Period of Schooling – Isn’t it too Long?

October 9, 2012, 6:42 pm , The Island

Sarath B S Abayakoon

The importance of school education is a subject that has been discussed for centuries. It is understood that school education expects to encompass discipline, social living, group work, and also expects to build self- confidence of a youngster at a very early age. It also must give him/her a first exposure to knowledge and applications, of the subjects taught, and should prepare the student for Higher level education. School education is the Launching Pad for one’s goals and actions for the future.

Considering the present state it is in, the school education in Sri Lanka is a topic that needs to be thoroughly discussed as the system certainly needs a complete overhauling. In this article, I will concentrate only on one of the relevant issues, the "Time period of schooling". The total time period of schooling in Sri Lanka is, (whether one includes the time spent at Universities or not) in comparison, higher than that of many developed countries. This results in our population joining the work force later than those in the developed world, thus effectively reducing the total output of the country, as we are continually losing the best productive years of our youth. Therefore, although there are many other important issues in our educational system that needs attention, I believe there is an urgent need to adequately address the time period of schooling, at the present time.

It would be pertinent to have a look at how the school system worked in the first few decades following our independence. The first level a child enters at a school was called Hodiya (the Kindergarten), followed by grades 1,2,3 etc. up to the University Entrance Examination. Junior School Certificate, obtained after completing Grade 8, was considered adequate enough for many jobs and Senior School Certificate (SSC) awarded after successful completion of Grade 10 certainly opened a multitude of opportunities, mainly to be recruited to many respectable government organizations. Those few who wanted to go beyond SSC to HSC (Higher School Certificate) and then to UE(University Entrance) were only high achievers. Both SSC and HSC examinations were held in the month of December each year.

One of the key elements in the above system was"successful completion". Once on being admitted to Hodiya, s/he had to complete each grade "successfully" to go to the next grade. Those who had excelled at the end of a particular grade were eligible for a"Double Promotion" so that they could skip the next grade, earning a leapfrog into the grade beyond. On the other end of the spectrum were those who performed poorly, who had to repeat the grade for at least one additional year.

Today, those students who complete 5 years of age at the end of January each year are admitted to Grade 1 at the beginning of January. So the age of the children who are entering national Schools vary from 4 yrs 11 months to 5 years 11 months at the time of entry. Assuming a normal distribution of the age, the average age at entry can be taken as 5 yrs and 5 months. At the school, they go through the primary education and secondary education up to the end of Grade 11, without any leapfrog or any setback.

The average age of a student facing GCE (Ordinary Level) examination at the end of their Grade 11 of studies, in December of that particular year, is thus 16 years and 5 months. This is the first time in their lives that they face an examination that can hold them back in their academic progression. Those who get through the GCE (O/L) examination are eligible to enter GCE (Advanced Level) classes. The irony of the system in today’s context is that in many government schools, the GCE (A/L) classes proper, do not start until the end of August– 8 months after sitting the GCE(O/L) examination. The GCE(A/L) examination is held 2 years later, making the average age of a candidate 19 yrs and one month at the time of facing the examination.

During the time I sat for GCE(A/L) examination, it was held in the month of April. I do not know the reasons for shifting it to April from December. However, I can barely remember why it was shifted to August from April afterwards. One bright individual at the decision making level (or was it many ?) suddenly realized that the month of April is a festive period and a highly competitive examination should not be held in April as all Sri Lankans must be busy celebrating rather than trying to shape up the future of themselves and that of the country. If one looks at the long list of public holidays in Sri Lanka, it is easy to see that there is a festival of some sort almost every month (Note:Ramzan is celebrated in August !!!!) and we should be thankful that the authorities did not decide to scrap the GCE(A/L) examination altogether.

It generally takes about three to four months to release the results of the GCE(A/L) examination and another five to six months for finalizing the cut off marks to enter universities after recorrections are done. If all goes well, the students will get to know their cut-off marks by about the month of May of the subsequent year and the Universities can absorb the fresh students in mid-August after necessary preliminaries. Assuming that the University system functions smoothly, a student following a four year degree programme will graduate eventually at an average age of about 24 years.

I entered the University at a younger age and graduated at the age of 21 yrs after following a 4 year degree and little more than a year later, I was enrolled in a Master’s programme in North America. However, all the other students in my class there, who had followed the North American system, were younger to me!! They usually graduate at an average age of about 21 and those who go for higher degrees can enroll in postgraduate programmes within six months of graduation.

It is therefore clear that we are keeping our children, for at least three years more, in studying than their counterparts in the developed world. What we are doing, is keeping young people within the confines of school buildings during their most productive age. During this period, Sri Lanka loses creativity and originality of the youth that can otherwise be effectively engaged for country’s progress. The resulting loss of possible production, in monitory terms, due to this wastage of time of the brightest minds of the country, is unimaginably large. Therefore, it is equally clear that we must take all efforts to cut down the total period of schooling, without affecting the quality of our products.

How can we do this? I propose to shorten the schooling period from 11 years to 10 years so that GCE(O/L) examination can be held after completing Grade 10 of studies. Advanced Level classes at schools must commence immediately after the GCE(O/L) examination, in the following month of January. The GCE (A/L) examination must be held in December, as it was done in the 60’s or latest in the following month of February. Five months is more than sufficient to complete corrections, recorrections and to release cut-off marks. Students who seek entry to local universities must be enrolled, by late August/early September. The average age of a student at the entry to a University will thus be 18 yrs. This will allow the country to use at least two additional years of the most productive period from the cream of our country.

Compressing 11 years of schooling into 10 years should not be a very difficult task to achieve. Cutting down the wastage of eight months after the GCE(O/L) examination, while gaining time, also keeps the students focused. This will make the classroom at school more appealing to the students as in the present system, they learn the subject at the tution classes before the subjects are taught at schools, resulting in a loss of interest. As for the release of results, the time taken for recorrections can be greatly reduced by conference marking. The Universities must be advised to release the academic staff members who are involved in such work, as releasing results early should be established as a national priority.

It is also adviceable to introduce the requirement of "successful completion" at the end of each year to go on to the next grade, at least up to the GCE (O/L) examination, which will also keep the students focused throughout their schooling period. Reintroduction of "Double Promotion" system may also be considered as a way of encouraging students to better their performance at all levels. Although these are important steps towards reshaping school education, its implementation has to be carefully thought out. It needs the establishment of a foolproof assessment system and complete commitment from teachers of all grades.

As stated at the beginning, this article addresses only a single issue that, in my view, needs urgent attention in a review of the school education system. Furthermore, it is something that can be achieved without too much additional resources if the authorities have the will to push forward and implement theproposed changes.

(Sarath B S Abayakoon is a Senior Professor in Civil Engineering at the University of Peradeniya. He served as a member of the University Grants Commission and also as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya.)