Although President Maithripala Sirisena pledged to scrap Grade V Scholarship examination, the Education Ministry has no real plan to replace the highly competitive examination, multiple sources within the ministry said. 

Addressing a meeting in Polonnaruwa, Presidnent Maithripala Sirisena assured that the Grade V Scholarship exam would be done away with. However, he stopped short of revealing the alternative to the highly-competitive examination which has drawn severe criticism from many quarters.

"Grade V Scholarship cannot be abolished overnight. There has to be a proper plan to replace it with a suitable mechanism, " a senior source within the ministry said. 

"Scrapping Grade V scholarship under the current circumstances will give rise to so many fresh problems. If there is a plan to scrap the Grade V examination, there should be a concerted effort to resolve other issues that have plagued the education sector, " the spokesman explained.  

Earlier the Education Ministry said the Grade V examination will be replaced with a less-competitive Grade VII examination, but a final plan is yet to be formulated. 

He added that there is still no comprehensive plan in place to replace the exam , apart from what he termed "mere political rhetoric".