Question paper fiasco:

Minister to crack the whip

Dharma Sri ABEYRATNE

The Education Ministry will take tough action against those responsible for the recent question papers fiasco, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha said.

The Education Ministry is inquiring into the issues of question paper errors reported from most parts of the country.

It was revealed that there were numerous mistakes in question papers while on some occasions even obscene words were found in the question papers. Besides the mistakes in the question papers, there were also other lapses such as poor transport arrangements which resulted in the question papers not reaching exam centres on time.

“Education is a devolved subject and the Chief Minister or any other Minister has to take the responsibility at the Provincial level. Although the Government cannot act directly, it would push for action through the provincial administration in the regions where the lapses occurred,” Minister Premajayantha said.

This year’s question papers have been prepared by the Zonal Education directors at Zonal level and the Subject Director at Zonal level for a particular subject is responsible for that particular question paper since that subject director leads the team of preparing question paper.

“Subject directors are graduates in those particular subjects. Therefore, they are capable of managing the mechanism. The total responsibility goes to the Zonal Education authorities since they have to ensure the smooth flow of the evaluation system.

But the negligence of subject directors and other relevant officials have caused this sad situation,” the Minister noted.

The Minister accused the provincial administrations, particularly education officials of neglecting their duty. The Minister pointed out that there was no problem whatsoever in Jaffna. “There are five education zones that prepare examination papers for this term test in Jaffna.

Unlike the rest of the country, not a single mistake in question papers is reported.

That is due to the dedication and devotion of the educationists who bear the responsibility on the question papers. But most of educationists who bear the responsibility of preparing question papers in other parts of the country haven’t showed their responsibility well like that of Jaffna,” the Minister said.

However moves are under way by the Education Ministry to streamline the evaluating mechanism while stopping repetition errors of this nature.