The Prestige And Hope That A-Levels Bring! - EDITORIAL

The General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level Examination began on January 4 (Thursday) with candidates sitting for the examination while carrying high hopes for the future.   
It is important that these candidates go to the examination centres with a positive frame of mind because education is now perceived as a long journey where the end part of it might even be completed in a foreign country. The present situation in Sri Lanka is bleak with the rulers squeezing the ‘life’ out of citizens by imposing so many taxes and making living in the island close to unthinkable. But when students accomplish the plan of successfully passing this examination they can see beyond the horizons of this island. 

In the past there were those who passed the A-Level examination and gained university admission and those who didn’t. Now there are two different categories; those who are fortunate to continue school education and sit for the A-Level examination and those who have been forced to drop out of school because supporting the educating phase is something which parents cannot bear. Many months ago there were several newspaper articles touching on the subject where parents took turns in sending their children to school when the family was large and the income generated by the breadwinner or both parents combined was low. 
Still, as many as 346,976 candidates have registered for the A-Level examination, out of which 65,531 candidates are sitting for the examination in a private capacity. Now that’s interesting!

This means that the local A-Levels are still pursued as an important phase in education. Qualifying for a local university is still considered as prestigious even though branches of foreign universities are mushrooming here in the island and are promising a professional qualification at competitive prices. In these branches of foreign universities, courses are conducted by academics who love both teaching and children. And given that there are no strikes in these private universities, courses are completed within the stipulated time. Regular strikes and inhuman ragging at local universities have acted as deterrents when it comes to taking a decision whether to study at a state institute here or continue education abroad. 

Local universities and the dons who teach in them are held in high regard by the public. These university academics took to strike action last year and the outcome was a delay in the release of the A-Level examination results. The strike by the dons was connected to tax issues. 

The local A-Level examination is considered by many as a ‘highly competitive national test’. This is because those who obtain the right ‘Z Score’ can complete a degree programme at a reputed state university for free. Students also receive the Mahapola Bursary; even though inadequate, it is the first real grant by the state to further higher education. All this is possible if a candidate does well at this competitive examination and qualifies to say that he or she belongs within the cream of the country’s students. If one recalls the results from last year’s A-Level batch, as many as 166,938 candidates qualified for university admission; which in percentage form was 63.3%. That’s impressive!  

Students get to sit for the A-Levels in streams like Physical Science, Bio Science, Commerce, Arts, and Technology. A good number of students say that these streams are not the desired or dream paths for them when planning for the future. But these are the only ‘vehicles’ available within the local education curriculum to keep moving in school education and not hit a snag.  One has to be really bold these days to drop out of the A-Level class at school or university because these two stages in education are safe paths and guarantee results. The ‘colours’ of A-Level education are pretty much the same despite new subjects being added to the curriculum. Those who find this stage of education boring can do so only if they have the capacity to think of a ‘new’ colour.