Three Pera U’grads remanded

January 26, 2012, 10:18 pm , The Island.

By Cyril Wimalasurendre

KANDY: Three undergraduates, arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department on allegations that they were involved in incidents of ragging and sexual abuse, were yesterday (26) remanded till February 09 by the Chief Magistrate of Kandy Ravindra Premaratne.

Twenty two others were released on surety bail in Rs. 100,000 each by the Chief Magistrate.

Those allowed bail were warned that they should not be involved in incidents of ragging and demonstrations until the hearing of the case was over.

The case was put off to February 9.

The suspects were second year undergraduates of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Peradeniya.

The three remanded were Charith Lakmal, Ruchira Madushantha and Yohan Sandaruwan.

ASP Nagahamulla of the CID prosecuted.

Attorneys Sugath Karawita, Tissa Marahela and Pradeep Ranasinghe appeared for the suspect students.

GMOA tells Carlo not  to be a dictator

January 26, 2012, 10:24 pm , The Island.

By Don Asoka Wijewardena

Government Medical Officers Association President Dr. Anuruddda Padeniya yesterday requested Sri Lanka Medical Council President Prof. Carlo Fonseka not to be a dictator when taking decisions at the council. During the decision-making processes of the SLMC its President was required to listen to the comments, suggestions and objections of other members, he said.

The latest GMOA outburst came over a statement made by Prof. Fonseka that he would discuss with unsuccessful ERPM examination medical students’ parents and do them justice. All foreign qualified medical graduates are required to pass the Examination Registration to Practice Medicine (ERPM) in Sri Lanka.

The SLMC’s main functions were to maintain a standard medical service, code of ethics for doctors and professionalism. It had been maintaining the medical profession independently. If personal interests and decisions of its President were applied, the credibility of the medical profession would fade away, Dr. Padeniya told a Media Conference at the GMOA Head Office.

He said that it was a pre-requisite of each doctor to pass the ERPM examination before practicing medicine here. A doctor who failed the ERPM examination could not practice medicine. There were doctors who had not been able to pass the examination. When some unsuccessful ERPM exam doctors’ parents met the SLMC President, he had told them that he would try to find out the cause of examination failure and settle it.

The GMOA President said that there were guidelines to maintain the quality of examinations. If doctors failed the relevant examinations, lowering of standard pass marks would do more harm than good to the profession. It was a breach of professional etiquette, he said.

Regarding the transport allowance of doctors Dr. Padeniya pointed out that when the GMOA representatives met President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2008, he agreed to provide Rs. 30,000 as transport allowance. Currently, only Rs. 12,500 was given to doctors. That amount was not enough for the Disturbance, Availability and Transport Allowance. He said the GMOA would request the government to implement it without delay.

Unique You

January 25, 2012, 7:51 pm , The Island.


Former President of India,
Dr. Abdul Kalam’s Address at University of Moratuwa
Colombo

22 January 2012

I am delighted to address and interact with the Students and Faculty Members of the University of Moratuwa in this beautiful environment of Colombo. My greetings to all of you. I found that the University has chosen the motto "Vidyaiwa Sarwadhanam – meaning Wisdom is all Wealth". This has an important and powerful message to all the students and faculty members. The study of the website of the University indicates that the University has a vision "To be the most globally recognized Knowledge Enterprise in Asia". With this vision, the University has a mission "produce world class graduates in technological fields who will be relevant nationally and internationally". I am happy to know that the students of the university are self confident, flexible, highly employable and are trained to become "employment creators" instead of being "employment seekers". I congratulate the pioneers both present and past who have created and nurtured a robust educational system in the University of Moratuwa during the last 33 years. Today, I would like to share few thoughts on the topic "Unique You".

First let us see the ten unique personalities,.

Unique You

Dear friends, Look up, what do you see, the light, the electric bulbs. Immediately, our thoughts go to the inventor Thomas Alva Edison, for his unique contribution towards the invention of electric bulb and his electrical lighting system.

When you hear the sound of aero-plane going over your house, whom do you think of? Wright Brothers proved that man could fly, of-course at heavy risk and cost.

Whom does the telephone remind you of? Of course, Alexander Graham Bell.

When everybody considered a sea travel as an experience or a voyage, aunique person questioned during his sea travel from United Kingdom to India. He was pondering on why the horizon where the sky and sea meet looks blue? His research resulted in the phenomena of scattering of light. Of course, Sir CV Raman was awarded Nobel Prize.

Do you know an Indian Mathematician who did not have formal higher education but had inexhaustible spirit and love for mathematics which took him to contribute to the treasure houses of mathematical research – some of which are still under serious study and engaging all-available world mathematicians’ efforts to establish formal proofs? He was a unique Indian genius who could melt the heart of the most hardened and outstanding Cambridge mathematician Prof G H Hardy. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that it was Prof. Hardy who discovered a great mathematician for the world. This mathematician was of-course Srinivasa Ramanujan for whom every number was a divine manifestation.

Do you know the scientist who is famous for Chandra Limit which describes the maximum mass (~1.44 solar masses) of a white dwarf star, or equivalently, the minimum mass for which a star will ultimately collapse into a neutron star to black hole following a supernova. Two of his students got the Nobel Prize before him. It is of-course the famous Nobel Laureate Chandrasekhar Subrmaniam .

Friends, there was a great scientific lady who is known for discovering Radium. She won not one, but two Nobel Prizes, one for physics and another for chemistry. Who is she? She is Madam Curie. Madam Curie discovered radium and she was doing research on the effect of radiation on human system. The same radiation which she discovered, affected her and she sacrificed her life for removing the pain of human life.

Do you know about a great human being with a spirit of service, who also won a Nobel Prize for her contributions? She said and practiced, "Give, give and give, until it hurts". She is Mother Teresa.

Do you know the Sri Lankan Physicist, academician and economist who had worked on energy, sustainable development and climate change and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Mr Al Gore in 2007? Of course he is the great Prof. Mohan Munasinghe.

Arthur Clarke, the visionary in space communication who made Sri Lanka his home revolutionized the world with his concept of geostationary communication satellites

Do you know the cosmic ray scientist who transformed into institution builder of institutions like Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad – Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Indian Space Research Organisation? Of course he is the visionary Prof Vikram Sarabhai.

When I described to you young friends, these historical ten events, you all jumped. The scientist, technologist and great human being, who created the event, are unique personalities. Young friends, can you join such unique performers of scientific history? Yes, you can. Definitely, you can. Let us study together, how it can be made possible?

Friends, I have, so far, met 12 million youth in a decade’s time. I learnt, "every youth wants to be unique, that is, YOU! But the world all around you, is doing its best, day and night, to make you just "everybody else". At home, dear young friends, you are asked by your parents to be like neighbours’ children for scoring good marks. When you go to school, your teacher says "why not you become like the first five rankers in the class". Wherever you go, they are saying "you have to be somebody else or everybody else".

The challenge, my young friends, is that you have to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can ever imagine to fight; and never stop fighting until you arrive at your destined place, that is, a UNIQUE YOU! Friends what will be your tools to fight this battle, what are they: have a great aim in life, continuously acquire the knowledge, work hard and persevere to realize the great achievement.

Dear friends, when I see you all, I am thinking how you can achieve what you envision in your life?

Criteria for achievement for youth

How does achievement come? There are four proven steps; having an aim in life before 20 years of age, acquiring knowledge continuously, hard work towards the aim and perseverance to defeat the problem and succeed. In this connection let me recall famous verses of 13th century Persian Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi:

Wings to Fly

"You were born with potential.

You were born with goodness and trust.

You were born with ideas and dreams.

You were born with greatness.

You were born with wings.

You are not meant for crawling,

so don’t, you have wings.

Learn to use them to fly."

- Jalaluddin Rumi

- 13th Century Persian Sufi Poet

My message to you, young friends, is that education gives you wings to fly. Achievement comes out of fire in our sub-conscious mind that "I will win". So, each one of you assembled here and elsewhere, will have "Wings of Fire". The Wing of Fire will indeed lead to knowledge which will make you a great technologist, or an Engineer, or a designer, or a teacher, or a political leader, or a bureaucrat or a diplomat or you would like to walk on the Moon and Mars or anything you want to be. I would like to assert that "No youth today need to fear about the future". How? The ignited mind of the youth is the most powerful resource on the earth, under the earth and above the earth.

System design, system integration and system management

Since I am in the midst of students being prepared for techno-managerial expertise, I would like to give my experience with a teacher who taught me system design, system integration and system management in an integrated learning environment.

While I was studying Aeronautical Engineering in Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), Chennai, (1954-57), during the third year of my course, I was assigned a project with five other colleagues, to design a low-level attack aircraft. I was given the responsibility of system design and system integration by integrating the team members. Also, I was responsible for aerodynamic and structural design of the project. The other five members of my team took up the design of propulsion, control, guidance, avionics and instrumentation of the aircraft. My design teacher Prof. Srinivasan, the then Director of MIT, was our guide. He reviewed the project and declared my work to be gloomy and disappointing. He didn’t lend an ear to my difficulties in bringing together data-base from multiple designers. I asked for a month’s time to complete the task, since I had to get the inputs from five of my other colleagues without which I cannot complete the system design. Prof. Srinivasan told me "Look, young man, today is Friday afternoon. I give you three days time, by Monday morning if I don’t get the configuration design, your scholarship will be stopped." I had a jolt in my life, as scholarship was my lifeline, without which I cannot continue with my studies. There was no other way out, but to finish the task. My team felt the need for working together round the clock. We didn’t sleep that night, working on the drawing board skipping our dinner. On Saturday, I took just an hour’s break. On Sunday morning, when I was near completion, I felt someone’s presence in my laboratory. It was Prof. Srinivasan studying my progress. After looking at my work, he patted and hugged me affectionately. He had words of appreciation: "I knew I was putting you under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline. You have done a great job in system design".

Through this review mechanism of Prof Srinivasan, I was injected the necessity of understanding the value of time by each team member and brought out the best from the system design team. I realized that if something is at stake, the human minds get ignited and the working capacity gets enhanced manifold. That’s what exactly happened. The message is: whatever be their specialization, the students should be trained to systems approach and projects, which will prepare them for new products, innovation and undertaking higher organizational responsibilities. A great teacher inspires the young students like Prof. Srinivasan.

I am confident that the University of Moratuwa will break all the inter-disciplinary barriers and promote inter-disciplinary research among the students and faculty members.

To be continued tomorrow

Japanese educationalist puzzled by Lankan university protest

January 25, 2012, 9:51 pm , The Island.


By Jayantha de Silva

The current wave of university students’ strikes over the establishment of private universities and the presentation of the private university bill was viewed negatively by two eminent educationalists from Japan.

"In Japan only 20 percent are state universities. In contrast to Sri Lanka Japanese university students ceased to resort to strikes to win their demands since the 70’s, said Professor Kondo Yuichi, Dean of Admissions, of the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) and Professor of the College of Asia Pacific Studies, in an exclusive interview with The Island on Tuesday (24).

The APU signed agreements with D. S. Senanayake College, Colombo and Trinity College Kandy to offer scholarships to students of the two schools to study at APU.

The Principal of D. S. Senanayake College, Dayaratne Dissanayake and the Principal of Trinity College, Brig. Udaya Ariyaratne and Prof. Kondo Yuichi of APU signed the agreements.

Prof. Yuichi said Sri Lanka also should have private universities due to the fact that the central government’s resources were limited. Private universities’ mission is to identify what to teach’ in context of the National Policy.

He called for the private universities to be empowered with the right to award a wider spectrum of higher degrees with a view to mould future leaders of Asia.

When queried as to how the examinations should be conducted, he explained that one examination could be held by the university itself and the second examination to be held at the national level by the government, thus eliminating a lowering of academic standards.

Asked how the less affluent student segments could gain entry to the private universities he said that in Japan such students were granted long term low interest loans amounting to almost zero interests.

A stipulated requirement was that the loans had to be repaid once the recipients were gainfully employed.

Governments were progressively getting weak.

Sri Lanka should take a cue from Korea and western nations where private universities were in the main stream of education, the Professor noted.

Referring to the advantages students stand to accrue in private universities he explained that by empowering private universities to design their own programmes of studies, it enabled students to select courses according to their aspirations.

Ms. Ikue Matsumo, Senior Admission Counsellor of the (APU) said that opening of private universities augured well for Sri Lanka.

Speaking on modalities on entry requirements, she advocated a minimum three passes at GCE A/L for entry should be stipulated.

She justified low entry requirements as "more can gain entry" to the university.

In addition, a score of 5.5 in IELTS and the stipulated standard in TOFEL should be made mandatory, she said.

Atomic Energy Authority out to control cowboys operating X-ray machines

January 25, 2012, 9:49 pm, The Island.

By Pabodha Hettige

The National Atomic Energy Authority (NAEA) wants all operators of X-ray machines to obtain a license in order to prevent hazards caused by radiation, Chairman of the authority Dr. Ranjith Wijewardene said. The license would be issued for two years ensuring that the machines are not substandard and the public is protected from the radiation emitted by the machines.

"The Radiation Protection Division of the NAEA had started to inspect the machines in operation acting on complaints received from the public and legal action had been instituted against several technicians," he said.

According to NAEA Chairman the authority had discovered x-ray leakages and unclear images in sub standard x-ray machines used at several places.

Exposure to radiation could result in inducing cancer. Most of the sub-standard machines were unable to control the dose of radiation emitted.

Currently there were 740 X-ray machines registered under the NAEA in countrywide hospitals and medical laboratories. The authority had also sent letters to nearly 20 laboratories operating without licence for immediate registration.

The NAEA requests the public to obtain services from a registered X-ray technician and the public is also requested to inform the NAEA about the unregistered places on numbers 011-2533427/8.

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.

University Teachers’ wages, 1961 and 2010 and education policy

January 24, 2012, 12:00 pm , The Island.


by Usvatte-aratchi

There is much discussion about the behaviour of teachers, both at school and at university. Many older people recall, no doubt with some selective memory lapses, that in the decade of the 1950s, the work of their teachers both at school and at university was by and large without blemish and in fact exemplary. They were dedicated to their students and their teaching. They worked after hours without payment, supplementary to their wages. There was no room for private tuition as teachers did a fine job of teaching in school. Teachers whether at school or at university managed to meet their expenses with what they earned as wages and any supplementary income they had from sources other than private tuition which they did not engage in. It was never heard that teachers sought or were offered illegal and illicit payments for favours to students. There were cases where managers of Assisted Schools had cheated teachers of their due wages but neither students nor their parents were victims. There were stories of officials in the Education Department and sometimes Ministers of Education seeking illegal payments from teachers and again students were not touched by these. Teachers both at school and at university lived reasonably comfortable lives, sent their children to good schools, mostly public, and were prominent and respected citizens in their neighourhood.

Those who were in university in the humanities faculties, mostly in Peradeniya, speak of a fine faculty of teachers. At least some of them were outstanding scholars and fine teachers.

In 2010, there is widespread grave dissatisfaction with teachers in both schools and universities. Teachers in schools do not teach properly in the class room. Students go out for private tuition. The same teachers as those that teach in schools conduct private tuition classes. A few well known tuition masters conduct classes in many parts of the country. Both heads of schools and teachers are accused of financial impropriety, sometimes in large amounts. A President of the Republic once publicly alleged that the Education Ministry was the second most corrupt government agency in the nation. There is a huge demand from students for tuition outside the school class room. Students who sit for the A’Level Examination for the second time do not learn in school but almost entirely in tuition classes. Whether unsatisfactory teacher behaviour in schools feeds this demand for private tuition is difficult to be certain about. There is far more severe competition for places in schools and universities now than there was in 1960 (about). Parents are far more sophisticated and far better educated in 2010 than in 1960. That perhaps drives them to get children to tuition in the hope that tuition might help the student to gain that fraction of a mark pushing him into the medical faculty from the science. Japan has a strong system of public schools. Yet the demand for juku or cram shops is very strong. One in five first year students in primary school and nearly all university-bound high-school children attend juku [The Economist, December 31, 2011]. The Republic of Korea has much the same features. It is difficult to ascertain to what degree bad teaching in schools contributes to the demand for private tuition but that it does contribute is not in doubt.

We must at the same time recall that competition to enter some government schools is intense. It is not simply schools like Visakha Vidyalaya and D.S.Senanayake Vidyalaya which attract students but also Debarawewa Maha Vidyalaya and Central College Kuliyapitiya. Parents want to admit children to those schools because there are good teachers in them. I have heard about excellent teachers and scholars in our universities. There are good teachers and bad teachers both in schools and in universities now as there were of old. However, the noise about poor teaching drowns the piccolo high notes of praise that we hear in this cacophony.

Why bad teachers?

Many have spoken and written about ‘moral decay’ in society and among teachers to account for these changes in behaviour. I have bothered myself for long that there must be some more substantial material incentives for this alleged drastic change in behaviour on the part of teachers. A good place to begin with is the wages of teachers, both at school and at university. I imagine that if teachers are drastically less well paid now compared to of old, there would be a dramatic change for the worse in teacher’s behaviour. To establish that teachers are now less well paid than earlier, it is necessary to see changes in real wages paid to them in say around 1960 and 2010. I do not have the resources to mount that enterprise. So I sought a substitute way, rough though it be. Please note that I am interested in WAGES paid to teachers and not their total income.

The fall in real wages

of teachers

My base year for these comparisons is 1961 and the end year 2010; reasons there for will appear later. I put the figures in the following table.

[Income figures are from the Central Bank. Figures about teachers’ wages are my responsibility. I collected those for 1961 from memory and sought confirmation from knowledgeable friends. For 2010, the figures are from teachers currently in employ.]

Let me explain the numbers. Annual income per person is obtained by dividing the annual income of the nation [GDP] into the mid-year population of that year. The figures are in prices for that year. The annual wages of school teachers are what a graduate teacher was paid in his first year of appointment to that post, in fact what I was paid in 1959 when I was a school teacher for 3 months. Similarly, the wages of a university teacher are what were paid in her first year of work as a university teacher. I used a graduate teacher’s wages as indicative of teachers’ wages. One could have worked with some average of school teachers’ wages and similarly for university teachers. It raises logical and practical problems, as we will need wages over a lifetime and figures of average income of persons over some forty years of work of a teacher. With my resources these ends are not attainable. For the rough sort of argument I make, I have the necessary data, in the table above.

In columns IV and V, I show the ratio of wages to annual income per person in the country. It tells you how the wages paid to a teacher compared with the income of the average person in the country. I derived a ratio so that I can compare the figures for 1961with those for 2010. Otherwise it would have been necessary for me to express 2010 wages in 1961 prices. When I derive ratios I compare ‘pure’ numbers untrammelled by price considerations.

Let us compare now. In 1961 a school teacher was paid four and a half times the average income of a person in the country. In 2010, he was paid just a little below the average income of a person in the country. In 1961, university teachers earned ten times the average income of a person in the country, in 2010 no more than twice. There has been a sharp drop in the ratio of wages paid to teachers whether at school or at university relative to the average income of a person in the country. Relative wages of school and university teachers have fallen roughly five times over the 50 years. Consequently relative wages between school teachers and university teachers have remained roughly the same. Do you want more reasons to explain changes in the behaviour patterns of school and university teachers?

Harsha Aturupana [Treasures of the education system in Sri Lanka, Figure 3.9] pointed out that real wages of school teachers in relation to the real wages of other government servants had fallen severely between 1995 and 2002. Between those two years no other category of government employees [not even unskilled labour] had lost relative real wages as teachers did.

In most rich countries, a fresh teacher’s wages are very close to the average income of a citizen and that of a young university teacher just a tad above the average. We must not be misled by the fancy wages paid to celebrity professors in private universities. It is important to recall to that the average income of a person in rich countries is itself high and that a person can lead a reasonably comfortable life does. In our country it does not.

Why did wages [prices] fall?

Let us digress for a moment to consider why the fall in these relative differences. The major reason is the rise in the supply of persons seeking employment as teachers. In 1961, relative to demand there was a shortage of persons who could be employed as school or university teachers. The massive spread of education during the last fifty years increased the supply of persons who could qualify to apply for employment as teachers. Any increase of supply on that scale without a parallel growth in demand must result in a drastic fall in prices. That would happen to the price of mangoes or plumbers. Consequently, teachers’ wages fell. The lack of alternative employment is as important as the rise in supply. Alternative employment to teaching in school would be work in the garment industry or emigrating to Arab lands for almost slavery. Alternatives to teaching in university would be teaching in schools or clerking.

There was a policy element as well. In 1961 there were about 2.2million students enrolled in school. In 2010, this number was almost double that in 1961. There were about 30 students to a teacher in 1960 and about 18 to a teacher in 2010. The number of teachers in school in 1960 was roughly 70,000 and in 2010, 250,000. In 1960, the ratio of expenditure on education to GDP was 4.4 percent; the comparable ratio in 2010 was about 2 percent. [See Chart 3.5 in Annual Report 2010 of the Central Bank.] This society could not have achieved those high percentages of enrolment at school and expanded university education without reducing unit costs substantially. The way to cut unit costs was to keep wages of teachers down, as more than 90 percent of current expenditure on education comprises teachers’ wages. Government as the virtual monopoly employer of teachers both at school and at university and because there was a scarcity of comparably remunerative other employment in the economy, was in a position to cut relative wages of teachers with no resistance from teachers. A necessary consequence was the fall in standards of education. The minister of Higher Education who is on high gear to raise the quality of university education had better bear in mind that he cannot buy good things cheap. The World Bank’s project to raise quality in university education [IRQUE] might ponder the wisdom of Lee Kuan Yu’s bon mot that peanuts attract monkeys. Government which talks about a knowledge hub in South Asia in this country is not serious about it. Activism on the part of university teachers in 2010 is something new and long overdue. School teachers curiously do not seem to have similar plans.

The second piece of evidence on the policy emphasis of government can be read from the following table.

In the first five years 1948 to 1953, the share of government expenditure that was spent on defence was quite small, about 0.5 percent, and government was free to spend on expanding opportunities education. By 1982, the share had risen to 7.5 percent. The rapid escalation came after 1994, 28 percent in 1996 and continued to be high. Even in 2010 one year after the destruction of LTTE, that share continues to be high. In 2011, current expenditure of government allocated for defence and public order and safety was estimated to be about 20 percent and on education 10 percent. Over a long period of time the share of government current expenditure spent on education had at best stagnated while expenditure on defence had expanded. In the meanwhile personnel in both defence services and education had grown massively. Those in education suffered a fall in relative wages.

For some 15 years, we have spent twice the proportion of government current expenditure on defence and public order compared with education.

Such departures from normal may take place in any society, especially due to exigencies of war, which was our experience during the last 20 years or so. We all recognise the enormous losses this society suffered during that war in material wealth and many thousands of lives. But few are aware of the benefits foregone [therefore losses] in neglected education, as we have shown here. To continue that war pattern of expenditure now is to try to run a society on the strength of the armed forces rather than govern by discussion and consent. We must soon get back to normal. The current balance of forces in government does not permit that. The large number of ministers [nine?] dealing with education does not contain anyone of political heavy weight and The Family unfortunately does not have anyone who would pull for education against defence and public order and safety. But it would be foolish to give into expediency once again.

A comment on the fall in real income of teachers in 2010.

In 1961 it was not uncommon for a senior teacher to come to work in a jacket. Now hardly anybody does, except where they are paid to do so by the past pupils’ association. Again a few teachers possessed small motor cars: Morris Minor, Fiat 1100 and Ford Anglia. Now nobody does. They simply cannot imagine buying and running a motor car. In 1961, a new Volkswagon car cost Rs.10,000. That was about 18 months’ wages of a young university teacher. Most young university teachers bought a car in the first year of employment. I obtained the price of the cheapest Toyota car in the market today. It is a Toyota Adanza and costs Rs.3.4 million, roughly seven years wages of a young university teacher! In addition in 1961, most teachers’ children went to public schools at little cost to parents. In 2010, public schools have so fallen in quality that many university teachers send their children to private schools, if they cannot get them into one of the exceptionally good public schools. These are two major items of expenditure which reduce the real income of school and university teachers even below the ratios indicated directly.

Change in behaviour patterns of teachers

Given that scenario how would you expect teachers to act? Try every possible way to augment their incomes. Conduct tuition classes and do all that that would raise the demand for those services. Seek any means of raising incomes without breaking the law or getting trapped by law enforcement agencies. What would university teachers do? Conduct classes for external degree students. Weekends are normally spent by university teachers in these classes, often 100s of miles away from their homes. Write school text books or guides to teaching. Teach in graduate classes in their university or elsewhere, as they are paid separately for teaching graduate courses. Undertake consultancy services for outsiders, preferably foreigners, who pay well for that work. They may also be able to present these to university administrators as research and get ahead in the queue for promotions. They would also persistently demand higher wages. Without being crassly materialistic, isn’t there in the data presented here adequate explanation for the changed behaviour patterns of teachers whether in school or university?

GCE A/L-2011 results need urgent review

January 24, 2012, 7:09 pm

By Prof. R. P. Gunawardane, The Island.

Indiana State University, USA

(Formerly Secretary, Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Secretary, Higher Education and IT Development, Chairman, National Education Commission, Senior Professor & Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya)

I have watched with great pain of mind the events and developments that took place after the release of the results of GCE A/L Examination held in 2011. Many errors and omissions in the results have been reported and a presidential committee was appointed to look into this matter. The report of this committee has now been submitted to the President.

Of the national examinations conducted in Sri Lanka, GCE A/L examination is considered the most important and most highly competitive examination, which determines the future of our youth. Unlike in most other countries performance at this examination is the only criterion for university admission in Sri Lanka. It also serves as a criterion for admission to foreign universities and other professional/ training institutions. Over the years this examination has maintained very high international standards allowing our students to gain admission to prestigious universities all over the world. I am personally aware that our students who have done well at the GCE A/L exam are performing extremely well in the US universities.

Results of GCE A/L Exam -2011

Results of the GCE A/L examination this time have been openly challenged. It is absolutely essential to restore the public confidence in this examination as early as possible. The whole procedure of processing marks at the Examination Department should be fully investigated to understand the root of the problem. Urgent action also should be taken to prevent recurrence of such errors in the future. It must be stressed at the outset that any attempt to cover up this issue will lead to much greater repercussions and complications affecting a large number of youth in Sri Lanka. It is in this context I have been compelled to write this article.

I was personally responsible for initiating a dialogue, appointing a committee and implementing the Z-score method to rank students for university admission when I was serving as the Secretary to the Ministry. Z-score method is much superior to aggregates in raking students in different streams. There are difficult low scoring subjects and relatively easy high scoring subjects at the GCE A/L exam. Z-score brings marks of the subjects to the same level so that meaningful rankings can be worked out. It has been proved that the ranking on this basis is fairer and more reliable, and it is considered the best and simplest option available to minimise discrepancies due to different subjects, number of subjects, variable marking and different curricula (old syllabus/ new syllabus).

A comprehensive proposal in this regard was forwarded by Prof. R.O. Thattil of the University of Peradeniya, who served as the consultant to the Ministry and the UGC to implement this scheme during 2000/2001. It was successfully implemented in 2001 with two groups (one group offered 3 subjects and the other group 4 subjects) sat the GCE A/L exam. Since then this method had been in operation smoothly until 2011.

Two issues regarding the results of GCE A/L Examination held in 2011 have been highlighted.

1. Errors in district and island rankings issued by the Department of Examinations

2. Issue raised by experts regarding the formula used to calculate the Z score of a subject of the two groups (old syllabus and new syllabus) of students

Both these issues are of equal importance and it is necessary to rectify the situation without any further delay.

I have read in the newspapers that errors in rankings were due to wrong entries and processing errors done by the Department of Examinations. It is regrettable to note that independent checks/ audits have not been carried out. Is this the way national examinations are conducted in Sri Lanka? If this is true how can we accept the accuracy of the other entries and Z-scores? All the entries and the processing steps therefore should be rechecked to confirm accuracy of the results.

Secondly, the ministries involved have not used the original consultant to work out the formula to calculate the Z-score this time. Particularly, the officials of the UGC are aware of the history of the introduction of Z-score method and the consultants originally used for this purpose. In spite of this, Prof. Thattil, who designed the scheme in 2001, was not included in the committee this time. According to Professor Thattil (Island, January 13, 2012) the formula proposed by the new committee is incorrect and has complicated the A/L results issue still further.

This time the mean and variances of a subject from the old and new syllabi were pooled together to calculate the Z-score. This is a fundamental error made by the expert committee. In this type of situation two student groups should be considered as two separate populations, and then calculate the Z-score for each group separately. Then the average Z-scores of the three subjects can be used to rank students. This is the method we followed successfully in 2001 for the two groups (3- subjects and 4-subjects) we had in 2001.

Unfortunately, the presidential committee appointed to look into this matter has overlooked this important issue of using a wrong formula for the calculation of Z-scores. This has affected all the Z-scores, and the rankings worked out using these erroneous Z-scores are also incorrect. Thus, Z-scores and rankings of all the streams need to be corrected.

I read in newspapers that a teachers’ union is contemplating legal action against the Department of Examinations regarding this issue. If this happens, undoubtedly it will be a prolonged battle lasting for months if not years. Such action will lead to a serious situation where the results will be invalidated for some time. Then, the students who sat this examination will not be in a position to gain admission to any higher education institution in Sri Lanka or abroad for a considerable period of time. This is an extremely harmful and a serious situation affecting the future of our young generation. If this happens, it will be one of the most serious setbacks in the history of education in Sri Lanka. Therefore, all parties concerned should make a concerted effort to avoid this situation at any cost.

GCE A/L Exam should be held in April

There is another issue which needs the attention of education authorities urgently. During 2000/2001 we initiated action to hold the A/L exam in April instead of August due to strong reasons. We arranged A/L classes to commence in schools immediately after the O/L results were released, and the A/L exam was held for the first time in the month of April in 2002. Now it has been changed to August again for the convenience of officials disregarding all the benefits of having the exam in April. Let me explain the benefits of this change briefly.

When A/L exam is held in August, it is not possible to begin A/L classes for the fresh students who sat O/L exam in December previous year until September the following year. As a result, these students wait for nearly 9 months wasting their valuable time. Similarly after A/L exam in August the students have to wait till October next year for admission to universities. This can be avoided by commencing A/L classes in April this year and conducting the A/L exam in April 2014 and onwards. If this is implemented, those who qualify for admission to universities based on the results of this exam can be admitted to universities in the same year minimising the waiting period. This effectively saves about two which can be productively used for their higher education.

In the light of the above facts the following steps are strongly recommended:

1. Complete and comprehensive review of all the entries and processing steps of the results of GCE A/L Exam- 2011 should be carried out in the presence of observers/experts nominated by the University Grants Commission.

2. Recalculation of Z-scores should be carried out using the correct formula employed previously in 2001 in consultation with Prof. R.O. Thattil, who served as a consultant to the UGC/ Higher Education Ministry in 2001.

3. Release of the corrected results after completing (1) and (2) procedures indicated above.

4. Make necessary arrangements to conduct the GCE A/L examination in April every year with effect from 2014 and streamline the university admission process with a common academic year.

I earnestly request the Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education to give serious consideration to the above proposal and implement the same in the best interest of the nation.

(The writer may be contacted at

rpgunawardane@gmail.com)

SB caught telling a "terminological inexactitude"

January 24, 2012, 9:28 pm , The Island

by Dasun Edirisinghe

A preeminent expert in the education field denied the Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake’s recent claim that Prof. R. O. Thattil of the Peradeniya University was not involved in introducing the Z – score system.

Former Secretary to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education Prof. R. P. Gunawardane confirmed Prof. Thattil’s involvement in formulating the Z – score system in 2000/2001.

Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake told Parliament last week that the Z-score formula was only a mathematical formula and not an invention by Prof R. O. Thattil.

In reply to a statement by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe that the creator of the Z- score formula

Prof Thattil, too, was against the way the formula had been distorted by the Department of Examinations causing a mess-up in the GCE (A-Level) results, Minister Dissanayake said that the fact that the examination would be conducted under two syllabuses had been known to all stakeholders for the past three years or so.

Dissanayake said: "Prof. Thattil faults us for not including him on the expert panel to look into the problem. He was not invited to the committee because he had submitted a document in a court case a few years back that the Z score was incorrect and the court had rejected it. That was why we did not invite him this time around."

However, Prof. Gunawardane said that he had personally involved in the introduction of the Z – score formula in 2000/ 2001 and Prof. Thattil was the master brain behind it.

"I was personally responsible for initiating a dialogue, appointing a committee and implementing the Z-score method to rank students for university admission when I was serving as the Secretary to the Ministry," he said.

Prof. Gunawardane also said that a comprehensive proposal in this regard was forwarded by Prof. R. O. Thattil of the University of Peradeniya, who served as the consultant to the ministry and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to implement the Z – Score scheme during 2000/ 2001.

The Z-score method was much superior to taking aggregates in ranking students in different streams. There were difficult low scoring subjects and relatively easy high scoring subjects at the GCE A/L examination. The Z-score brought marks of the subjects to the same level so that meaningful rankings could be worked out. It had been proved that the ranking on that basis was fairer and more reliable, and it was considered the best and simplest option available to minimize discrepancies due to different subjects, number of subjects, variable marking and different curricula (old syllabus/ new syllabus), he said.

Prof. Gunawardena is also a former Chairman, National Education Commission, Senior Professor & Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya.

Former Education Secy says wrong formula used for calculating Z-score

January 24, 2012, 9:22 pm , The Island.

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Former Secretary to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education Prof. R. P. Gunawardane says the presidential committee appointed to look into issues related to the messing up of the district ranking of the GCE (A/L) results has overlooked the wrong formula used for calculating Z-scores pertaining to results from two different syllabuses.

In an article we publish on the editorial page today, Prof. Gunawardane says the erroneous formula has affected all Z-scores and the rankings. Thus, Z-scores and rankings of all the streams needed to be corrected, he says.

Recalculation of Z-scores should be carried out using the correct formula employed previously in 2001 in consultation with Prof. R.O. Thattil, who served as a consultant to the UGC/ Higher Education Ministry at the time, Prof. Gunawardane says.

Prof. Gunawardane suggests that the GCE (A/L) examination be held in April in every year from 2014 instead of August.