Grade 5 Scholarship exam Reforms under review: MoE
View(s):The Ministry of Education (MoE) is studying the recommendations of a committee that looked into reforms for the Grade 5 Scholarship examination system, said Education Minister Akiila Viraj Kariawasam.
“Two proposals under consideration include holding the Scholarship examination at Grade 7 and also holding examinations in two separate ways,” he said.
The Committee had recommended that the exam be conducted for students from underprivileged schools separately, so that, more students can benefit from the scholarships granted, while another examination is held for all students to qualify for entrance to national schools.
“If the students from the underprivileged school obtain more than 75%, they too can sit for the school entrance examination. The recommendation is that we reserve 30% of the placement for students from such schools,” the Minister said.
He added that, under the present system, students from poorer schools were at a disadvantage when pitted against students from school with more facilities. “This system will help the underprivileged students more,” he said.
The recommendation that the exam be held in Grade 7 would be difficult to implement.
“This is the best age for a student to sit for the Scholarship exam and was the system in place previously. However, as this could complicate things, the change will be to the manner in which the exam is held,” he said.
The Minister added that no final decision has been taken on the changes to the Scholarship program, but would be finalized after discussions with the relevant stakeholders.
“We will place the proposals before the public for their views. Our focus will be on granting more scholarships to underprivileged students,” the Minister added.
He said the long term plan is to bring 3,000 schools to the Advanced Level exam stage, so that, the need for such an exam is not there, but this will take longer to become a reality.
(DW)