The government will revamp the university and school education structure with a view to bringing down the age for university admission from the present 20 years to 16 and age for school admission to four years, Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake said. 

 

He said this was being done to be in line with the educational systems prevailing in many other countries in the world.
 

“Through the new system the students will get to sit the GCE O/L examination when they are in grade-10 and the GCE A/L when they are in grade-12,” the minister said.
 

As agreed by all the Vice Chancellors and higher educational officials at a workshop held recently, the age of school admission will be reduced to four, while one of the grades between 7 and 10 will be abolished. Therefore the students will get to enter universities by the age of 16 and pass out at a maximum age of 21.
 

“The idea of implementing this system is very praise worthy, I am very happy about it, it will be like our days of education, the students will be able to finish their PHDs even before 30,” Colombo University Vice Chancellor Kshanika Hirimburegama said. (Hasini Liyanage)