SC strikes down Z - score

Nelka Medagedara and Sandasen Marasinghe

The Supreme Court yesterday ordered the University Grants Commission (UGC) to recalculate the Z - score of last year’s GCE Advanced Level results under the old syllabus and new syllabus separately, declaring the Z-score issued in that connection was null and void.

The Supreme Court delivering the judgment ordered to recalculate the Z-score in accordance with section 15(vii) of the UGC Act of 1978 using the accepted statistic theories and principles.

Court also ordered to issue the Z - score without undue delay.

The Supreme Court Bench comprised Chief Justice Dr Shirani Bandaranaike, Supreme Court Justice Nimal Gamini Amarathunga and Supreme Court Justice K Sri Pavan. Court observed UGC had violated the fundamental rights of the students guaranteed by section 12(1) of the Constitution by calculating the Z-score considering the students who sat for the old syllabus and the new syllabus as one group.

The Supreme Court issued the judgment after hearing the fundamental right application filed by a group of students praying to declare the Z-score issued on last year’s GCE Advanced Level results null and void.

The Supreme Court in its judgment declared the most competitive examination held in the country is the GCE Advanced Level and it was the UGC that introduced the system to calculate the Z - score on the examination results. The Supreme Court observed the students who sat for the GCE (A-L) examination under the old and new syllabuses in 2000 were considered as two separate groups but for the first time that method was changed in 2011 by considering those two groups as one.

Court also observed this had not been informed to the students beforehand.

The petitioners, a group of students including Visal Prabasitha Kaviratne and Lanka Guru Sangamaya filed the fundamental application citing the Commissioner General of Examinations, the Education Minister, the University Grants Commission, Professor R O Thatil and the Attorney General as respondents. The petitioners also pleaded to prevent admitting students to universities based on the Z - score issued on last year’s GCE Advanced Level results as the Z score had been calculated considering the groups who sat for the examination in the old syllabus and the new syllabus as one group. They argued it was unjust by the students. The respondents argued that no student faced any injustice by calculating the Z - score in that manner.

Attorney J C Weliamuna appeared for the petitioners instructed by Sanjeewa Kaluarachchi while Attorney Senani Dayaratne appeared for the intervenient petitioners.

President’s Counsel Faiz Mustapha, Professor R O Thatil and State Counsel Neril Pulle appeared for the respondents.