Orientation paper to boost maths pass rate

BY MANJULA Fernando

THE mid year mathematics orientation paper for GCE Ordinary Level students is targeted to boost the maths pass rate from the current 45 per cent to 60, Examinations Commissioner General Anura Edirisinghe said.

He said the overall average pass rate for mathematics at O/L is around 45.7 per cent. "Our target is to increase this up to 60," he said, adding that they have fixed this special paper on July 30 giving plenty of time for teachers to pay special attention to weak performing students.

"The orientation paper will fulfil three key objectives, giving a chance for students to get used to its model, help teachers to find and remedy students' weaknesses in advance and the Ministry to identify shortcomings in schools."

We have made arrangements to release the corrected answer scripts along with the results so that students can review their answers and better prepare themselves for the final hurdle in December, Edirisinghe said.

Introduced under the Education Ministry's on going education reforms program, the paper will cover the syllabus up to the end of this term. It is prepared by the same panel of setters who will design the December's OL maths paper.

The department will administer the paper while marking will be carried out regionally.

Arrangements have been made to hold the Grade Five scholarship examination on August 20.