Higher Education
The University Grants Commission (UGC) was established under the Universities Act. No. 16 of 1978, and is the Apex body of the University System in Sri Lanka. The functions of the UGC are to allocate funds to the universities and university institutes, serve as the central admission agency for undergraduate studies in universities, planning and monitoring of academic activities of the university system in order to maintain academic standards and implement national policies in respect of university education in Sri Lanka.
There are 12 National Universities and 2 Institutes under the UGC and 3 Universities under the Ministry of Education and the UGC selects students for admission to undergraduate courses in these 12 universities and 2 institutes.
The UGC selects students for admission to undergraduate courses.In addition to admission of students with local qualifications, special provision has been made for admission of a limited number of students with foreign qualifications also to follow undergraduate courses of study leading to bachelor’s degrees.
Courses of Study, and the Number of students that can be accommodated in Universities under each course of study, the subject combinations available in each University under different courses of study, and the minimum marks required for admission to various courses in respect of each administrative district could be varied.
The ‘z-score’ technique is used to rank students in each stream/ discipline. This is a statistical method which brings marks of different subjects to a common and comparable standard. Once the raw marks are converted to Z-score using this technique it is possible to use either the aggregates or the averages to rank the students in each stream irrespective of the nature of subjects/ syllabi/ number of subjects.
The Z-score method is an accepted scheme for subject - wise standardization.
Further details can be obtained from Additional Secretary/Admissions, University Grants Commission, while handbook for students are available at the UGC.
In recent years the students numbers ranging from 90,000 - 98,000 have obtained the minimum requirements for admission to universities, but the actual number admitted has been only about 14,000 - 15,000. The number selected as a proportion of the number that sat the Advanced Level Examination has been only about 6% and as a proportion of the number satisfying minimum requirements for admission has been around 13% - 15%.
Hence the admission to universities is extremely competitive and the fact is that an applicant who has satisfied the minimum requirements is no guarantee that he/she will be admitted as the selection criteria is under many other pre-requisites.
It is a common practice in many countries to reserve a few places for special categories of students such as those who have excelled in sports, arts and culture; blind and disabled; personnel of armed forces; adult candidates and foreign students. Only a very small number is admitted on special grounds specified above. The special categories of candidates who qualify for special admission to universities in Sri Lanka are:
Applicants under this special provision are required to submit Medical Certificates acceptable to the UGC in proof of their physical disability. For the purpose of this section, physical disability shall mean a permanent physical impairment, which has affected normal life. A limited number of blind students (who sat the G.C.E (A/L) Examination using the Braille system) to courses in Arts and physically disabled students (who are medically certified as disabled) to courses in Arts, Commerce, Biological and Physical Sciences are selected. Candidates who satisfy the minimum requirements for university admission and the appropriate subject prerequisites for the relevant course of study are considered under this special provision.
Under this special provision, up to 0.5% of the places in each course of study has been reserved for candidates who have obtained only 1st, 2nd or 3rd places at national level and/or achievements at international levels in such fields as sports, cultural activities such as dancing, painting, music and literature, scouting and cadetting, social work and other extra curricular activities in and after 2001 but have failed to gain admission under the normal intake because of the shortfall of a few marks. Candidates should have satisfied the minimum requirements and subject pre-requisites for admission to a particular course of study specified in the Students’ Handbook. Candidates who are eligible under this scheme are required to produce documentary evidence with regard to their achievements at the interview.
Under this special provision, up to 0.5 percent of the total number of places in Medicine, Dental Surgery and Engineering (MPR) is reserved for the personnel enlisted in the Armed Forces, Police Service and the Special Task Force serving in operational areas. Candidates who wish to apply under this provision should have satisfied the minimum requirements for admission and submit their applications to the Secretary of Defence, through the Commander of the Service concerned. UGC will make the selections based on the average Z Score of the candidates. The candidates should not send applications direct to the UGC.
Under this special provision, up to 0.5 percent of the places available in each course of study have been allocated to Sri Lankan students who have obtained qualifications abroad and foreign students. Accordingly, candidates who have foreign qualifications equivalent to G.C.E (A/L) Examination of Sri Lanka are eligible to apply. They should apply in a special form obtainable from the UGC.
Teachers who have passed the General Arts Qualifying (External) Examination in or after 2000 having offered English as one of the subjects and teachers who have passed the General Science Qualifying (External) Examination in or after 2000 with five years service and not enrolled in any Teacher Training College/ College of Education at the time of selection: and in the case of Biological Science or Physical Science, have offered for the G.C.E (A/L) Examination or for the General Science Qualifying (External) Examination such subjects as would enable them to be selected for a course available in a university are eligible to apply for universities.
The Council of Legal Education - Sri Lanka Law College
The Council of Legal Education (CLE) was established in 1873 and the Sri Lanka Law College was established under the CLE in 1874 in order to impart a formal legal education to those who wished to be lawyers.
Admissions
1. Admission consequent to entrance examination
2. Admission of Law graduates of Sri Lankan and foreign Universities
3. Admission of members of the legal profession of commonwealth countries
Piriven Education
The Piriven education has been in existence even during the time of Lord Buddha. The ‘Gira Sandeshaya’ mentions the piriven education of the Dambadeni and Kotte eras. Ven. Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula thero of Vijeyaba Pirivena who knew six languages and Ven. Vidagama Mithreeya Thero were from Vidagama Danananda Pirivena.
The faded piriven education was reformed during the era of Velivita Sri Saranankara Thero at Niyamakanda Vidysthanaya in Kandy. Later this was started in Pelmadulla and in Ratmalana. Ven Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thero who learnt from Rathmalana started the Vidyodaya Pirivena in Maligakanda in 1873. In 1875 Ven Sammaloka Thero of Rattmalana started the Halbarawa Vidyalankara Pirivena. Today there are 640 centres for Piriven education.
Primary / Secondary Education
This education system has been formalized by the piriven act (Piriven Panatha) of 1979 and the list of orders of 1980 (Piriven Niyogamalawa). The Piriven branch of the Ministry of Education has been appointed for its administration. The pirivens consist of three main categories;
1) Primary piriven – From year one to year five. (394 institutes across the country)
2) Maha Piriven – Secondary education – From year one to five and six to twelve. (168 institutes )
3) Vidyayathana Piriven (45 institutes)
Through this institute Clergy and others too can get higher education and need to qualify at least up to year five. Education for postgraduate is also studies available.
Vocational and Technical Education
The Ministry of Vocational and Technical Education is entrusted with formulation of policies on TVET and implementation of such policies through its implementation arms TVEC, HRDC, NITE, DTET, VTA, NAITA, CITA, INGRIN Institute of Printing, NIBM, CGTTI, HRDC and CITI.
Those who are not admitted to the Universities, and those who have studied up to the GCE A/L and O/L exam, can either enter vocational technical training centres or be employed in private companies or in government departments as apprentices or trainees. They can also pursue higher education as external students of traditional universities or at the Open university of Sri Lanka. The Open University of Sri Lanka was established in the early 1980’s with the idea of conferring degrees and diplomas to the working population who can do part-time studies by paying tuition fees.