FR petition filed in Supreme Court seeking re-examination of 2024 Grade 5 scholarship exam

A fundamental rights petition was filed before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka today (October 15), requesting the cancellation of the first question paper of the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination, which was held on September 15, 2024.

The petition calls for a re-examination of the paper due to concerns over leaked questions.

The petition was filed by 27 students who sat for the examination, along with their parents, naming 15 respondents, including the Commissioner General of Examinations, Amith Jayasundara; Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya; the Secretary of the Ministry; and the Deputy Inspector General of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Filed by Attorney-at-Law Manjula Balasooriya, the petition claims that rumors circulated about the leakage of three questions from the first paper before the exam.

On September 20, 2024 an investigation was launched by the Department of Examinations, following these allegations, and the initial report was handed over to the CID, which also began a separate inquiry.

The CID’s investigation revealed that a private tuition teacher had given students questions closely resembling those in the examination.

As a result, two individuals were arrested: a 57-year-old Director of the Planning Division of the National Institute of Education (NIE), who was a member of the committee that prepared the examination paper, and a 49-year-old school teacher who conducted tuition classes for Grade 5 students.

Both were remanded until October 22, 2024.

Following the discovery of the leaked questions, the marking of the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination papers was temporarily suspended.

Meanwhile, parents of the affected students held press conferences and staged protests, claiming that not just three questions, but the entire paper, had been leaked.

The petitioners brought the issue to the attention of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who appointed a seven-member committee to investigate the matter.

However, according to the petitioners, on October 14, 2024, media reports suggested that instead of a re-examination, the decision was made to award free marks for the three leaked questions.

Commissioner General of Examinations Amith Jayasundara confirmed on October 14, 2024 that the examination would not be re-conducted and that all students would receive free marks for the affected questions.

The petitioners argue that this decision could negatively impact the students’ final results and constitutes a violation of their fundamental rights.

Additionally, the petition requests that if the ongoing investigation reveals leaks in the second paper, an order should be made to re-conduct that exam as well.

The petitioners are seeking an interim order to prevent the release of the examination results and cut-off marks until the case is concluded.

They have also asked the court to invalidate the decision to award full marks for the leaked questions and direct the respondents to submit the names of the committee members involved in the investigation.

Furthermore, the petitioners are demanding Rs. 10 million in compensation for the alleged violation of their rights.