“We will not allow teachers to participate in A/L paper marking until university issues are resolved,” Ceylon Teachers Union General Secretary Joseph Stalin said. He said they could not undertake A/L paper marking without university lecturers who regulated the A/L paper marking process as panel chiefs.

He said that without their supervision it would not be possible to carry out the A/L paper marking process in a fair and correct manner and said the education system would let down the students if there was no supervision by university teachers.

“The A/L examinations ended on August 30 and the paper marking was expected to commence on September 3 but still the paper marking process has not begun.

If the education ministries had any concern for the students’ welfare they would immediately find a solution to the university crisis so that we could begin A/L paper marking,” Stalin said.

Some 12,000 school teachers and 1000 university teachers participate in A/L paper marking each year. However Stalin said that teachers would refrain from marking examination papers.

Schools were used as examination paper marking centres and were expected to be closed until the paper marking process was near completion. Notwithstanding the ongoing university strike the education ministry opened schools on September 3.

Source: Daily Mirror - Sri Lanka