Examinations Chief makes special appeal regarding scholarship exam

Commissioner General of Examinations AKS Indika Kumari Liyanage has urged parents to refrain from questioning their children on how they answered the exam papers following the conclusion of today’s Grade Five Scholarship examination.

The 2025 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination was today (10) at 2,787 examination centers across the island.

A total of 307,951 candidates sat for the exam.

According to the Commissioner General of Examinations, Indika Kumari Liyanage, a total of 901 students with special needs sat for the exam this year, including 12 candidates using Braille scripts.

Speaking at a media briefing held in Colombo, the Commissioner General made a heartfelt appeal to parents to refrain from discussing the exam paper and how they answered the exam papers.

She emphasized that children should be given the opportunity to enjoy their childhood and urged parents not to place unnecessary pressure on them based on the scholarship exam.

“These are very young children. We must allow them to enjoy their childhood. It is our collective responsibility to ensure they are not subjected to undue pressure due to the Grade 5 Scholarship Exam. Each child attempts the exam to the best of their individual abilities, which naturally vary. So please do not compare children, question them about what answers they wrote, or scold or punish them for any wrong answers,” she said.

“Whether they wrote the correct answer or not, what matters is how they faced the exam at that moment. We cannot get their childhood back. So don’t let their childhood be defined or destroyed by this exam. The scholarship exam is just one of many. These children will face bigger and better exams in the future. Please, don’t burden them unnecessarily because of this single exam,” the Commissioner General of Examinations appealed to all parents.