The Supreme Court has ruled that the decision to award free marks for three questions in the first paper of the recently concluded Grade 5 Scholarship Examination constitutes a violation of fundamental human rights.
The court directed the Commissioner General of Examinations to implement one of the three recommendations proposed by experts to address the issue. The court further ordered that the selected recommendation be executed without delay.
Additionally, I.G.S. Premathilaka and Chaminda Kumara Ilangasinghe, individuals implicated in the premature release of these examination questions, were ordered to pay compensation to the government. Premathilaka was fined three million rupees, while Ilangasinghe was fined two million rupees.
The verdict was delivered by a three-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Yasantha Kodagoda, Kumuduni Wickramasinghe, and Arjuna Obeysekara. The bench reviewed four fundamental rights petitions filed by affected students and their parents.
The petitioners argued that the government’s decision to award free marks for the disputed questions unfairly disadvantaged them. They contended that their fundamental rights were infringed as the decision diluted the merit-based assessment of the examination.
The Supreme Court’s ruling underscores the importance of fairness and integrity in the nation’s education system.
