Ministry nod must to print exam papers says minister

Chamikara WEERASINGHE

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena said yesterday that he is willing to support private sector publishers who are looking to print past papers of school examinations, but they must first obtain ministry permission.

Minister Gunawardena said the question and answer papers of school examinations belong to the ministry.

"They are valued intellectual property of the Education Ministry. We reserve their rights and ownership," he said and added: "Private publishers cannot reproduce them in any manner without the Exam Commissioner's permission. There have been millions of such publications before. We prohibited the printing of past papers of the examinations by any party several months ago through a gazette notification," Gunawardena said.

He said some publishers could hardly wait until an exam is over, to steal them, and to add to their latest collection of past papers to be released to the market.

Meanwhile, the ministry has taken steps to introduce books consisting of sets of past exam papers. This is to ensure availability of them to the students.

The Examination Department and Educational Publications Department last week launched a book containing past papers of grade five examinations.