While the date for applying for re-correction of A/L papers has been extended to January 17, trade unions in the education sector claim more than 100,000 students have applied for A/L re-corrections.
Of the 294,800 candidates who had applied to sit the examination under the new and old syllabuses, 142,000 students have passed in all three subjects.
The Examinations Department initially fixed dates for re-correction between December 29 and January 9, but the deadline was extended to enable private candidates to apply for re-correction if they wished. Usually the results of the private candidates are issued later.
Students will need to pay Rs.750 if they apply for re-correction of all three subjects and as there is a high likelihood this will lead to dissatisfaction with the examination process, trade unions would feel it is unfair.
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| A student hands over a correction application form at the post office. Pix by Indika Handuwela |
Ceylon Teachers’ Union president Joseph Stalin charged the Government would earn as much as Rs.100 million by way of re-correction fees. “The President has appointed a five member committee to look into the A/L fiasco while the Examinations Department has called for re-corrections in the meantime which would add to the confusion,” he said.
Mr. Stalin explained that re-correction is a process where the same evaluated marks will be re-checked or calculated; it is not a process of remarking the papers. “When there is a blunder in the district, island rank and the Z-score, the problems cannot be solved through following the re-correction process,” he said.
Re-correction has been called on not to solve the problems of the students, but to hide the faults created by the Government and the educational authorities, Inter-University Student’s Federation convener Sanjeewa Bandara said.
“Already 80 percent of the students have applied for re-correction. We believe that this will increase to 100 percent. When the students do not accept and when they are not satisfied with the results, there is no point in the Commissioner of Examinations, the Education Minister and the President saying the evaluation is accurate,” he added.
“The Government should have carried out the re-correcting process free for all the students. It is the fault of the Government and the Examinations Department, so why should the students pay for someone else’s mistake,” he queried.
Renuka Malliyagoda, a parent from Kandy said that it is very difficult to have hopes on the re-correction process. Students are worried that they would not obtain even the present marks, if they apply for re-correction, since they have lost confidence in the examination process.
She said that the expenses for the re-correction are too high. “The rich will rarely apply for re-correction and even if they apply money would not be an issue, but for children of public servants and other low income earners it will be a burden,” she said.
The Ordinary Level exam is just a step in the education process but the Advanced Level exam decides the future course of a student who is stepping out into the world after completing his/her school education, said Elan Coonjhe, a student in Colombo.
“The marks entered on the exam papers will be re-checked in the re-correction process. I find this unfair because the re-marking of the whole paper would not be done,” she said.
Meanwhile Ministry of Technology and Research Secretary Dhara Wijayatilake who heads the five member committee told the Sunday Times that the committee will be looking into the issues relating to the district rankings, the computer system used and the other recommendations to avoid a recurrence of the kind of problems that arose this year.
Commenting on the progress so far Ms Wijayatilake said, that there is good progress and the committee has received information from the relevant people. The members have visited the Department of Examinations and the University Grants Commission for discussions.
“We have spoken to the former and current Commissioners General of the Examinations Department, other Department officials, the Chairman and Secretary of the UGC and the expert committee that gave the formula for the Z-score,” she said. |
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