O/L exams delayed once more, papers to be held in February
View(s):The Education Ministry’s decision to further postpone this year’s G.C.E. Ordinary Level (O/L) examinations may come as good news for students. However parents express concern over the delay in their children’s higher education plans, an Education Ministry official said.
This week, Education Minister G.L. Peiris said the O/L Examination will be held from February 21 to March 3, 2022, a two month delay from the usual December examination due to the present pandemic situation.
Nileeka Gamage, a parent of an O/L student in Mathugama, said her son is presently doing past papers and studying with school text books.
“In the absence of online teaching due to the teacher strike, he continues with online tuition. We hope he can finish the exams soon so he can decide on the A/L stream,” she said, adding that her eldest son is awaiting university entrance.
“I don’t want both my boys’ future to be delayed,” she said.
“Exam dates play a major role for students who perform well in studies. Children can set a target and work on that. Postponing will lead to children losing interest or performing poorly,” another parent from Nugegoda said.
Parents who are planning to send their children overseas are the most worried, the Sunday Times learns.
Samantha Wijesinghe from Athurugiriya, said he plans to send his son overseas or enrol his son at a university here offering a foreign degree.
“The delay will have a major effect on their enrolment to universities. Their future careers depend on how soon they complete these state examinations,” he added. Both the postponement of examinations and papers being difficult for students in the previous exams have confused parents, said ShehaniGunasekera, who conducts accounting classes for O/L students.
She said students show poor performance even in online tests.
“In online teaching, the teacher cannot assess the students’ performance. Due to teaching being done one time, some students may be able to grasp lessons at once, while some may not understand at all. Therefore education authorities should reconsider the students’ present situation while preparing papers for the exams,”she said.
An O/L Science teacher from Gampaha also said parents who are planning to send students to state universities, the medical faculty or to foreign universities are worried about the delay of exams.
With the present COVID situation, priority will be given to preparing papers and conducting the G.C.E. Advanced Level exams that will be held from November 15 to December 10 this year, Examinations Commissioner Sanath Pujitha told the Sunday Times.
This week, the Education Ministry announced that the issuing of results for 622,000 students who sat for the 2020 G.C.E. O/L exam has been delayed, because the practical tests of the aesthetic subjects were not held within the scheduled time.
Last year’s aesthetic subjects’ practical exams are to be held from August 28 to September 8.