‘This is a tough decision’ he said adding 621,000 students have applied to sit for the examination which was originally planned to take place from 18th January 2021 to 27th January 20201.

If schools cannot re-open in the first week of December, it would be unfair to conduct the examination on the aforementioned dates, said the Education Minister.

He said the health situation in Sri Lanka will be reviewed every two weeks to decide if the examination can take place.

He said the new date will be announced 06 weeks ahead of the examination, in order to allow candidates to prepare to sit for the examination.