By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera 

Education Minister Susil Premajayantha yesterday informed Parliament that he would seek the possibility of postponing the Advanced Level Examination in consultation with the Examinations Department so as not to inconvenience others.

The Minister told this in Parliament responding to requests made by both government and opposition MPs who urged the Minister to postpone the A/L examination by two months.

SJB MP Hesha Vithanage said students who were sitting the A/L examination this year would be getting only 98 days to prepare for the examination and that it was unfair for those who were changing their streams.
“Some students who sat in Mathematics and Science streams the previous year normally resit in the Arts stream. Three months are not at all sufficient for such students,” he said.

Parliamentarian Uddhika Premaratne said students should be given at least two more months to prepare for the examination.

Minister Premajayantha said only the students who were sitting for second and third time are facing difficulties and that it was not an issue for the first timers.

He said there were practical issues in postponing the examination. Schools will have to be closed for nearly a month and O/L examination scheduled for April will also have to be delayed as the gap between the two examinations would be lessened.

However, Parliamentarian Gunapala Rathnasekara said most of the students had already given up the hope of resitting due to the insufficient time period to prepare for the examination and that postponing the examination would be unfair for those who were willing and preparing for the examination.

Minister Premajayantha said, having considered all the requests of the parliamentarians, he would look into the possibility of making any changes to the timetable in consultation with the Examinations Department.