Special transport services began operating on Monday for candidates sitting the G.C.E. Advanced Level examination, with about 1,700 Sisu Seriya buses deployed across the island.

Director General of the National Transport Commission Dr Nilan Miranda said the buses had been assigned to carry candidates for the duration of the examination, NewsFirst reported.

Bus and rail arrangements

The Sri Lanka Transport Board said priority will be given to school bus services until the examination concludes. Officials have been instructed to ensure those services run continuously throughout the examination period rather than being diverted to other routes.

Sri Lanka Railways said it has taken steps to operate trains on the regular timetable without cancellations for the length of the examination. The department also said railway track maintenance work normally scheduled for Saturdays has been temporarily suspended while the examination is under way.

Sisu Seriya is the concessionary school transport service run through the National Transport Commission, combining SLTB depot services with registered private operators.

A month of examination traffic

The arrangements cover an unusually long window. The Advanced Level examination opened on Monday and runs until September 5, with 372,310 candidates sitting at 2,532 centres — 264,496 school candidates and 107,814 private candidates, according to the Department of Examinations.

Commissioner General of Examinations Indika Kumari Liyanage has told candidates to reach their centres at least an hour before the scheduled start time, which places the heaviest demand on morning services.

Schools were closed for the August holidays in part to free buildings for use as examination centres, reducing routine school-run demand on the same fleet.

The examination has opened during an unsettled spell of weather. The Department of Meteorology expects showers or thundershowers in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in the Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Galle and Matara districts on Monday, and the Examinations Department set out contingency arrangements earlier this month for candidates affected by adverse weather.

Source: NewsFirst.