded until October 22.

In response to the public outcry, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake intervened, leading to the suspension of the evaluation of answer sheets until the investigation was concluded. On October 14, Commissioner General of Examinations Amith Jayasundara announced that the examination would not be re-conducted, and free marks would be awarded for the three leaked questions. 

However, in November, the Supreme Court issued an interim order halting the release of the 2024 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination results until further proceedings.

On December 31, 2024, the Supreme Court declared that the fundamental human rights have been violated through the Cabinet of Ministers’ decision to award free marks to all students for the three questions of the 2024 Grade 05 Scholarship Examination which are alleged to have been leaked.

Accordingly, the court also ordered the Commissioner General of Examinations to immediately implement a suitable recommendation out of the three recommendations made by the experts’ committee appointed to look into the matter.

Later on, the Commissioner General of Examinations, Amith Jayasundara announced that it was decided to award free marks to all students for the three questions which were alleged to have been leaked in the 2024 Grade 05 Scholarship Examination, as per the Supreme Court verdict pertaining to the case.