On the Edge

| by Victor Cherubim

( August 28, 2012, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) There were reported sightings of a lion loose in the hedgerows near a campsite at St.Osyth in Essex a few days ago. Some locals said the only lion they can see is outside the pub called” Red Lion” in this sleepy town. Concern plus a healthy degree of scepticism has been expressed.

Similarly with circumstances influencing most people around UK almost everyone is worried stiff,

not about the prowling lion, but about the first full dip in GCSE grades for 24 years (1988) and the entirely unfair marking system. Critics state examiners were ordered to mark more harshly. The 650,000 students who sat the exam were surprised at the dip in their performance. Teachers are angry that the grades have dropped so dramatically, as almost 10,000 pupils are reported to have missed out on a “C” grade – the standard demanded by many employers and sixth forms, as results have been severely affected by last minute change in grade boundaries. Principals of schools have slammed and stated the papers will be sent back for remarking, whilst students are planning retakes.

Tinkering with education is the order of the day whether it is in Sri Lanka or in UK. Students have suddenly become victims of political football. “Shifting of goal posts for grades in particular the C/D boundary has had a huge impact on individual students and future of schools, according to the National Union of Teachers in UK as a new O-Level exam is mooted to replace GCSE’s by the Government soon.

While in Sri Lanka with most of the “Uni” education at a standstill and 22 Universities since 21 August 2012, around the country virtually closed, life has become overbearing and monotonous for the students. Pushing students to think outside the box to either find a comparable mode of learning at home, or to drive them to reach out abroad are some options.

Distance Learning has been contemplated during continuing tough and turbulent times as it appears there is no projected upward swing in the FUTA (Federation of University Teachers Association) negotiation. We further note that a group of undergrads have threatened to take legal action against the striking University lecturers as their trade union action is politically motivated, with a continuous strike despite the salary increases granted by the Ministry of Higher Education.

An analysis of the education system in Sri Lanka shows as follows:

“At the “A” Level exam in August 2011 two sets of students sat the exam from two syllabuses, the marks of all the students from both groups were pooled and a common Z score was formulated. Many students from previous syllabus got high scores and thus got selected for university whereas many from new syllabus got left out. Around 500,000 were stranded due to the gross errors in some exam papers.”

As opinions polarise and emotions intensify, there is a serious situation arising. Students are being driven to private colleges and many of the affluent are offered places at universities abroad. Qualified lecturers are also pursuing the same route, as there appears to be a brain drain for highly paid positions abroad.

The problem is compounded by employment not obtainable with subjects that may be academically acceptable, but not in much demand in the work environment of today. Parents can spend a lot of money on providing a university education, students if they are funding their own education, will all the time be in debt after university education. It is a vicious circle.

What options are available both to students and parents? Universities all over the world are turning out hundreds of thousands of basically unemployable graduates, specialising in esoteric subjects that have no impact either on their acquisition of key skills –

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills

• Self motivation

• Excellent time management skills

• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines

• Ability to check and analyse data and develop or recommend strategies

or pursue their own personality development.

The choice as far as education for the future is concerned is, whether it will produce a job or whether it will create a class of unemployed, incapable of facing the challenges of the marketplace. We are informed that besides Sinhala, Tamil and English, the Korean Language will be taught in schools. It is my opinion that as Sri Lanka will in the not too distant future starts to do business with companies in China, Chinese should be taught in Schools and at University level. Learning Putonghua (i.e. Mandarin Chinese) will be easier to learn because it has four tones whereas Cantonese has nine. I hope while students are at home awaiting the universities to reopen, they acquaint themselves with the study of languages, and in particular, Chinese.