The government spent an additional Rs 13.5 million reprinting question papers for the 2024 Grade 3 and Grade 11 final examinations in the North Central Province after the originals were leaked to teachers running private tuition classes, a National Audit Office report has found.
The report, reported by the Daily Mirror on Sunday, says no action has yet been taken to recover the loss from those responsible.
How the papers were printed
The North Central Provincial Education Department awarded a contract worth Rs 54,397,908 to the Provincial Development, Construction and Machinery Agency to print examination papers for the province’s schools in 2024.
Before the examinations were held, all the question papers intended for Grade 3 and Grade 11 students were reportedly found in the hands of teachers conducting private tuition classes. The department was forced to temporarily suspend the examinations.
Where the leak came from
An investigation by the North Central Provincial Ministry of Education found that the papers had been leaked from the printing agency itself to the tuition teachers, according to the audit report.
The Provincial Education Department then had to arrange a reprint through the Government Printing Department, at an additional cost of Rs 13.5 million — roughly a quarter of the value of the original printing contract, spent a second time on the same work.
No recovery yet
The audit report’s central criticism is what has not happened since. It states that no action has been taken so far to recover the financial loss caused to the government from those responsible for the leak, and instructs the authorities of the North Central Provincial Council to act immediately.
Asked about the matter, the Secretary to the Provincial Chief Ministry, K.M.H.S.K. Jayalath, said a complaint had been lodged with the police. He said legal action would be taken against those responsible based on the findings of the police investigation.
Not reported
The filing does not say when the audit report was released, how many students or schools were affected by the suspension, or how long the examinations were delayed. It does not name anyone at the printing agency, say how many people are under investigation, or state when the police complaint was made or what stage the investigation has reached. It does not say whether the Rs 54.4 million original contract was paid in full despite the papers being unusable, or whether the agency remains a government printing contractor.
This report rests on a single source. The underlying National Audit Office report was not independently obtained.
