Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, a few corrections. A majority did not demand a re-exam. Those who went to court were a group of parents; many others asked that there be no re-exam. Their voices were not heard because they did not litigate. Also note, students sat in Tamil medium as well. There was no issue in the Tamil paper. If we re-held the exam, Tamil medium candidates would also have had to sit again.

¶ 02 Therefore, we appointed an Expert Committee to consider all aspects: the best decision from an assessment perspective, and from the children’s mental health perspective. The Grade 5 Scholarship causes stress from Grade 1 onwards. We did not want to increase that stress. Hence we included child psychologists on the Committee. I believe the recommended decision minimizes stress and avoids prejudice to results.

¶ 03 I was not afraid to take responsibility, though the incident did not occur during my tenure; it surfaced as I assumed office. But a Minister cannot directly interfere in the Department of Examinations’ operational work. Perhaps earlier there was such a culture; we are not prepared to do that. We must preserve the Department’s independence. If the Hon. Member proceeds in that direction, good; do not come this way.

¶ 04 Thus, per the Committee’s recommendations, we allowed the Department to decide. As to cut-off marks: delays were due not to the Department’s fault but because of the court case. Until it concluded, we could not proceed; there was an interim order to suspend paper marking.