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Ed. unions rap pre-exam tuition ban
The ban on preparatory classes for candidates of national exams came in for heavy criticism from teachers’ and principals’ trade unions saying, the Govt’s continued action discriminates a section of the students. The ban on tuition classes for GCE Advanced Level (A/L) students came into effect on August 2, seven days prior to the commencement of exams on August 8.
Again, Grade 5 students sitting the Scholarship exams today (20) also came under the ban starting August 16. The Govt banned all types of coaching of candidates sitting national exams, following the leak of the Science A/L papers in 2012 . Accordingly, tuition classes, seminars and workshops, and publishing model papers has been prohibited by law for seven days prior to A/L and Ordinary Level exams, and for three days prior to Grade 5 Scholarship exams.
Sri Lanka Principals’ Union (SLPU) said the prohibition of tuition classes, immediately before the exams, is creating a disparity among the ‘haves and the have not’. SLPU President Piyasiri Fernando said the ban deprives poor students who cannot afford individual classes. The rich, he said, get the tutor to their homes for the necessary coaching.
He opined that, last minute coaching, generally, is helpful, as children’s memory span is short. “There is so much to study, retain and retrieve it after a ‘hiatus’ is difficult,” he said. He said the teachers are also pressured, as they have to produce good results for the school. To overcome this, the teachers are even getting students to their homes and coaching them,” he said.
The Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) also condemned the ban and said this Govt is blindly following the previous Govt’s action.
CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said that, former Education Minister Bandula Gunewardena imposed the ban following the leak of the Science paper in 2012. After which, every year the ban is being continued. He said the Govt should root out corruption. “This is the easy way out,” he said.
He stressed the need to streamline the system, where corrupt officials do not find loopholes to earn extra money by stooping to devious practices. Another disparity the ban causes he said was where Muslim schools are at an advantage because they are allowed to continue to function till end August. “They have the advantage of being coached for the exams till the last minute,” he said.
Mr Stalin said, while he is not against this, the Govt should not create a system where only certain strata of society are affected.
Meanwhile, Commissioner of Exams, W.M.N.J. Pushpakumara said the ban on tuition prior to exams is at the request of parents. He said parents are against their children continuing to study till the last moment, saying they need to relax.
He said the ban also allows little maneuvering for corrupt officials or tuition teachers, as they cannot claim they have prior knowledge of the questions and demand huge sums for coaching students at the ‘last minute’. He said it is on record that, before the ban was imposed, the questions were sold at Rs 1,000 to students.
“The ban has enabled the smooth functioning of exams, devoid of corruption,” he said.