Colombo:
Not long ago, they were armed with guns and grenades, but 100 former LTTE child soldiers on Tuesday picked up pens to write the high school examinations at a welfare camp in northern Sri Lanka.
Other than the child combatants, 1,187 displaced Tamil children also sat for the Advanced Level Examinations in the Vavuniya camp, an official said.
Many of the children prepared for the exams after studying from the makeshift schools set up hurriedly in the camps for the internally displaced persons (IDP).
Former LTTE cadres also took the exams in Chettikulam area in the war-ravaged north. Many of the ex-rebels had expressed willingness to go back to studies after spending years in the jungles fighting the Sri Lankan army, according to officials.
Sri Lankan troops virtually vanquished the Tamil Tigers after eliminating the top leadership, including LTTE supreme Velupillai Prabhakaran, in May.
The Department of Examinations had issued special identity cards for the IDPs at Vavuniya and Chettikulam.
The special arrangement was made considering the unusual circumstances under which the candidates were sitting for the examination, Commissioner General of Examinations Anura Edirisinghe said.
Other than the child combatants, 1,187 displaced Tamil children also sat for the Advanced Level Examinations in the Vavuniya camp, an official said.
Many of the children prepared for the exams after studying from the makeshift schools set up hurriedly in the camps for the internally displaced persons (IDP).
Former LTTE cadres also took the exams in Chettikulam area in the war-ravaged north. Many of the ex-rebels had expressed willingness to go back to studies after spending years in the jungles fighting the Sri Lankan army, according to officials.
Sri Lankan troops virtually vanquished the Tamil Tigers after eliminating the top leadership, including LTTE supreme Velupillai Prabhakaran, in May.
The Department of Examinations had issued special identity cards for the IDPs at Vavuniya and Chettikulam.
The special arrangement was made considering the unusual circumstances under which the candidates were sitting for the examination, Commissioner General of Examinations Anura Edirisinghe said.
