Z score fiasco: SC orders UGC to enrol 5,000 more to varsities

Fourth attempt permitted for affected students

September 12, 2012, 9:52 pm 

By Chitra Weerarathne, The Island

The Supreme Court yesterday ordered the University Grants Commission (UGC) to admit an increased number of 5,609 students to the state universities for the academic year 2011/2012. This is in addition to the 21,500 students previously selected.

Out of the four methods submitted by the UGC to the Court, the third one was picked, since it accommodates the highest number of new admissions.

The Court also directed the Commissioner General of Examinations and connected authorities to annul the rankings issued on July 22, 2012 and to approve the fresh rankings issued on September 6, 2012, pursuant to proceedings of September 3, 2012.

The rankings approved by the Court were those worked out on the basis that the old syllabus and the new syllabus taken as separate entities when the Z-scores were recalculated and re-issued according to the Supreme Court Judgement of June 25, 2012.

The Court directed the UGC to allow the students who sat the GCE (A/L) in August 2011 for the third time in August 2012 to sit once more in August 2013. Those students should be eligible to apply for admission to State universities, the Court ruled. This allowance was granted since there had been a delay in the issue of the Z-score and the rankings had to be re-issued, prior to the re-issue of the new Z-scores on July 23, 2012.

The increase number of 5,609 will include 681 Arts stream students.

The old syllabus students filed a fundamental rights violation application in the Supreme Court that the merging of the new syllabus and old syllabus populations in calculating the Z-scores was detrimental to their interests. The Court on June 25, 2012 ordered the UGC to recalculate the Z-scores, considering the old and new syllabi as separate entities.

Later, the students complained in a motion that the two different entities had been pooled in admitting students to universities.

The Court ordered that the two different entities should not be pooled but considered separately.

Saliya Pieris appeared for the petitioner students.

Attorney General Palitha Fernando PC, appeared for the Commissioner General of Examinations, cited as the first respondent.

Faiz Mustapha PC, appeared for the second respondent, the University Grants Commission. Sanjeewa Jayewardena appeared for intervenient petitioners, who supported the cause of the students.

The Bench comprised the Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, Justice N. G. Amaratunga and Justice K. Sripavan.