Does Grade 5 scholarship exam show academic superiority?

November 23, 2012, 12:00 pm , The Island


by Douglas King

President Mehinda Rajapaksa has a justifiable goal of Sri Lanka becoming an "educational hub" in this region of Asia in a similar way that Singapore achieved. The President has taken initiatives in several areas of education that may sow the seeds towards his vision. The "Year of English and IT" which he kick started has long gone and in the opinion of some educators, little has changed in the way English is taught or practised. The President is now embarking on a far reaching goal of updating 1000 secondary schools. Only time will tell whether Sri Lanka will be recognised as having "World Class" education.

The annual grade five Scholarship examination is now firmly embedded in the educational year timetable. Theoretically, to justify this major country wide test being foisted upon more than 300,000 nine and ten year old children, the results should identify the academically most gifted students and predict their success through school, university and beyond.

Several factors have inspired me to make some basic research into the validity of the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination which has become a vital aspect of the education system. Three very different incidents have come into my purview. A middle income neighbour of mine was very disappointed several years ago when his son scored less than 100 in the examination despite scholarship tuition classes twice weekly for 18 months. The local primary school he attended had also intensified similar test paper revision for students in grade 4 and 5. It was difficult enough for the parents to cope with such failure but the effect on their son was more severe and he refused to attend school for the following 3 weeks after receiving the result. By contrast another neighbour, a daily labourer and very low income, was both astounded and gratified that his son scored 171 and in the top five percentile in the country. In this case the boy had not attended any extra private tuition classes. A third occurrence is that of a recent university graduate who I know very well. He is among the brightest and most able and intelligent young men I have met and is well on his way to post graduate education or a well paid career with a large business. His scholarship score in 1999 was well below 100.

Highly competitive

In October 2010 Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena announced that the government was considering shifting the Grade 5 scholarship examination to Grade 7 to reduce the pressure on students. The Minister went on to say that medical specialists who attended the consultative committee meeting of the Education Ministry considered that the Grade 5 scholarship examination placed an undue burden on children at a tender age.

"The Grade 5 Scholarship exam is a highly competitive Sri Lankan examination conducted by the Department of Examinations of the Ministry of Education. Based on the results of the exam, students could transfer to prominent national schools. This Exam is a means for gifted students from villages to move to better schools with government scholarships. Annually, cut-off marks are set by the Ministry of Education based on demand for individual schools." Most primary schools add extra lesson periods for students to practise past examination papers. In addition many students attend private tuition classes practising the same tests. Every parent likes to enroll their child to a popular good school in major cities and hope that their child will obtain a high mark in Grade 5 Scholarship examination.

Over 300,000 children are entered for the grade 5 scholarship examination every year. In 2004 approximately 7% obtained marks above the cut off and around half of these were below the income level necessary to receive bursaries, so approximately 8,000 received bursaries out of the 300,000 who sat the examination. The Mean mark was 38%. It is unlikely that subsequent years reflected major changes in these statistics. Despite the Scholarship examination occupying such an important part in the education system, it has not been possible to find any published research on the subject.

The Scholarship examination questions and format are planned to identify the children that are well above average intelligence and who are considered best able to take advantage of the higher academic standards in certain schools. Eight years further down the education road and only students who score very highly in "A" level examinations, and thus the coveted "Z" score, gain a place in one of the government universities. There should be a positive correlation between the grade 5 scholarship results and Z scores. A survey of 100 students at University of Peradenya shows some interesting statistics.

Year 1998/9 62 students

6 scored higher than the cut off mark of 135 1 scored 180 and the remaining 5 scored within the 135-145 range 16 scored less than 100 2 scored 51 or 69 35 scored between 100-135 and therefore failed to pass. Only 1 student scored high enough to be admitted to one of the very popular 20 boys’ schools.

Year 2000 cut off mark 146 37 students

14 scored less than 100 4 passed the cut off mark with the highest being 168 19 scored between 100 and 146 and therefore failed to pass.

The marks were given voluntarily by students on pieces of paper and did not identify their names so an assumption can be made that these are accurate with only a small margin of error due to memory. A student gaining a university place implies a very high "Z" score and should indicate very high ability and intellect. Yet to a great extent their performance at the grade 5 scholarship examination does not indicate any academic superiority.

Further research

Further research was made on the 3 years scholarship examination results of 80 grade five students at a popular semi-urban primary school. In the most recent year, 2012, only 1 student qualified for a place in one of the top boys’ schools. 30% of students scored less than 100 marks (38% of total marks). 13 (16%) passed the cut off of 142 of which approximately 50% (6) were below the income level to receive financial bursaries.

The results for the years 2010 and 2011 are similar and show less than 5% variations.

Several years of extra scholarship classes at the school and similar extra classes at tuition centres for 80 children results in only 1 child achieving entry into one of the coveted 20 urban schools, and 6 children entitled to financial assistance. To add a necessary extra dimension to this research requires a follow up of those students who are the "heroes" of the examination.

In a recent article by Carmen Wickramagamage she writes "Every year, around this time, the Lankan media become engrossed with a phenomenon that I find distressing, if not downright annoying: the parade on TV and newspapers of the supposed high achievers at the Grade V Scholarship Exam. This year is no different and we have already been treated to the photographs, interviews and life stories of these kids flanked by their proud parents and/or teachers. Every year the phenomenon irritates me. It irritates me because the publicity only encourages an already skewed education system: the race to be first, the race to get perfect scores or grades at exams at the expense of everything else that formal school-based education is supposed to be about:"

Select school children

There are 20 "select" boys’ schools and 20 "select" girls’ schools which in total offer around 5000 places in their grade 6 classes. Some obscure evaluation system ranks these schools according to the level of marks required for entry. Thus the schools at the top of the list may require 170+ and those at the bottom of the list 160+. Some of these schools have primary classes and entry at grade one is based on locality and not academic selection. How do these students compare with the "scholarship" entrants when they receive their "A" level results?

The research identified in this article is only on a small scale and a larger sample is necessary to be sure that the results can be generalised. However, it does raise some serious questions as to the purpose and validity of the scholarship examination. The majority of children "fail" to achieve the cut off point and even if the word "fail" is not used, the reality cannot be avoided. Numerous well meaning parents subject their children to unnecessary stress through private tuition classes, spending money they can ill afford in the very remote possibility of achieving a high score.

What does the scholarship examination test? Is it a test of IQ or a test of rote learning? Does it really identify intellectual superiority? Do all these numerous extra classes benefit the children or only the teachers? How many people now in top positions in government or private corporations achieved higher than the cut off mark, or how many scored less than 100? What happened to those 5000 students who achieved the highest marks in the country? Certainly a lot more research needs to be done to answer these questions? As a step towards the President’s goal of Sri Lanka boasting a world-class education system, the necessity and desirability of the scholarship examination needs serious consideration.

(The writer could be contacted at douglasking1939@yahoo.com)