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Ordinary Level Exam results 2017 Reaching a milestone in Sri Lanka’s education

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20 April 2018 12:00 am - 0     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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When the results of the much-awaited Ordinary Level Examination were released last week there were very many new aspirations among the students, teachers and administrators in the education sector.   


Several years ago there was criticism levelled against officials of the education sector that all resources- both physical and human- were granted to those schools from the Colombo centric western province and not to the regions. 

 
There is a popular slogan used by school and university students “KOLAMBATA KIRI APITA KEKIRI” which means while Colombo students get milk the students of schools in the remote parts or regions receive pumpkins. From a broader perspective what this means is that there is a very wide discrepancy between the regions and the centre when it comes to the distribution of resources, especially in the education sector. 


However as the years rolled by the timely education reforms introduced, during the past few years, should be commended, irrespective of the government in power. Be it blue or green the tangible fact is that there has been a remarkable improvement in the education sector both in quantity and the quality.   


MATHS, SCIENCE AND ENGLISH pass rate increases while FAIL rate declines G.C.E.(O.L.) ( See table   )

 

Needless to say the O/L results of 2017 provide testimony more than any other year.   


Table at the end of the article provides an analysis of the performance from 2010 to 2017 at the G.C.E. O/L Examination by the school candidates. It clearly signifies the steady and stable progress made.   


If you consider the percentage of students that has qualified to study for the Advanced Level Examination since 2010 there is a growth from 60.57% to 73.05% in 2017.   

The Principals of the schools that produced the top six students say that the new systematic developmental tools introduced to the education sector by the Ministry of Education during the past two to three years have contributed to the results emanating from their student communities


If you even analyze from the previous results in 2016 it shows a growth of 3.11% in 2017.   


Also when you take the number of students who have obtained 9 ‘A’ passes in 2010 the figure read 3057 which is 1.13% of those who passed the O/L exam. In 2017 the total number of students who received 9 ‘A’ passes were 9960 which is 3.36% of those who passed.   


Moreover there has been a remarkable decrease in the failures at the O/L Exam. The data shows those who had failed in all subjects. Those who appeared for more than 6 or more subjects stood as 14411 in 2010 while in 2017 it has dropped to 7308 which is 50% less compared with the data available for 2010.   

Performance of School Candidates (1st Attempt) by Province arranged in Descending Order of Qualified Percentage 


 Meanwhile those who have passed Mathematics, Science and English too have increased compared with the previous year’s results. The pass rate for Mathematics has increased to 67.24% in 2017, up from 62.24% which was the reading for the previous year.   


Similarly the pass rate in Science too rose to 73.465 in 2017 compared to 66.33% the previous year.   


The pass rate in English too has risen to 51.12%, up from 47.90% which was the reading for 2016.   


Incidentally, Southern Province recorded the highest percentage (79.41) of students who qualified to study for the A/L Exam. North Western Province recorded the second highest percentage (74.60) of students who qualified to study for the A/L Exam. Western Province came third with 74.58%. Southern, NWP, WP, and Sabaragamuwa (74.33%) provinces have a higher qualifying rate to study for the A/L Exam compared to the national average which is 73.05% .   


G.C.E. (O.L) Examinations 2016 - 2017 Province 2017 Number Sat for 5 or more subjects Qualified for G.C.E.(A/L) Failed in All Subjects (Appeared for 6 or more Subjects)

More interestingly, when you view the best performers list at the 2017 GCE O/L Examination the top six students who have got the same aggregate comes from Gampaha, Kandy, Matara and Ratnapura districts.   

 

What is the scientific meaning for this? It shows the benefits of the education trickle down to regional level from its epic centre which 
is Colombo.   


What is the bigger approach for this? The Principals of the schools that produced the top six students say that the new systematic developmental tools introduced to the education sector by the Ministry of Education during the past two to three years have contributed to the results emanating from their student communities. They commended the new teacher training methods which are on par with overseas training and modernized teacher training techniques used in other developed countries. The infrastructure for these schools was provided under the concept NEAREST SCHOOL IS THE BEST SCHOOL. In this concept the focus was on the development of infrastructure in over 10,000 schools in the country which included 283 national level schools. The rest of the schools were in the provinces. Currently over 18000 individual projects are being implemented under this scheme. Spending over 64 billion rupees the focus was on introducing mobile science labs to schools with weaker laboratory facilities. As many as 3000 schools were provided with mobile labs apart from training being provided to more science and math teachers. Modern teaching techniques were used so as to have more qualified teachers. The teacher ecosystem too has contributed to the improvement in results. The intention of NSBS projects is to minimize the congestion in popular schools and provide all basic facilities to the nearest school and attract students to those institutes instead of overcrowding popular schools. 

 
Moreover the human capital injected to the system is quite remarkable. Shuffling the teachers after 10 years of service in one school to another is quite a bold decision taken by education officials to supply quality experienced teachers to the peripheries as well.   


More importantly the 13 years of compulsory education that encourages the students to continue studying in schools even after the O/L Exam regardless of whether they pass the exam or not has given more hope to our younger generation.   


Annually approximately 120,000 students drop out after the O/L Examination and their fate goes unattended, some times by their parents who are both employed. And those who don’t receive the attention of parents may get attracted to dubious forces. Such dropouts may engage in crimes, get addicted to drugs and find employed as social sex workers. A sizeable percentage of these dropouts also take to driving three-wheeler taxis. 

 

 

 

 

Annually approximately 120,000 students drop out after the O/L Examination and their fate goes unattended, some times by their parents who are both employed. And those who don’t receive the attention of parents may get attracted to dubious forces. Such dropouts may engage in crimes, get addicted to drugs and find employed as social sex workers. A sizeable percentage of these dropouts also take to driving three-wheeler taxis. 


The main objectives of the 13 years of education 

 

  • Under the proposal of 13 years of continuous education by the present Government, it is intended to allow each learner to continue his or her studies till the end of Grade 13 regardless of whether they pass or fail the GCE O/L Exam.
  • To provide an opportunity to select vocational subjects of their choice and allow them either to join the world of work or pursue higher education through flexible learning opportunities   
  • The introduction of vocational subjects that are in high demand for local and foreign employment. (26 such subjects will be introduced). 

These subjects are:

 

  • Child psychology and care   
  • Food processing   
  • Health and social care   
  • Aquatic resource studies   
  • Physical education   
  • Plantation studies   
  • Performing arts   
  • Construction studies   
  • Event management   
  • Automobile studies   
  • Arts and crafts   
  • Electrical and electronics   
  • Interior designing   
  • Textile and apparel   
  • Fashion designing   
  • Metal fabrication   
  • Graphic designing   
  • Aluminum fabrication   
  • Art and designing   
  • Software development   
  • Landscaping   
  • Web development   
  • Applied horticulture   
  • Tourism and hospitality   
  • Livestock studies   
  • Environmental studies   
  • More Applied Subjects are expected to be introduced depending on future industry demand   
  • A student is expected to choose three of those Applied Subjects according to his/her liking and study them up to the introductory and intermediate levels during second and third terms of Grade 12.   
  • Then in the first term of Grade 13, every student would choose one particular Applied Subject out of those three and continue his/her advanced studies in that area throughout the three terms during Grade 13. That subject is called student’s Main Applied Subject.   
  • Industrial Skills Training (or On the Job Training – OJT) is related to the Main Applied Subject chosen by a student. Those activities are embedded into Grade 13.   
  • Vocational Curriculum would be delivered as per the Vocational Education Standards.   
  • Learners would be assessed and evaluated as per the Vocational Education Standards.   
  • Vocational Curriculum would allow students to achieve NVQ level 4 in the chosen Main Subject Area   
  • A qualification designed by the Ministry of Education and recognized by the country would be awarded to suitably qualified students in the Vocational Stream   
  • Students in this stream would be able to find jobs, or start self-employment or to continue their tertiary education in vocation-friendly universities and higher education institutes, institutes in the TVET sector upon leaving the school at the end of Grade 13.   

In conclusion it is very important for the public to understand that improving the quality of education in the country means eventual betterment of the standards of the students and therefore the recently released O/L exam results tells us that success story.   

 


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