Achievers and 'failures'

There is the customary rejoicing almost countrywide over those who have performed outstandingly at the G.C.E. Ordinary Level examination and we too congratulate those students who have shone brilliantly at this crucial public examination. A little over 60 percent of the successful candidates have qualified to study for the G.C.E. Advanced Level examination and this figure, we are told, is an improvement over the corresponding qualifying rate of last year. Therefore, there is enough and more cause for all concerned to be happy.

A little over 3,000 students have obtained A grades in all nine subjects and this too is an improvement over the corresponding figure of last year; once again, a cause for rejoicing. An added notable feature is that the majority of students who have shone at the examination come from provincial schools and on this score too a degree of rejoicing is justified because this is continuing evidence that our revered Free Education system is continuing to serve the ends for which it was established.

All in all, the examination results this year too are satisfying and whatever its flaws the state education system could be seen as 'delivering', particularly if pass rates are going to be our sole criteria of educational success. Seeing more and more students qualifying for higher education is most satisfying to all relevant sections, including the state, and these are no mean achievements for Sri Lanka.

The state would, of course, have to countenance the problem of ensuring that these thousands of secondary school students who thus qualify are enabled to pursue a higher education with no hassle, but this consideration should not be allowed to take the shine away from this achievement of the state in keeping the education system going and in making it an avenue of educational advancement for our younger generation.

That said, we need to also take cognizance of those students who have failed to succeed at the recent G.C.E. Ordinary Level examination. This is the more troubling side of these public examinations which should have all right-thinking persons worried. To be sure, the number of 'failures' has decreased this year slightly, but it is now public knowledge that over 12,000 students have failed in all nine subjects at the examination.

Reasons for a student failing a public examination could be numerous but not all such 'failures' are resilient enough to take their setback in the correct spirit. Not all students are sufficiently resourceful to see their 'failure' as a temporary lapse and be courageous enough to pick-up the pieces and move on with their lives, if not continuously try until they succeed.

Many who 'fail', see their 'failure' as something that 'seals their fate', and this could prove very fatal for the student. Hence, the reports that some of these students have even taken their lives. Thus are lives lost irrevocably while in full bloom.

We urge that the state and other concerned sections pay more attention to these 'failures' inasmuch as they appreciate and commend the achievements of the successful. It should be plain to see that these students who 'fail' must be encouraged into continuing with their education. They must be counseled into the belief that setbacks of this kind do not completely determine their future. They need to be enthused into persisting with their efforts. Besides, the public should be counseled into not regarding these hapless students as 'failures'.

Education reform must be speeded up if these changes in perception are to be brought about. Generally speaking, students should be spared the agony of having very few choices when it comes to academic pursuits. They must be presented with a wide range of options and each of these options should be seen as equally valuable.