Bandula requests intellectuals:

‘Assist in marking AL papers’

D Siriwardena, Galle district spl corr

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena on Tuesday requested intellectuals in the country to come forward and assist in the marking of the GCE Advanced Level examination papers and fill the void created by striking university Dons, saying the present number of 400 examiners on the job are inadequate to meet the challenge of marking answer scripts.

The minister said education policies could not be formulated overnight or instantly like making kottu rotti.

Minister Gunawardena made the request addressing the gathering at a ceremony at Meepawala Amarasinghe Maha Vidyalaya in Galle.

Gunawardena said he would call upon parents’ present at the meeting to induce intellectuals known to them to come forward and perform this national duty in the interests of the children who form the backbone of the country.He

said nearly 1.8 million answer scripts of nearly 277,000 students who sat the GCE Advanced Level examination are in the safe custody of the Examinations Department. The minister said arrangements have been made to set up 409 Mahindodaya laboratories countrywide and appoint 1,000 graduates as science and mathematics teachers on October 1 to mark Universal Children’s Day. “Steps have been taken to make a qualitative change in the education system by 2016.