Summon parliament urgently to debate
GCE A/L Exam results fiasco - UNP

* President should take the blame for giving unwarranted directions – Ravi K

December 29, 2011, 10:05 pm , The Island.

by Zacki Jabbar

The UNP, while calling for parliament to be summoned urgently from its recess, to discuss the GCE Advanced Level Examination results fiasco, yesterday blamed President Mahinda Rajapaksa, since it was he who had directed the Education Ministry to expedite the release of the results.

Ravi Karunanayake MP, told The Island that as reported by the State media, Rajapaksa on realizing that it would take some time to finalise the ‘Z’-Scores had summoned the Education Minister and other officials and directed them to publish the results soon, despite the practical difficulties involved.

The Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake has publicly admitted that the mix up in the district rankings had occurred due to the unwarranted pressure applied by people with "top connections" attempting to beat the deadline to get their children admitted to foreign universities, in case they did not obtain the required gradings locally, he said.

Akila Viraj Kariayawasam, MP, yesterday wrote to Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne requesting him to ask the Speaker to re-summon parliament on January 14 ahead of the scheduled date of January 17, to debate the mix up in the A/L district gradings, which had led to frustration among many students.

Though technological issues have been blamed for the errors it was clear that the urgency with which the results were released had led to the mess, he said adding that in view of the contradictory views being expressed on a matter of utmost national importance, it was imperative that the highest legislative body in the country addressed the issue so that the mistakes could be rectified and repetitions avoided.