FUTA Media Release in Response to the UGC and the CVCD

FUTA Media Release in Response to the UGC and the CVCD

28/06/2012,

The FUTA media release in response to: UGC claims Uni. teachers given unusual pay hike and Uni. teachers requested to solve salary issue through dialogue by CVCD.

Download the googledoc statement (English)

Zeroing on Z- score fiasco

the sundayTimes

The Z-score calculation for university admission is once again in the spotlight following last week’s Supreme Court decision, with the new development bringing fresh hope to some students and confusion to others while education authorities are embroiled in a blame game.

Uncertain future: Students who fear that the revision of the Z- score will hinder their admission to University read leaflets pertaining to A Level revision classes last morning. Pic by Indika Handuwala

Uncertain future: Students who fear that the revision of the Z- score will hinder their admission to University read leaflets pertaining to A Level revision classes last morning. Pic by Indika Handuwala

The Supreme Court ordered the University Grants Commission (UGC) to annul the 2011 G.C.E. Advanced Level examination Z-score calculation and recalculate for the old and new syllabus separately.

The 2011 calculation was done according to a pooling formula for the first time since the Z score was introduced, with results of the both syllabuses being merged and calculated.
In 2001 Peradeniya University senior Professor of Statistics R.O. Thattil and a panel of experts introduced the Z-score formula for university admission.

“When the new calculation was introduced, I pointed out that there will be issues in merging results of two syllabuses and the Z-score marks will be erroneous.

It is incorrect to put two populations together; it’s like adding biology and history. Every single paper had two syllabuses, both had a different number of questions and the marks allocated have a difference too,” Prof. Thattil told the Sunday Times.

He said despite concerns, the UGC went ahead with the new formula and even after a number of complaints, education authorities did not consider going for a re-calculation. “The SC order comes as a relief especially to students. This issue could have been solved earlier if the experts panel had convinced the authorities that there was a need to re-calculate,” he said.
In 2011, 243,876 students sat the Advanced Level examination with 144,341 from the new syllabus and 99,535 from the old.

The Examinations Department received the highest number of re-scrutiny applications, 148,168 (57 percent) for A/Level this year. Following the SC order that called for separate re-calculation, the re-scrutinised A/Level results of 2725 students changed. Claiming that the UGC has to accept responsibility for causing this blunder and inconveniencing the students, Prof.Thattil said he had received a request last week from the Higher Education Ministry Secretary seeking his assistance regarding the formula.
Meanwhile, educationist and former Dean of Colombo University’s Faculty of Education, Prof. S.Chandrasekaran said it was unfortunate that there were so many cases of fundamental rights violations in the field of education.� “From school admissions, to the Ordinary Level and Advanced Level exams there have been many instances where the Supreme Court had to get involved.

Education authorities should be more responsible in their decisions,” he said.On Tuesday (26), a news conference was held at the Higher Education Ministry by a panel comprising Higher Education Minister S.B.Dissanayake, UGC Chairman Professor Gamini Samaranayake and Prof.Sarath Kulatunge, representing the experts who came up with the 2011 formula for the A Level results.

Minister Dissanayake said the re-calculation will take place according to the court order but refused to comment whether the formula used for the 2011 A Level examination was a failure.Prof. Samaranayake said legal assistance will be sought to clarify certain areas of the judgment, especially with regard to which� authority was responsible.

S. B. Dissanayake and Prof. Samaranayake at the news conference

Prof. Kulatunge said the panel would stand by its formula and that both, pooling of the two syllabuses and separate methods were tried out.When contacted by the Sunday Times to explain the 2011 Z-score formula combining both A Level syllabuses he refused to comment stating that it was based on scientific evidence and to minimise injustices to students.

“We respect the SC decision and now that the panel has been dissolved there is no need to explain more on it. But it has been a proven method,” Prof. Kulatunge said.The five member panel of the 2011 Z-score formula included senior professors and heads of departments of statistics from the universities of Colombo, Kelaniya, Moratuwa and Sri Jayawardhanapura.

Despite opposition parties calling for the resignation of Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake and Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena their portfolios over the 2011 Z-score fiasco, both ministers have not taken the responsibility over the issue.Minister Gunawardena said that neither he nor the Examinations Commissioner was responsible as the Exams Department issued the results based on the formula prepared by the UGC, coming under the Higher Education Ministry. Minister Dissanayake also said he need not resign, as Z-scores will be released within a month’s time and students will enter university in October as in previous years.

Meanwhile, students who have been waiting for almost a year to gain admission to universities accuse the education and higher education ministries for being inconsiderate of their future.Ranjula Herath (19) who sat for the A/L’s last year in the commerce stream charged that it was a waste of time.

Those who had good ranks are sure of entering university. But those who are on the border are uncertain of their future she said, adding students who obtained medium-level scores did not apply to university but now with the re-calculation they are not sure whether they will be eligible for university admission.

“I started CIMA and also a part time job while awaiting university admission. But we were not called for the leadership training that was scheduled to begin in� May,”she said.

Christjit Xavier (19) sat for the A/L’s in the Bio stream offering Biology, Physics and Chemistry as subjects.
“I obtained 2 A’s and a B and was expecting to enter the Medical Faculty. Now I’m worried about the Z-score and district rank,” he said adding that many of his colleagues have applied for scholarships offered by India and Bangladesh.

“Even to apply for scholarships we need the ranks and this mess created by education authorities has caused a lot of difficulty to students,” he said.

Zahrah Rizwan(19) sat for the A/L’s in the Arts stream. “At the beginning I was really enthusiastic about getting into university. I applied to Colombo, Kelaniya and J’pura universities. But now I don’t know whether the ranks will change,”she said.

National Institute of Mental Health Consultant Psychiatrist Dr. Harischandra Gambheera said these situations can cause a high level of stress among students, especially in a competitive university entrance system.

How the Z-score is calculated

• The average marks (mean) of each subject is obtained by dividing the total number of marks by the number of candidates.
• Then the average marks (mean) is subtracted from each student’s marks on each subject.
• This is divided by the ‘standard deviation,’ a widely used measure of variability.
• Then the Z-score for each subject by a student is obtained.
• This figure is totalled and divided by the number of subjects (three) to arrive at the Z-score.
• The results obtained by each candidate are then placed on a district� and island-wide ranking.

Editorial

Z-score and U-turns

June 29, 2012, 7:44 pm , the island

Ministers in charge of education and higher education are nursing their derriere following a humiliating pratfall at Hulftsdorp on Monday. They are bellowing empty rhetoric and trotting out ludicrous excuses to save face but the Z-score has manifestly boomeranged on them. Having defended the formula used for the 2011 GCE (A/L) examination Z-score calculation, in public and in Parliament, they cannot absolve themselves of the blame for its application and the attendant mess-up.

Minister Wimal Weerawansa's party, the National Freedom Front (NFF), not to be outdone by the Opposition which lost no time in hauling Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena and Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake over the coals, called for their resignation. Accusing them of having made a stinking mess of the education sector, NFF politburo member Piyasiri Wijenayake urged them to take responsibility for Z-score fiasco and step down forthwith.

Such calls are inconsequential as neither those who make them nor government ministers usually take them seriously, but Wijenayake's demand is of some significance as his party is a coalition partner of the ruling UPFA. His political derring-do may have gone down rather well but he was oblivious to the consequences of his utterances. It may not have occurred to him that his leader Minister Weerawansa was also bound by the so-called principle of collective Cabinet responsibility!

Minister Weerawansa made a vain attempt to control damage on Thursday. He argued at a public function that none of the government ministers were to be held responsible for the Z-score mess-up and the blame for it should be pinned solely on the experts who devised the formula at issue as well as the Examination Department bigwigs. But, no one––not even Wijenayake, we suppose––was convinced by Weerawansa's glib.

Minister Weerawansa chose to ignore the fact that the Education Minister and the Higher Education Minister had defended the Z-score formula to the hilt. He cut a very pathetic figure yet another time, trying to defend the indefensible.

Victory, they say, has a thousand fathers and defeat is an orphan. What would have happened if the Supreme Court judgment had gone in favour of the UGC? The beleaguered ministers would have claimed the credit for preparing the Z-score immediately and the ferocious government propaganda hounds who turned tail and ran away on Monday would have torn their critics to shreds.

We hope the UGC experts and the Examination Department worthies will learn from their mistakes and be wary of pandering to the whims and fancies of their political masters who have no qualms about wriggling out of difficult situations at the expense of anyone else.

Minister Weerawansa's claim that the government big guns should not be held responsible for what the State officials and experts do is of special interest. If so, the government should not seek the credit or grab the limelight when officials and experts successfully carry out tasks assigned to them. Fair enough, eh? Will Weerawansa peddle the same argument as regards who should be given the credit for the country's successful war on terror?

When Minister Weerawansa says politicians should not be blamed for what their officials do, are we to gather that he is trying to have his political masters frothing at the mouth believe that he should not be held responsible for what an NFF official (Wijenayake) has said?

Pseudo-Marxists are notorious for espousing populist causes as a matter of expediency while riding piggyback on capitalists in power to enjoy perks and privileges. Minister Weerawansa is running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. He has apparently reached a stage where he does not know whether he is running or hunting!

Dons asked to justify their clamour for more

June 29, 2012, 9:08 pm , the island

The Higher Education Ministry Secretary in a letter addressed to academic staff members of all universities yesterday said that the latter’s struggle for salary increases did not have the element of social justice, as during the last two years, the salaries of academic staff members had been increased by an average of 66 percent.

Education Secretary Dr Sunil Jayantha Navaratne says in his letter: "I request you to ask yourself how you could justify your demand for another salary hike so soon. During the years 2011 and 2012 a salary of a senior professor increased by 73.88 percent while a professor’s salary had been increased by 69.73 percent. Salaries of a senior lecturer and a lecturer had been increased by 61.13% and 53.39%. Generally all the salaries of academic staff members have been increased by an average of 66%.

"In addition the payments for preparing question papers of university students have been increased by 400 percent this year. The payment for evaluating question papers of internal students by university teachers too had been increased by 400% and those of post graduate students by 150 percent. The payment for conducting visiting lectures also had been increased 200 percent.

"The government has also increased the credit limit of loans provided to university teachers and these loans are provided at a very lower interest rate. The government had doubled the budgetary allocations for the higher education sector in the last five years, the letter says.

"Therefore, I request you not to fall praay to those in the academic community who are acting on hidden agendas to further their personal interests. It seems that the main objective of these rabble rousers is to lead the country towards anarchy and to weaken institutional capacity of the country’s university system. Taking into consideration the increases of salaries made in the last two years, I request you to consider how you could reason out to the society the social justice element in the ongoing struggle for more increments," the letter addressed to all academic members through the Vice Chancellors of universities said."

Vice Chancellors tell FUTA why it shouldn’t strike

June 28, 2012, 9:33 pm , the island

The Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Directors has said that because academics have received substantial increase in remuneration and other benefits they shouldn’t disrupt universities.

The Committee was responding to Federation of University Teachers’ (FUTA) threat to launch an indefinite strike on July 4, 2012 demanding a salary increase and allocation of 6 per cent of the GDP to education. Chairman of the Committee Prof. Susirith Mendis has said that there is still an opportunity for negotiations with the government.

The following is the statement issued by Prof. Mendis consequent to a special meeting of the Committee held on Monday.

* Since the non academic trade union action has already disrupted academic activities of the universities, the impending trade union action by FUTA will continue to disrupt and seriously aggravate the situation adversely affecting free education;

* This will delay the admission of new students to the universities as well as the graduation of university students;

* This will result in waste of valuable academic expertise and other resources of the universities;

* This will seriously tarnish the credibility of the academics in the eyes of the public;

* This will erode the public confidence and superior positions maintained by the national universities as the premier providers of higher education in Sri Lanka and

* The academics have recently received substantial increases in remuneration and other benefits.

Vice Chancellors and Directors of Sri Lankan universities speak against union action

Wed, Jun 27, 2012, 10:14 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
 
Jun 27, Colombo: The Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Directors Sri Lanka (CVCD) has come out against the trade union action planned by the university academics.
The CVCD issuing a statement has pointed out that the trade union action recently launched by the non-academic staff in universities has disrupted academic activities and that the planned action by the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) would also affect the university functions.
The committee has also pointed out that the union action would also delay the admission of new students and delay the graduation of university students and this will aggravate the public.
The statement notes, "Since the non-academic trade union action has already disrupted academic activities of the universities, the impending trade union action by FUTA will continue to disrupt and seriously aggravate the situation adversely affecting free education."
"This will delay the admission of new students to the universities as well as the graduation of university students; this will result in wastage of valuable academic expertise and other resources of the universities; This will seriously tarnish the credibility of the academics in the eyes of the public; This will erode the public confidence and superior positions maintained by the national universities as the premier providers of higher education in Sri Lanka," the statement said.
"The academics have recently received substantial increases in remuneration and other benefits," the CVCD pointed out.
The CVCD has also noted that opportunities still exist for negotiations with the state authorities before embarking on the proposed trade union action.
The FUTA has vowed to go ahead with the planned strike on July 04.

SB Stands by Z- Score .

Tuesday, 26 June 2012 17:52, Daylimirror

Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake today reiterated that the Z- score system devised by the UGC was the best method that would cause the “least difficulties”. “We stand by the system devised by five eminent professors that this system would cause the least amount of difficulties and would ensure fairness among all students” he said.

However the Minister said that they would abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. “We agree with the decision of the Supreme Courts, but we are considering appealing against the decision and are currently consulting our lawyers” he said.

DIssanayake made these remarks addressing a press conference flanked by Proffessor Samaranayake the Chairman of the University Grants Commission and Prof. Saratah Kulathunga of the Kelaniya University and member of the five member panel that prepared the z score system this year,

 Dissanayake when asked if he would resign oHigher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake today reiterated that the Z- score system devised by the UGC was the best method that would cause the “least difficulties”. “We stand by the system devised by five eminent professors that this system would cause the least amount of difficulties and would ensure fairness among all students” he said.

However the Minister said that they would abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. “We agree with the decision of the Supreme Courts, but we are considering appealing against the decision and are currently consulting our lawyers” he said.

DIssanayake made these remarks addressing a press conference flanked by Proffessor Samaranayake the Chairman of the University Grants Commission and Prof. Saratah Kulathunga of the Kelaniya University and member of the five member panel that prepared the z score system this year,

 Dissanayake when asked if he would resign on this issue as requested by the UNP said “I can’t answer those questions please ask him” referring to the General Secretary of the UNP Tissa Attanayake.

Cartoon of the day, The Island

Intelligentsia shocked by actions against FUTA President

June 27, 2012, 10:16 pm , the island


By Ifham Nizam

Intellectuals and trade unions yesterday expressed concern over the recent intimidation and suspicious actions against Federation of University Teachers’ Unions, (FUTA) President, Dr. Nimal Ranjith Devasiri, who is also the Secretary of the Arts Faculty Teachers Union of the Colombo University.

Executive Editor of the Subavitha Magazine Mahinda Rathnayake told The Island yesterday that such tactics were clearly against democracy.

He said that the method of approach to intimidate a University Don sends a clear signal that it was not a personal move against an individual but against those who try to win their rights and work towards justice.

Ceylon Bank Employees’ Union, Vice Chairman, Keshara Kottegoda Withana said that the attempt was meant to send signals suppressing democratic rights which was not a healthy sign. "We vehemently oppose such moves," he added.

He also said that the group of people who had identified themselves as members of the Ministry of Defense, visited the neighbourhood in which Dr. Devasiri resided, and made inquiries about him and his family, in an attempt to intimidate them.

A jeep without a proper license plate was seen parked near his house. The action prompted Dr. Devasiri to lodge a complaint with the Maharagama police, he said.

He expressed hope that the police would take action against those involved in intimidating Dr. Devasiri.

In a letter addressed to Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa copied to IGP N. K. Illangakoon, Professor Asanga Tilakaratne, President of the AFTU-CU stated:

"It has been brought to our notice that a group of men claiming to be from the Ministry of Defence have been behaving suspiciously within the neighbourhood of the Secretary of Arts Faculty Teachers’ Union (AFUTA), Dr. Nirmal Ranjith on June 19, 2012. They have questioned neighbours regarding Dr. Devasiri’s movements and details regarding his family. Dr. Devasiri has lodged a complaint with this regard at the Maharagama police Station on 21.06.2012.

"We are deeply concerned about this and request you to immediately launch an investigation into this matter."

Withana also noted that the University Teachers’ Union had been working to improve the livelihoods of university teachers, notably by campaigning for wage increases and improved working conditions. The Minister of Higher Education, S. B. Dissanayake had publicly opposed those efforts.

Trade unionists and political activists who campaign for wage increases and the improvement of working conditions were frequently threatened, and even, physically attacked, Withana added.

Education Minister refuses to budge

June 27, 2012, 12:00 pm , the island



by Dasun Edirisinghe

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena said yesterday that there was no need for him to resign as he did not commit any wrong.

He was responding to the JVP’s and teacher trade unions’ demand for him to resign over the ‘Z–score’ fiasco.

"I was the third respondent in the ‘Z–score’ case and the examinations chief was the first respondent," Gunawardena said adding that the Supreme Court cleared them without any punishment.

Gunawardena said that the Examination Department calculated the ‘Z–score’ of the GCE (A/L) 2011 results based on the method given by the experts committee appointed by the University Grants Commission.

He said that the examinations department was not responsible for the ‘Z–score’ fiasco.

According to the Supreme Court order, the ‘Z–score’ of the two syllabi should be cal culated separately, the minister said adding that so far the UGC had not told the examination department to carry out the re-calculation.

Gunawardena said that the examinations department holds three major examinations, grade V scholarship, GCE (O/L) and GCE (A/L), per year.

"Our duty is to hold exams and evaluate papers," he said adding that the UGC was the authority for admitting students to universities and that was why they provided guidelines to make the ‘Z–score’.

The examination department calculated the ‘Z–score’ earlier using the formula given by the UGC, but the Court asked it to do it separately for the two syllabi, the minister said.

Now, the department was awaiting the new formula given by the Supreme Court, Gunawardena said.