Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said Grade 5 Scholarship exam would not be compulsory for students of government schools from today onwards.

The Minister said he instructed official to cancel the circular making the Grade 5 scholarship compulsory for students. 

The decision is the result of a strong public outcry against the examination which exerted highly disproportionate pressure on primary school students from Grade 01. 

Many experts in the education sector have stressed the need for revoking the exam while some has requested the government to shift it from Grade 05 to Grade 07 or 08. 

The cancellation of the circular making the exam compulsory for Grade 05 students can be viewed as the first step of a progressive reform proces, they added.