The Opposition continued raising the issue of mistakes in question papers in Parliament yesterday.

The argument on problems created by the errors in papers came up as JVP Parliamentary Group Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake pointed out that there were mistakes in the Sinhala question paper of the Advanced Level Examination held on Wednesday.

He said that a large number of students had been affected owing to the folly of the education authorities.

Education Minister Susil Premjayantha said that the Advanced Level question paper on Sinhala subjects was prepared by qualified professors in Sinhala, therefore if there were any mistakes that should be taken up at that level because a Parliamentarian is in no position to judge a work done by a scholar.

Later, UNP MP Akila Viraj Kariyawasam pointed out that the question number one of the Sinhala II paper was highly racial and the paper was against harmony between ethnic communities.

Kariyawasam reading out the question said that the students had been asked to analyse the large haul of weapons captured by the security forces from the LTTE, meant that the LTTE had a goal that went beyond achieving Eelam.

By asking such questions, the Tamil students taking the subject would feel aggrieved, the MP said. "This question is racist in nature and inappropriate especially at a time we are trying to build better relations between the two communities," he said.

Education Minister Premjayantha did not answer MP Kariyawasam’s question. MP Kariyawasam later raising a point of order demanded that his question must be answered.