Sri Lanka’s education system

August 14, 2012, 6:06 pm , The Island


GCE Advanced Level commenced at 2,093 centres countrywide yesterday. There are 277,601 candidates sitting for the examination which is scheduled to continue till August 30. These school candidates were seen waiting till the examination commences at St Benedict’s College, Kotahena.

By Nipuni Panamaldeniya

Growing up in Sri Lanka, if someone had told me that I would move to Canada when I was 16, I certainly would have thought that they had surrendered to insanity. But when the opportunity arose for us to immigrate, we took it, knowing that sooner or later, my brother and I might have to pursue a higher education in a foreign country anyway.

I’ll be honest. I was never one of those kids with a brilliant mind and a seemingly endless supply of various talents. Whilst I may not have been brilliant, I was a hard worker, and I was raised to believe that hard work eventually pays off. I know from experience that the majority of students in Sri Lanka wake up at the crack of dawn to study, to attend tuition classes, to go to school, and to come back exhausted only to start the same cycle all over again. They do all this, and still find the time to excel in their extracurricular activities. I did the same whilst studying for my O/L examination. So I started wondering, what kept me going? What drives every student in Sri Lanka hoping to eventually enter university to dedicate all their time and energy to study so hard for, and pass all these examinations? And then I realised that it was pure faith. They believe wholeheartedly that if they give enough of themselves, if they sacrifice enough to study for these examinations, someday, all their hard work will pay off, and they will be able to enter university. Alas, for some of them, this isn’t true. I can only imagine the disappointment they must feel in a system which fooled them into believing in a dream, only to have it shattered in the end.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Sri Lanka. There is no other place I feel more at home, no other place I feel has the same magic, charm, and splendour as my mother country. I had a good life there. I didn’t lack for anything, and the childhood years I spent in Sri Lanka with my cousins roaming tea estates, splashing around in bubbling streams, and climbing hills in the afternoon heat just to slide down in a "kolapata" were some of the best days of my life.

But you don’t remain a child forever. Eventually, you grow out of those rose coloured glasses you used to view the world through. You lose that innocence, become jaded and begin to learn from whatever experiences which were bestowed upon your young life. So as a young child in Sri Lanka, I watched my older cousins go into battle with the beast known as the A/L examination. And yet, after undergoing what seemed like torture sessions of tuition, after putting their blood, sweat and tears into those examinations and passing, they still weren’t able to enter university. Don’t tell me that they weren’t smart enough, or that they didn’t work hard enough. I’m smart enough not to believe that. And so were they. So they found other means. They went abroad. And now they all have successful, thriving careers. Just not in Sri Lanka. Because, frankly, why come back to a country that pushed them away in the first place? I saw their point. And so after the Ordinary Levels, when my mother told us we had the opportunity to immigrate to Canada, my brother and I, of course, felt we would be fools to refuse.

I am not writing this to gloat about having the opportunity to enter university in another country. Too few of us are able to do that, I know, and those who aren’t as fortunate are fated to work jobs that they are perhaps over qualified for, and underpaid for. And this is a shame, it’s a waste of talent, and these kids grow disheartened thinking that they are not good for anything, when in fact, had they been given the opportunity, they might have been able to live their dream.

I was thinking of the irony here. I feel that, if hard work and dedication can get you into a university in another country, then hard work and dedication should certainly be able to get you into a university in Sri Lanka. And fine, I never took the A/L’s so I will never know whether or not I would have entered a university in Sri Lanka. But my cousins, who did work hard for their A/L’s and weren’t able to enter university in Sri Lanka, did enter universities in countries like Canada, US, and Australia. So am I to believe that the Sri Lankan education system is so far superior to any of these other countries that these students just weren’t intelligent enough to get in? Surely you jest. I mean really, if this were true, these Sri Lankan universities must be breeding some real Einsteins right about now. Or is it that there just isn’t enough space in the existing universities that those students who are smart, and work hard, still cannot get in? We all know that this is the reason. Not that it matters, because the mentality that this situation is purporting is that, you just do not have high enough of an I.Q. to enter university. Not only is this promoting low self esteem in students who are certainly well qualified enough to receive a university education, it is depriving them of a higher education that they are deserving of.

Trust me, I have nothing against the talent that is currently in Sri Lankan universities. Some of my best friends are pursuing their education at these institutions and I have utmost respect and admiration for them. But I cannot seem to get past the irony that those kids who are intelligent enough to enter universities in other countries cannot enter universities in Sri Lanka, prompting them to go abroad. So is there any surprise that Sri Lanka seems to be impacted by a "brain drain"?

Also, let’s not forget that after basically killing themselves to enter university, most of my friends who are in Sri Lankan universities right now are marooned at home because there are so many strikes going on. If I were them, I would have serious doubts as to whether this is the type of quality education that they struggled so hard to receive. However, this is another matter entirely and one that I do not know enough about to properly comment on. From what I can see though, the Sri Lankan education system seems to be a bundle full of irony.

I believe in a country that doesn’t smash its children’s hopes to smithereens, leaving only the carcasses of their dreams behind. I believe in a country where believing in your dreams and sacrificing everything for them doesn’t mean that eventually you will be left with nothing. I believe in a Lanka where every hard working student is given every opportunity to have their moment to shine.

FUTA trade union action– past and present –II

August 14, 2012, 4:51 pm , The Island


By Nalin de Silva

Twenty years ago FUTA did not consider the university academics a special category and the demands that were made to the authorities on salaries and other benefits were not based on that assumption. It is true that the university academics perform duties do not but that does not make them a special category. If they belong to a special category then all the others not only in the Universities but also in other places of work could claim themselves to constitute special categories and when each category considers itself special then the meaning of the word special category is lost. Except the demand that a 6% of the GDP be spent on education in general, all the other FUTA demands are based on the special category claim and as a result the demands cannot be justified. The universities in Sri Lanka are mainly teaching institutions and unfortunately no training is given to them in this field.

When I joined the then University of Ceylon as an assistant lecturer forty five years ago I had no training in teaching except for the experience I had as a teacher for six months at Wadduwa Central College instructing students preparing for university admissions in Pure and Applied Mathematics immediately after I sat my University Preliminary (Entrance) examination in 1962. Some of the students in my classes were older than I but that did not give me any experience in teaching. I do not consider myself to be a good teacher, and many students kept away from my lectures in all the three universities I have worked at as most probably they did not have anything to learn from me. One student who was taught by me at Wadduwa was unfortunate enough to find himself in my classes at Peradeniya! I have cited my experience at Wadduwa only to show that there was a dearth of teachers in most of the schools in Sri Lanka fifty years ago even in urban areas and over the years the situation has improved though there is much to be done especially in the rural areas. Like school teachers university lecturers also need training in teaching. It is true that some are born teachers but they constitute only a very small percentage which is negligible. It has to be mentioned that when this question came up twenty years ago many senior academics in the faculties other than that of education did not like the idea as they thought they had better qualifications than even their colleagues in the Faculty of Education. I do not want to go into details at this juncture as it would be embarrassing to some of them who are still living. If FUTA is interested in improving university education it should take up this matter with the UGC and the Ministry of Higher Education.

There has been an improvement in education in general over the years but parties with vested interests have been trying to show that there is a crisis in education at present. They are politically motivated as seen from the cry over the Z score problem and the mistakes in the G. C. E. (A/L) question papers this year. Some of these politically biased leaders of teacher unions and some journalists try to sling mud at the two ministers concerned as if they were responsible for the errors. The Z score problem is nothing but a creation of some university academics and journalists and, of course, some political parties and their leaders. The UGC appointed a committee of experts drawn from universities to come up with a recommendation on admission of students to the universities as there were two sets of students who had sat either the new syllabus or old syllabus question papers. The Examination Department issued the Z scores of students calculated according to the formula recommended by the UGC, which itself was recommended by the committee of experts. The committee most probably recommended a formula that they had taken from a book but unfortunately it was wrong conceptually. However, the error was marginal in practice and I am told that the application of the formula did not alter the percentages of students admitted to the universities in each stream from students who sat the examination for the first time and those who repeated. The politically biased teachers’ trade unions, politicians in the Opposition and some journalists unfortunately encouraged by Prof. R. O. Thattil were able to turn public opinion against the adoption of the formula of the experts drawn from the universities. It is interesting to note that the committee was not criticised for the method adopted but the two ministers concerned. That was nothing but politicalising an issue and it should be realised that it is not only the government that is responsible for politicalisation. The student bodies in the universities are politicalised and unfortunately even FUTA is now engaged in politicalised issues as seen from its current trade union action.

The politically motivated agitations over the Z score were followed by litigation and the Supreme Court decided that the Z scores should be calculated separately in the case of first timers and the repeaters for the purpose of admission of students to the universities. The UGC instructed the Examination Department eventually to calculate the Z scores separately and arrange them in descending order as had been suggested by Prof. Thattil. All hell broke loose and it was found that the repeaters who sat the question papers in the old syllabus had been penalised as a result. For example in the last few years of the students admitted to the Faculties of Medicine about 56% had been repeaters, but this year with the adoption of the Thattil method it had come down to about 24%! Now, the repeaters have gone before the Supreme Court and it appears that Supreme Court has said that the UGC did not carry out instructions given by the judiciary. If that is so it has to be investigated and the UGC should be punished if it has failed to implement an order of the Supreme Court. Already a senior UNP leader has said that the present problem is due to the non implementation of the Supreme Court decision, and the Minister of Higher Education should initiate action to obtain the Supreme Court decision if it is legally possible. Apparently some 8,000 students have been affected and it is the duty of the government to obtain the method recommended by the Supreme Court. However, it is unfortunate that FUTA is silent on this problem and has not thought of giving expert opinion of the academic staff who are members of the unions that are affiliated to FUTA.

It has been found that there have been mistakes in the question papers set for the G. C. E. (A/L) examination this year and the very same teacher trade union that politicalised the Z score issue is up in arms against the government. It could be claimed that the Minister of Education is ultimately responsible for the mistakes but it is only a lame theoretical position that can be adopted by the relevant trade union to criticise the minister. What these critics do not mention is that there have been mistakes in question papers over the years and this year is not an exception. It is certainly not due to the so-called crisis in education and the setters, moderators, controllers in chief of examinations in each question paper are university academics who are adequately remunerated for their work. Though it is desirable to have question papers without any errors the work done by the academics have to be appreciated and we have to admit that human errors are always possible. I myself have been involved with this work for a few years, and I know the amount of time and effort that go into setting of question papers and that very often the academic staff available is very minimal. I know of a situation where there were only two academics available for setting, moderating and proof reading four question papers! It is the practice for the board of examiners to get together and devise a marking scheme taking into consideration the errors. What is bothering me is the silence of FUTA on this problem.

(To be continued)

Malabe issue: Parents lash out at Vasu

August 14, 2012, 12:00 pm , The Island

By Don Asoka Wijewardena

The Malabe Parents’ Private Medical Association, comprising around 350 parents, yesterday condemned National Integration and Languages Minister Vasudewa Nanayakkara for spreading false information and condemning the SAITM without valid reason. Commenting on a recent statement, attributed to Minister Nanayakkara, a spokesperson for the association alleged the minister had thrown his weight behind those hell-bent on destroying the project. The Minister had stated that without the approval of the Russian universities, the Malabe PMC had fraudulently enrolled students for medical education. The PMC had no legal foundation and it could not produce doctors according to the International Standard.

The organization said that it was unbecoming of a Cabinet Minister to jump to irresponsible conclusions without knowing the real facts regarding the Malabe PMC. The UGC had given the degree awarding status to the PMC. It was announced by a special gazette notification.

The Organization added that around 350 students were studying at the Malabe PMC and they would complete the final exam here. Some trade unions were trying to mislead the general public into believing that degrees awarded by the PMC were not recognized in Sri Lanka.

It said that the SAITM had complied with the SLMC’s guidelines to become a medical degree awarding body. But, when the Sri Lankan government was about to recognize the PMC, some treacherous organizations were engineering secret sabotage activities. The truth would prevail, they said.

Prelate advices FUTA: Take your troubles to President Rajapaksa

August 14, 2012, 10:11 pm , The Island

By Cyril Wimalasurendre

KANDY: The Most Venerable Mahanayaka of Malwatte, Tibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera yesterday (14) told a deputation, from the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA), that the grievances of the university academics should be forwarded to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The deputation was told that President Rajapaksa was giving a hearing to the grievances of all sectors and had come out with panacea for many issues. "Hence, why not take your demands to President Rajapaksa?"

Responding to views expressed by the university teachers, the Mahanayaka Thero said that the five forces (Pancha Maha Bala Vegaya), formed in 1956, had met present challenges.

He said the position today was that the ‘Pancha Maha Bala Vegaya’ had been thrown out.

When reminded that there was unrest and dissatisfaction in all sectors of education such as teachers, students and university students, the prelate remarked that teachers played an important role in the Pancha Maha Bala Vegaya of 1956.

Ven. Prof. Hanguranketha Dheerananda Thero, Prof. H. M. Navaratne Bandara, Prof. H. M. R. D. Herath, Dr. Ananda Jayawickrema, Dr. M. Meegaskumbura and Dr. Lakshman Nugapitiya were among the representative who met the Mahanayaka Thero.

The deputation told the prelate that their grievances were not mainly based on the salary but on the step-motherly attitude towards education in the country in general.

Problems had propped up in the education sector from pre-school to the university. The private universities were sprouting up while the State-run universities were forced to face risks and challenges, they told the prelate.

Funds for the State universities had been drastically reduced by the government, the deputation charged.

Even in the appointment of Vice Chancellors of Universities, the University Grants Commission should be more liberal the deputation said.

Teachers unions lament professors’ inability to set question papers

August 14, 2012, 10:03 pm , The Island

by Nilantha Madurawela

The Examination Department has effected changes to five GCE A/L question papers so far. The are Logic, Combined Maths (Part I and II), Physics and Agriculture.

All Ceylon United Teachers Union told a media briefing that those professors who set these papers should be ashamed of themselves. The union President, Ven. Yalwela Pagngnasekera Thera said it was sad that professors with so many qualifications could not prepare a proper question paper.

The Thera also noted that when amendments to question papers were conveyed to examination centres, the Examinations Department had failed to ensure secrecy. The result was that when the agriculture question paper’s correction was read it was very easy to determine the exact question.

Although the Commissioner General of Examinations had assured students that there would be no injustice done to them as full marks would be awarded to them in respect of those questions, but to give students charity marks was totally wrong, declared Head of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union Joseph Stalin.

Stalin said that by giving charity marks they were doing an injustice to those students and the responsibility for all such wrongs should be taken by the Department.

FUTA meets Left Ministers

August 14, 2012, 10:02 pm , Th Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Members of the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) met three government ministers at the Sri Lanka Communist Party head office yesterday.

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri told The Island that a delegation of university teachers had met senior Minister of Scientific Affairs Prof. Tissa Vitharana, National Languages and Social Integration Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara and senior Minister of Human Resources D. E. W. Gunasekera.

University teachers who launched an all out strike on July 04 have met political parties including UNP, JVP, LSSP, CP and NLF to explain their position.

Dr. Devasiri said that the government’s counter proposals had been conveyed to FUTA by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa on Monday.

"We are waiting for the third round of discussion with Minister Rajapaksa," he said, adding said that teachers from the Kelaniya, Moratuwa, Colombo, Sri Jayewardenepura and Open University of Sri Lanka had protested opposite the Nugegoda Super Market yesterday.