A/L will not be postponed - Petition to postpone rejected

The Court of Appeal today (23) ordered to dismiss the writ petition, filed requesting a two-month postponement of the G.C.E. Advanced Level examination scheduled to be held next August, without even hearing it. The Court of Appeal announced this decision after extensively studying the facts presented by both parties.

The relevant petition was submitted to the court by nine candidates who were scheduled to appear for the G.C.E. Advanced Level examination for the first and second time this year. The petitioners pointed out that school operations were disrupted due to emergency situations such as the 'Ditwa' cyclone that affected many areas during the past period and the fuel shortage in the country. Stating that they did not receive sufficient time to prepare for the examination as the required number of school days was not completed, the petitioning students requested the court to issue a writ order against the respondents, including the Minister of Education, the Secretary to the Ministry, and the Commissioner General of Examinations, to cancel the currently published examination timetable and postpone the examination by two months.

However, Solicitor General Viraj Dayaratne, appearing for the respondent party, stated before the court that approximately 378,000 candidates have registered for this year's examination, and only a very small number of students have made this request. Although 80% school attendance is essential to sit for the examination, the Solicitor General revealed that the attendance of the petitioning students was at low levels such as 7.2%, 50%, and 53%, and emphasized that it is not fair for a group who did not even properly attend classes to conceal facts from the court and claim insufficient time. Furthermore, the government party also pointed out that postponing this examination would severely impact future higher education and university admission processes.

This petition was considered on July 16th by a bench of judges comprising Court of Appeal President Justice Rohantha Abeysooriya and Justice Priyantha Fernando. After considering the written submissions presented by both parties, the decision on whether to grant permission to hear the petition was postponed until today (23).

Accordingly, considering that the request of the petitioning party had no legal basis, the Court of Appeal today delivered its final decision to dismiss the relevant petition without even hearing it.