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Scrap Z-score: Ranil

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17 January 2012 04:43 pm - 8     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe today in Parliament stressed the need to scrap the Z-score system for the admission of students to universities.
Mr. Wickremesinghe, in a statement to the House, said that the UNP government led by him during the 2002/2004 period had plans todo away with this system. However, he said that he could not take any step because of what he termed as the undemocratic act of dissolution of his government in 2004.

“We opposed the Z-score system right from the beginning. Instead, we should have expanded opportunities for students to gain access for higher education,” he said.

Referring to the recent crisis of the Advanced Level results, he said that the credibility of the Department of Examinations had suffered more than ever because of this problem.

“Minister Dalles Alahapperuma once said that the entire Cabinet should be held responsible for the mishap. However, these are mere utterances only. No one is there to take the responsibility,” he said.

He recalled how he sacked a Commissioner General of Examination when he was the Education Minister at that time due to a similar blunder.

Also, he asked as to why Prof. Ralfe Thatil who introduced the Z-score system was not consulted in the
formulation of a common modality for the calculation of Z-score marks of students who sat for the exam under two different syllabuses this time.

Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake replied that Prof. Thatil was excluded from the expert panel that worked on this matter because there were some legal issues involved. Also, he said that Prof. Thatil faced some allegations of financial irregularities when he was the director of the Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture.

Mr. Dissanayake said that the Z-score system had many plus points as a modality for the admission of students to the university system.
(Kelum Bandara and Yohan Perera)

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  Comments - 8

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  • Souppuwa Wednesday, 18 January 2012 03:32 AM

    scrape your self from the UNP & Leadership, u r a Dictator, very soon the International community will be aware of your dictatorial policies....

    Boo2Floater Wednesday, 18 January 2012 03:59 AM

    Does he know what Z-SCORE is? Does he have an ounce of stat knowledge?

    Jamis Banda Wednesday, 18 January 2012 05:40 AM

    Please step down SIR !

    manike Wednesday, 18 January 2012 06:08 AM

    There is nothing wrong with the z-score system, the blunder was done due to non existence of proper technical personnel and minimum supervision and test checking.

    Gayan Samarasekara Wednesday, 18 January 2012 07:51 AM

    Z score calculated for two populations have combined wrongly.

    wartin Wednesday, 18 January 2012 11:02 AM

    He probably does, even if he doesnt know when to retire

    P.L.J.B.Palipana Wednesday, 18 January 2012 04:09 PM

    Gayan Samarasekera is very correct.

    Chrysty Monday, 30 January 2012 10:35 PM

    Statistically what is given as Z score result is not actually a z-core. Therefore Island ranks do not reflect performance and the merit order. It is very unfortunate situation for the university education of this nation. Can the university education sustain and move forward in this nation without correcting such a grievous error.
    It is a crime to move forward without correcting these errors as it has been highlighted by several academics. Present generation clearly understands and they are aware of the fact that that there is a serious error in calculation of z-score results.
    There are no two methods to calculate z-scores in statistics. Anything other than that is not z score, it is a distorted figure. There is a single well define universally accepted methodology for calculation of z-score.


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