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Law College entrance exam: Nothing fishy, says Principal
View(s):By Chandani Kirinde
Law College Principal Dr.W.D.Rodrigo claims he knows nothing about the ongoing controversy surrounding the conduct of this year’s entrance examination to the College despite the much publicised claims that the examination results were manipulated.
Dr. Rodrigo told the Sunday Times he had not received a complaint from anyone regarding a manipulation of the examination result. “I know nothing about it. Don’t expect any comment from me,” he said when asked about the raging controversy.
Both Opposition politicians and law students have called for a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) inquiry regarding the alleged manipulation they claim took place in the examination.
Around 800 students who sat the examination this year but did not make the final list have formed an association called the Law Entrance Students’ Union (LESU) and are threatening to launch a fast-unto-death on January 7 in Colombo unless a proper inquiry is held.
In addition to lodging a complaint with the CID, the students have also petitioned President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Chief Justice who is the head of the Council of Legal Education, the Attorney General and the Examinations Commissioner.
An LESU spokesperson said that on Monday, a female student who claims she was approached by a man who assured her he would guarantee her entrance to the College if he was given Rs15, 000, will lodge a complaint with the CID giving details of how she was approached. He said this incident would reveal that there was manipulation by which students are selected to the College.
The annul Law College entrance examination is conducted by the Examinations Department under the aegis of the Council of Legal Education in Sri Lanka. The papers are set in English and translated into Sinhala and Tamil by the Examinations Department.
Examinations Commissioner W.M.N.J .Pushpakumara said it is up to the Law College to initiate an inquiry into charges that are being levelled regarding the examination so that he could then start a probe to determine if there was any tampering with the examination papers at his Department.
UNP MP Ajith Perera told the Sunday Times said that he suspects the examination paper could have been leaked by one of the translators or at the time it was being printed or there may have been discrepancies in the translation from English into Sinhala and Tamil which may have favoured the Tamil language students.
He said of the over 6,200 students who sat the examination in the Sinhala medium, only 154 were selected while of the 705 students who sat in the Tamil medium, 133 were selected. “Even last year there were some concerns expressed but this year there seems an obvious bias in the manner students were selected,” he said.
“What we want is a full scale investigation by the CID,” MP Perera said. A CID official said they are yet to commence an investigation into the matter.
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