The Commissioner General of Examinations, Amith Jayasundara, announced that the 2024 Grade 05 Scholarship Examination will not be re-conducted, despite recent controversies surrounding alleged question paper leaks. To address the issue, all students will be awarded free marks for the three questions confirmed to have been compromised.
The decision follows a thorough investigation by several committees, which concluded that only three questions were leaked prior to the examination, held on September 15 at 2,849 centers across the island, with a total of 323,879 candidates participating. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has also been involved in investigating the matter.
Following the allegations, the evaluation of answer sheets was temporarily suspended; however, it is expected to resume immediately now that the investigations have provided clarity. The Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Thilaka Jayasundara, had previously ordered the suspension of the marking process due to the controversy.
Two individuals, a 58-year-old Director of the Planning Division of the National Institute of Education (NIE) and a 49-year-old school teacher, were arrested by the CID in connection with the leak and are currently remanded until October 22. The NIE Director was part of the committee responsible for preparing the scholarship exam paper, while the teacher had been conducting tuition classes for Grade 05 students.
The issue was escalated to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake by concerned parents, prompting the immediate suspension of the evaluation process until a resolution could be found. The decision not to conduct a re-examination aims to mitigate the impact on students and ensure a fair outcome.
