Law College turns down plea to postpone exams

• Most of the students who are travelling from outstations have raised concerns

By Nirmala Kannangara  

The request made by students of Sri Lanka Law College to get their exams postponed due to the country’s present COVID-19 situation has been turned down by the higher authorities, it is alleged.   

The scheduled Law College exams are to be held from Monday, July 20 till mid- August and most of the students who are travelling from outstations have raised concern following the spreading of coronavirus.   

Law College Principal Indira Samarasinghe PC, when contacted, said that it is the Council of Legal Education that takes decisions and that she has not been asked to postpone the examinations. “As of now there is no such decision taken but I was asked to inquire from other universities whether they have postponed their scheduled exams as well to get a clearance from health authorities,” Samarasinghe told the Daily Mirror.    When brought to her notice that most of the private higher education centres have postponed their listed exams following the spread of COVID-19 in order to safeguard their students from getting infected, Samarasinghe said that she has to see whether the government universities have re-scheduled their exams.   

“I have to check with the state universities,” she said.   

 Meanwhile, Thisath Wijegunawardene PC, member of the Council of Legal Education said that one of their council members who are familiar with the higher education system has not informed the council about state universities re-scheduling their exams and as such there is no reason for the Council to postpone any of their scheduled exams.   
When said that the students are concerned of their safety as most of them have to travel in public transport, Wijegunawardene said that the students should have raised the issue with the law College Management rather than going to the media to raise their issue.   

“Won’t these students want to complete their studies? Most of the students want to sit for exams maybe a few don’t want. The decision to hold exams as scheduled was a collective decision taken by the Council,” Wijegunawardene said.  

University Grants Commission Chairman Prof. Sampath Amaratunge told the Daily Mirror that the UGC has given the green light to all universities except one faculty to hold the exams abiding by the health guidelines.   

“The Education Ministry closed the schools for one week but the university students are adults and they know how to follow health guidelines. By now we have already concluded the MBBS final exams and are conducting the other exams. It’s our responsibility to follow COVID-19 guidelines and face this situation,” Prof. Amaratunge added.    

• As of now there is no such decision taken but I was asked to inquire from other universities