brand logo

University admission rules are in response to failures and inadequacies: Dr Amarasuriya

03 Jun 2021

Many of the rules and regulations with regard to university admissions are only in place in response to bureaucratic failures and inadequacies,  Member of Parliament Dr Harini Amarasuriya from the National People’s Power electoral coalition expressed in a letter sent to Minister of Education Prof G L Peiris on Tuesday (01). Dr Amarasuriya had issued this letter to the Minister of Education in response to her receival of several appeals from students who sat for their GCE (A/L) examinations in 2020 as their second, and in some cases, their third attempt. According to the letter, these students began their university registration process based on their 2019 GCE A/L results while preparing for the 2020 examination, even though they were not selected for the programme of their choice. “These students now claim that they qualify for the academic programme of their choice based on 2020 exam results, but are prevented from doing so due to an existing University Grants Commission (UGC) regulation,” she stated. She added that as a result, these students have asked for flexibility in this regard, based on several reasons including uncertainty with 2019 admissions, anxieties and difficulties experienced while preparing for exams during the Covid-19 pandemic and the fact that the registration process based on 2019 A/L results is still on going. Dr Amarasuriya, while stating that she aware of the UGC regulation, appealed to Prof G L Peiris to consider the situation of these students flexibly. Addressing the problems faced by the education sector of Sri Lanka, she stressed that successive governments have failed to meet increasing demand for higher education in the country. It was also highlighted that the systemic and procedural delays and constraints in the UGC with regard to university admissions has resulted in a complicated and confusing process. Due to this, she urged the Minister of Education to appoint an independent, external high powered committee of experts to completely review the current university admission procedure and provide recommendations for an overhaul of the system, before presenting such to the Parliament. “The failures our country is facing can be attributed to the failures of the education system. Education, much like else in our country, has become an unfortunate site of privilege and exclusion,” she concluded.


More News..