Delays in university admissions: solution urgently needed

December 11, 2013, 12:00 pm , the island


Sri Lanka is probably the only country where students have to wait for a long period of more than one year to start their university education after sitting the AL examination. The new batch of students who have been selected for admission to universities on the results of the A/L examination conducted in August 2012 are yet to commence their respective courses of study though more than 14 months have elapsed. According to a recent University Grants Commission (UGC) announcement, admissions to the universities are to commence in January 2014.

The state universities are notoriously afflicted with many problems causing disruptions to their smooth running - main contributory factors being student unrest, ragging, and staging of strikes by both academic and non-academic staff with least regard to the well-being of the student population. The end result is that students complete their courses of study much later than their counterparts in foreign universities and those other institutions of tertiary education.

Eventually, new graduates enter the job market usually 3 or 4 years behind those of foreign universities. In case of medical graduates the average age they complete their degrees is around 27 years at present whereas the norm is 24 years.

It is incomprehensible why the Examinations Department takes more than five months to release results, and the UGC to admit students to the universities taking even a longer period of time. With the availability of modern technology the Exams Dept and the UGC should be able to publish results more accurately and in time, but unfortunately this has not happened. There are no properly scheduled dates for conduct of examinations, release of results or admission of students to universities.

In contrast to the prevailing scenario in Sri Lanka, one can find how smoothly the Indian university entrance examinations are conducted and admissions to universities are completed within a specific period of time without a lag as it happens here. In India the Grade XII examination of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is conducted in March each year and results are released at the end of May or early June, and students are admitted to universities in September. It is to be noted that the Grade XII CBSE examination is conducted in many foreign centers as well and the numbers sitting are around one million. The due process takes place there without a hitch or without inaccuracies.

The public university system of Sri Lanka has struggled with these issues for over two decades, and it is an unacceptable impediment to national economic growth as well as the individual prosperity of the youth of the country. It is time for the relevant institutions and authorities to deliver a solution to this problem, whether it be by administrative reforms, increased funding and investment for public education or the induction of private universities to the national education system.

Ananda Dodanwela
Nugegoda