Exams Dept. to award full marks for three controversial questions and release results

Colombo, January 1 (Daily Mirror) - The Examinations Department has decided to award full marks for the three controversial questions from the 2024 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination held recently.

In a media release, Department’s Commissioner General H.J.M.C. Amith Jayasundara stated that the decision was based on the recommendations of the experts’ committee appointed by the department.

The committee reached its decision following a court order issued by the Supreme Court on December 31, 2024.

The court made the following recommendations:

1. When marking the answer sheets, the three controversial questions should be excluded, and the evaluation should proceed without them.
2. Award full marks to all candidates for the three relevant questions.
3. Re-conduct the examination for Question Paper 1.
Accordingly, the Examinations Commissioner was directed to implement the most appropriate recommendation and release the examination results.

After carefully considering the benefits and adverse effects of each recommendation, the Examinations Department decided to award full marks for the three controversial questions to all candidates.

The department will release the results soon after completing the evaluation process.

The issue arose following complaints about the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination held on September 15, 2024.

The investigation revealed that a document containing three questions similar to those in Paper I had been discussed in advance and circulated on social media the day before the examination.

Based on the preliminary report, a formal complaint was lodged with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The CID has since submitted an interim report to the Secretary of Education, confirming that the document was indeed circulated prior to the examination and that three questions from Paper I were leaked.