The majority of Government school candidates who are to sit the G.C.E. (O/.L.) Examination -2023 from May 6 to 15 this year are reported to have failed to obtain their National Identity Cards (NICs) as yet.
The Department of Registrations of Persons has requested all school heads countrywide to avoid until the last moment since the process of issuing NICs to students may take a long time if accurate information is not provided in the relevant application forms, Kurunegala Senior Director of Education W.M.Balasooriya told the Sunday Observer.
Accordingly, nearly 450,000 school candidates are eligible to apply for NIC s annually for this examination but only 200,000 school candidates have applied so far, he said. Balasooriya said the Examinations Department is exploring the possibility of making the NIC compulsory for candidates to enter the examination centre this time as many attempted frauds and malpractices had been reported in previous years by private candidates while answering the question papers at the G.C.E.(O.L.) and (A.L.) Examinations.
Nearly 560 acts of frauds and misbehaving were reported last year and as a result, 322 such errant candidates were not issued with the results as punishment. Those errant candidates are banned from sitting public examinations for five years continuously, he said.
School heads are responsible for their candidates to get the NICs on time or else, parents would fall into unnecessary inconvenience, he said.
