EFSL urges Govt. to postpone 2021 A/L exams

The Education Forum Sri Lanka (EFSL) called on the Government to postpone the 2021 Advanced Level (A/L) exams scheduled to be held in two months. It pointed out that the A/L syllabus had not been covered.

In a press release last week, it said that a significant section of students have not been able to follow online classes, and it will be unfair to hold exams on November 15 as announced by the Examination Department.

The Education Ministry has not made any effort to prepare children for the exams but has been scheduling, postponing and rescheduling dates in the past months, EFSL said emphasising on the importance of completing the syllabus before exams are held.

It conceded that twenty months of lost work cannot be covered by distance education or in classrooms within a month even if schools reopen next month.

Therefore EFSL called on the Government to reopen schools early, at least for A/L students, and have dedicated television channels to teach the A/L syllabus three months before the exams are scheduled.

It also suggested postponing the Grade five scholarship exams until next year, while holding the exams for the 2022 grade five batch.