Fifty four students who obtained qualifying marks in the 2008 GCE Advanced Level (A/L) examination to enter local universities, have been refused admission by the University Grants Commission (UGC) under a newly introduced rule which reportedly none of the students sitting the examination have been aware of.
The students, some of whom have obtained three A grades in the A/L examination were refused entry as they have already been registered for admission to technical colleges before they applied for local university admission.
“We registered in the technical colleges based on our previous year’s A/L results. When I went to register at the technical college I asked the director there if there would be any problems if I registered for admission. He said that if I withdrew my application for admission in time there would be no problem. So when I obtained my marks at the 2008 A/L exam I withdrew my registration at the technical college,” said M. Premachandra who scored three A grades in the 2008 A/L examinations Commerce stream securing the 12th place in the Hambantota district.
However, when the handbook containing the regulations relating to the 2008 university admissions was issued it was found a new clause had been added whereby any student who has previously been registered in any government run technical college was not eligible for entry to a university.
“When I registered at the technical college I was not aware that such a rule was in place as I took the 2007 handbook as the guide being the only document available. When I obtained my marks at the A/L exam I withdrew my registration from the technical college and obtained a letter from the director to that effect, which I attached to my appeal against the UGC decision refusing me admission to a university. But still the decision has not been changed. Whenever I call nobody gives a straight forward answer. When a group of students faced with the same situation went to meet the Education Minister he said that he would find a solution in two weeks. It has been more than four weeks and no solution is in sight yet,” Mr. Premachandra said.
According to the Inter University Students Federation acting convener Sanjeewa Bandara the problem has arisen due to the irregular practices of the UGC regarding university admissions. “The UGC has no proper and clear cut policy for university admissions. Last year the same issue came up and the rejected students were admitted only because they fought for it. This year the regulations have been changed again without letting the students know, which is very unfair,” he said.
According to him many students are compelled to follow some form of course during the idle months.
“There is about a year for the students to wait for the university entrance results. So they tend to follow some kind of course.
Due to financial constraints, most of them go for government-sponsored courses. If the authorities want to stop this practice then they should take action to streamline the admission process so that the students don’t end up wasting their time,” Mr. Bandara said. When the Sunday Times spoke to UGC Chairman Prof. G. Samaranayake he refused to comment on the matter and said the legal department would handle it. |
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