Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that immediate steps are being taken to release the cut-off marks for the 2024 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination, which faced disruptions due to the alleged leak of certain questions.
Additionally, recommendations have been made to establish a resource pool and a question paper bank for examination boards to ensure the integrity and security of future examinations.
The Prime Minister made these remarks in Parliament on yesterday (27), in response to a question raised by the opposition regarding the scholarship examination irregularities, according to the Prime Minister’s Media Division.
Addressing the matter further, Dr. Amarasuriya stated that an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) revealed that three conceptually similar questions from the first question paper of the recent examination were shared by a private tutor in the Kurunegala area through a social media group of the relevant tuition class before the examination.
A panel of experts appointed by the Commissioner General of Examinations has ruled that the 13th respondent, found guilty in the case, must pay a fine of LKR 3 million, while the 6th and 9th respondents are required to pay LKR 2 million each as government fees, following one of the measures proposed by the respective committee.
Based on the findings of the investigation conducted by the Department of Examinations, several measures have been recommended to prevent such incidents in the future, the statement said.
These include conducting question paper preparation strictly within the Confidential Division of the Department of Examinations, ensuring that no confidential documents leave secure premises, implementing strict security checks for all individuals entering and exiting the Confidential Division, recruiting and training new members for examination boards to create a resource pool, and establishing a question paper bank to enhance examination security.
Furthermore, disciplinary actions have been initiated against the Director of Planning at the National Institute of Education, who was found guilty in connection with the incident.
Measures taken include immediate removal from question paper preparation, referring the case to the disciplinary authority for further inquiry, suspension without pay, conducting a formal inquiry under the coordination of the Department of Examinations, and presenting the individual before the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court under CID jurisdiction.
Additionally, the disciplinary authority has been notified to take necessary action against the primary school teacher and his spouse involved in the incident, ensuring that they do not work at the same institution while also imposing a permanent ban on them from all examination-related duties.
The Giriwulla Zonal Education Office is conducting a preliminary investigation, and the teacher in question has already been suspended from duty. Meanwhile, the CID continues its investigations.
Further action has been taken to impose a five-year ban on examination duties for a teacher from Kurunegala Maliyadeva Adarsha Vidyalaya, who was also a private tutor and had shared similar model questions in his WhatsApp group. The disciplinary authority has been informed to take necessary action against this individual.
To prevent similar incidents in the future, enhanced security measures have been introduced within the Confidential Division of the Department of Examinations, it added.
These measures include upgrading internal security camera systems for improved monitoring, developing a semi-automated system for question paper preparation to minimize human intervention, strengthening examination supervision with increased inspection rounds, restricting mobile phone usage inside examination halls, except for the chief invigilator, and deploying full-time external supervisors to uphold standards in examination centers.
To ensure that no candidate is unfairly affected by this incident, it has been decided to grant full marks to all students for the three compromised questions in the scholarship examination. The evaluation of answer scripts had been temporarily halted due to multiple petitions filed in the Supreme Court by parents of affected students.
However, following the Supreme Court’s ruling on December 31, 2024, the evaluation process has resumed, and the cut-off marks will be released shortly.
