Sunday, January 1, 2012

Committee on A/L fiasco begins work

Written by Arthur Wamanan, The Nation

The committee appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to probe the irregularities in 2011 GCE (Advanced Level) examination commenced its activities yesterday. It will submit a report two weeks from the commencement of inquiries.
The committee had also taken a decision not to talk to the media and divulge information until the report is submitted. The committee is headed by Secretary to the Ministry of Science and Technology Dhara Wijethilake and consists of Vice Chancellors Dr. Kshanika Hirimburegama (Colombo University), Dr. Ananda Jayawardena (Moratuwa University), Dr. Ranjith Premalal de Silva (Uva University) and the Principal of Royal College Upali Gunasekera.
The Advanced Level results released on December 25 caused confusion among students and parents owing to mishaps in the island wide and district rankings.

Columns - 5th column,
The SundayTimes

Finding answers to a comedy of errors

By Rypvanwinkle

The court of King Kekille was in session. The King wanted to find out who was to blame for the mistakes in the Advanced Level examination results. There were many accused: the Commissioner of Examinations, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission, the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education, the Seeni Boley in charge of higher education and the Junior Tuition Master who had just joined the team.
The Commissioner of Examinations was in the dock first.
"Why are these results incorrect?" King Kekille asked, "as the person in charge I think you are responsible and you should be punished."
"I only conducted the examination, Maha Rajaaneni," the Commissioner said, "I do not know anything about what they do with these marks."
"Who do you think is responsible, then?" King Kekille asked.
"After we conduct the examination, the marks are handed over to the University Grants Commission, Maha Rajaaneni, so please spare my life," the Commissioner pleaded.
"You may go" King Kekille ordered, "but summon the next accused, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission."
The Chairman of the University Grants Commission was in the dock next.
"And what have you got to say?" King Kekille demanded.
"It is true that we do some calculations based on the marks the Examinations Department has sent us," the Chairman said, "but this is not our fault, Maha Rajaaneni."

"How could you say that?" King Kekille asked, "it is your office that came up with these incorrect calculations, so tell me why you should not be punished?"
"We can explain that, Maha Rajaaneni," the Chairman said, "because the incorrect calculations were the result of marks being calculated in two different ways."
"And why were marks calculated in two different ways?" King Kekille wanted to know.
"That, Maha Rajaaneni," the Chairman explained, "was because the examination was held in two different ways, one for the 'old' syllabus and another for the 'new' syllabus."
"And who is responsible for that?" King Kekille demanded.
"That would be the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education, Maha Rajaaneni…" the Chairman said, "so please spare my life."
"You may go" King Kekille ordered, "but summon the next accused, the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education."
The Senior Tuition Master in charge of education stood in the dock.
"Everyone seems to think this is your fault," King Kekille declared, "what have you got to say?"
"I have done nothing wrong, Maha Rajaaneni," the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education said, "in fact, I have done my job as best as I can."
"How can you say that when all these calculations are incorrect and everyone is complaining that they have received incorrect results?" King Kekille asked.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with the results, Maha Rajaaneni," the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education said, "all the mistakes are in the calculation."
"But," King Kekille retorted, "those who did the calculations say that they made those mistakes because you changed the syllabus from 'old' to 'new'."
"I did, Maha Rajaaneni," the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education said, "but I have quite openly said that even I do not understand the formula that they use to do all these calculations…"
"Who is supposed to understand these calculations, then?"
"Why, Maha Rajaaneni, you appointed someone to supervise all matters related to education. Maybe he should have done that, so please be kind enough to spare my life," the Senior Tuition Master in charge of education said.
"You may go" King Kekille ordered, "but summon the next accused, the Junior Tuition Master who was supposed to supervise education."
The Junior Tuition Master supervising education stood in the dock.
"And why didn't you do your job properly and supervise all these matters?" King Kekille asked.
"Maha Rajaaneni," the Junior Tuition Master supervising education said, "as you would recall, I joined this team only recently and that too only to protect my international schools, so I know nothing about any of this."
"So you had no hand in any of these decisions?" King Kekille asked.
"Of course not, Maha Rajaaneni," the Junior Tuition Master supervising education said, "although I was hoping I would, when I joined."
"But if I am to let you go, I must find who is responsible for these mistakes," King Kekille said, "so, who do you think should be punished?"
"All I know is that the man ultimately responsible for these calculations and entrance into universities is the Seeni Boley in charge of higher education, so please spare my life, Maha Rajaaneni," the Junior Tuition Master supervising education said.
"You may go" King Kekille ordered, "but summon the next accused, the Seeni Boley in charge of higher education."
The Seeni Boley in charge of higher education stood in the dock.
"You are the last accused; I think I would have to punish you," King Kekille said.
"But, Maha Rajaaneni," the Seeni Boley in charge of higher education said, "I don't think that is quite fair."
"Well," King Kekille said, "everyone else is blaming someone else for this and I have to punish someone."
"I quite understand that, Maha Rajaaneni," the Seeni Boley in charge of higher education said, "but I think I know who is ultimately responsible for this and it is up to you to punish that person or not."
"And who would that be?" King Kekille wanted to know.
"Pardon me, Maha Rajaaneni," the Seeni Boley in charge of higher education said, "but it is you who wanted to release these marks in a hurry and that is what led to all these mistakes so I think you are responsible for all this."
"Oh, I see," King Kekille said, pausing to think, "now, I can't punish myself, can I?"
"Of course not, Maha Rajaaneni, we wouldn't want you to do that," all the accused said in unison.
"Then we shall say it was the students who made the mistakes or that it was a computer error," King Kekille proposed, "or maybe even appoint a committee to inquire into all this."
"Ehemai Maha Rajaaneni," all the accused said in unison.
The case was dismissed.

Education authorities flunk A/Ls

While every other stakeholder bemoans the degradation of the A/L results the powers that
be ‘see no evil’

By Mirudhula Thambiah, The Sunday Times

Two students from the same school were in tears of joy after receiving their Advanced Level results with the Z-score markings, or the benchmark to gain university entrance. However, both from Al-Asha National school in Kalpitiya, were confused. Tajudeen Fathima Safana, an Arts student, had obtained an Z-score of 1.5127, and was ranked first in the district and seventh islandwide.
Waidu Jafrin Banu, also an Arts student, had an Z-score of 2.1403, and was ranked fourth in the district and 73rd islandwide. Jafrin whose family was driven out by the LTTE in 1990, and since thenhave been living in a refugee camp, is in tears after seeing the results.
There were also students who sat their exams in the Arts stream and received their results in the Maths stream. Such was the muddle the Exams Department has got itself into, in its attempt to speed up the release of the A/L results.


Waidu Jafrin Banu	Tajudeen Fathima Safana

Although Education authorities claimed that there were errors only in the computerisation of results for district rankings, there were also errors in the grading, island rankings and sometimes in the Z-scores, which further left the students in a quandary.
Ceylon Teachers Services Union Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe, speaking to the Sunday Times, said that his union totally disagrees with the A/L results released last Sunday, saying, “It has many controversies on subject grading, district rank and other components.”
“The Exams Department claimed that there were errors in the last step, as a result of which the evaluations were corrected. But we think there were errors while computerising results itself, not in the last stage when the results are evaluated,” he added. He also confirmed that he received all kinds of complaints from students depending on the outcome of their A/L results.
“There were two students from the Galle district with the same results in the Arts stream, but with different district ranks, island ranks and Z-score,” he said. A student who sat for European History has not received any grades, but mentioned as ‘Not Finalised’, while another student who sat for Political Science has been declared absent.
Graded Principal’s Trade UnionGeneral Secretary S.U. Kariyawasam said that he went to the Education Department on December 26 for the results but didn’t receive them. “The question schemes of the old syllabus differ from the new. In such a state of affairs, it is unacceptable to combine both syllabuses to calculate the Z-score,” he said.
“On behalf of the union, I appeal to the Exams Department to re-evaluate the A/L results, so that the errors and the controversies can be avoided,” he said. Inter University Student’s Federation Convenor Sanjeewa Bandara said that the mess up in the A/L evaluation is a result of the non-organized education system of the government.

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena makes a point at a news conference

Two of the many protests that erupted: Ruhuna students hold protest in Matara.

“There has been a series of controversies within the examination systems of our country, and we demand that the Exams Department re-evaluate the entire result,” he added. Commenting on the committee appointed by the President, Mr. Bandara opined that this committee should have been formed earlier, which shows that the President had not considered this issue before. This committee will drag the issue as usual like those appointed before.
Usually, the Exams Department releases the A/L results in November, after the exams are over in August. But this year, as there are students sitting under the old and the new syllabus, it was announced that the results of the A/L evaluation would take more time, and hence a delay in its release.
Principals islandwide claim that much of their time was wasted going to the Education Department for the results sheets on December 26, only to return empty-handed. A teacher from Gampaha, Kalyanaratne Ranasinghe stated that issues surrounding the A/L evaluation have become a widespread national problem. The Commissioner of Examinations is trotting out his usual excuses, while the Minister of Education does not give clear answers to questions raised by various quarters.
“They have combined both new and old syllabus to evaluate the Z-scores, which is the wrong approach, as students who sat under the old syllabus will be at an advantage over those who sat under the new syllabus,” he said. He further explained that it will only be fair if the Z-score is evaluated separately for the old and new syllabus.
He pointed out that the Commissioner of Examinations has called for re-corrections, but re-correction is a normal routine for any examination. “If an underperforming student receives good results due to the computer error, that student will not be applying for re-correction. Therefore, a good, affected student will face an unfair situation,” he said.
He explained that re-corrections will cost Rs. 750 @ Rs. 250 per subject. Hence, a student who cannot afford such an amount will refrain from applying and for no fault of theirs. Therefore, re-corrections should be free of charge.
A parent from Kandy, Renuka Malliyagoda said it is very difficult to accept these A/L results, due to different feedbacks. “The Ministry of Education and related authorities are going about without any concern for the students. They just don’t seem to care for the students, who could turn suicidal,” she added.
However, Higher Education MinistrySecretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha Nawaratne claimed that there was no confusion or chaos in the A/L results. The important thing is the results of the students, particularly the gradings A, B, C, S, F and the Z-score are considered as the most important parts, and both have been evaluated methodically.

He further denied that there was nothing wrong with the grading and the Z-score, the only problem has occurred due to a small technical error in the computer programme and there was a mis-interpretation on the calculation of the district ranking with the old and the new syllabus. He also confirmed that the national rankings were correct, and that the only errors were in the district rankings.
“Errors in the district rankings are minor, due to technical programming. When there is a small error in the computer programme, it gives a completely different result, which is what has happened,” he added.
“As a result, some people who have got higher Z-score have got a lower district ranking than those who have got a lower Z-score. This is the only error that has occurred in the release of the A/L results” Dr. Nawaratne said.
Commenting on the local impact of the issue, Dr. Nawaratne said that there was no scientific or official impact for university entrance, as university entrance is purely based on the Z-score system. But when it comes to the district ranking, the students get assigned guidelines to which university they would be selected and into which course.
“Of course, students could blame computer error for failing the exams, like it was said that the elections were lost due to a computer jilmart,” he said. Meanwhile, he said there will not be any international impact or link to the entire A/L system. All the evaluations and the other operatives are basically perfect.
“The international universities will only consider the grades, the University Grants Commission will examine the Z-score and the district ranking, while the national ranking is evaluated for student purposes,” Dr. Nawaratne added.
He claimed there was an error by a programmer which has resulted in errors in the A/L evaluations.
There will not be any delays in admissions to universities, and it will be in October, like last year.
President Rajapaksa has appointed a four-member committee comprising a retired judge and three vice chancellors to inquire into the A/L results fiasco and suggest recommendations to avoid a repetition in the future.
He said the old syllabus and the new syllabus has now been combined to evaluate the Z-score and avoid unnecessary pitfalls.
According to the statistical technique called pooling, the distribution for old and new syllabus will be evaluated under the pooling system on the basis of combining both. Since there are two syllabuses, there should be a methodology to merge this. The Z-score system is a scientifically proven system and it is a world methodology. A group of professors have evaluated the Z-score system merging both the new and the old syllabus.
Pix by Padma Kumari, Amila Prabodha, Krishan Jayaruk, Saman Kariyawasam and Susantha Liyanawatte

A/L fiasco: Exams chief to be questioned tomorrow

The SundayTimes

As widespread protests continued, outgoing Examination Commissioner Anura Edirisinghe will tomorrow be questioned by the special five-member committee appointed to look into the crisis over the GCE Advanced Level examination results.

The committee which met on Friday heard evidence from Examinations Department officials including the Commissioners in charge of Evaluation and Examinations and computer programmers.
Mr. Edirisinghe who retires from his service today said the problems over the results had arisen because of a wrong entry by the computer programmer. “We do not have qualified programmers. That is why these problems occurred. The amount of money allocated to maintain a computer unit of this magnitude is also insufficient,” he said.
The committee appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the wake of public outcry over the mess in the results is headed by Dhara Wijetilalke, Secretary to the Ministry of Technology and Research.
Its other members are Colombo University Vice Chancellor Shanika Hirimburegama, Moratuwa University Vice Chancellor Ananda Jayawardene, Uva University Vice Chancellor Ranjith Premalal De Silva and Royal College Principal Upali Gunasekara. The Committee will present its report within the next two weeks.