SB hums different tune after his claims are countered

Former Exam Chief strikes discordant note

January 25, 2012, 9:38 pm , The Island.


by Dasun Edirisinghe

Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake yesterday claimed that he had wanted Prof. R. O. Thattil on the panel of experts which introduced a new Z score formula combining the results of old and new syllabuses at the last GCE (A/L), but the Examination Department and the University Grants Commission opposed his appointment to the panel.

Addressing a news conference at the UGC Auditorium, Minister Dissanayake said that he couldn’t override their decisions.

Former Secretary to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education Prof. R. P. Gunawardena on Tuesday criticized the government for not including Prof. Thattil in the panel that worked out the new Z score formula.

Answering a question raised by a journalist, Minister Dissanayake agreed that the then Education and Higher Education Minister selected Prof. Thattil’s proposal to implement the ‘Z’ – Score scheme during 2000/ 2001 from 11 other proposals.

"When I suggested Prof. Thattil’s name to the panel, the Examinations Department opposed it on grounds that Prof. Thattil had submitted a letter to Court in favour of a student who had filed a case against the Examinations Department and UGC," he said.

Dissanayake said that the UGC too opposed Prof Thattil’s appointment as there were several audit queries against the Professor when he was working as the Director of the Peradeniya University’s Post Graduate Institute.

The Minister also said that the ‘Z’ – score system was the best measurement to select students to the universities.

When contacted by The Island, former Commissioner General of Examinations Anura Edirisinghe denied Minister Dissanayake’s claim that the Examinations Department objected to the appointment of Prof. Thattil.

"We neither opposed nor agreed with Prof. Thattil’s appointment to the panel," he said adding that the Examinations Department was not aware of the experts in the panel until it was officially announced.

UGC Chairman Prof. Gamini Samaranayake said Prof. Thattil was not the only statistician in the country.

"There is no doubt he’s an expert, but we appointed a five-member experts committee," he said adding that they had focused on experts to access easily as they were residing in Colombo suburbs.

He said that they also wanted to include the Vice Chancellor of the Peradeniya University in the panel, but it was cancelled due to the fact he was in Kandy.

Prof. Samaranayake said that they had invited another expert who worked with Prof. Thattil but he declined to join the panel.

He declined to comment on audit queries against Prof. Thattil.