‘Clubbing’ all schools for Grade 1 admissions works against the less affluent

Dr Jayampathy Wickramaratne, President’s Counsel-2021/06/3

It is school admission time. Applications for admission to Grade 1 in government schools have been called.

Admissions to government schools, especially to Grade 1, result in a spate of fundamental rights applications in the Supreme Court every year. The procedure is complex with children being admitted under different categories that get different weightages. Fifty per cent of places are filled under the “children of residents in close proximity” category. The circular includes an intricate scheme of marking. While the classification and marking scheme in the annual circular is not known to have been challenged, the application of the circular has been the main ground of challenge.

In the “children of residents in close proximity” category, a maximum of 50 marks is awarded for establishing the residence of the applicant according to an elaborate scheme of marking. The maximum is awarded if the applicant’s place of residence is proved and there are no government schools with primary sections located closer to the place of residence other than the school applied for. In the event there are other government schools with primary sections for the admission of the child that are closer to the place of residence than the school applied for, marks are deducted at the rate of five per such school from the maximum of 50 marks. For the purposes of the circular, “other government primary schools that the child could be admitted” means schools having the medium of instruction the child has applied for, schools to which children of the gender of the applicant child are admitted (boys”/girls’ school or a mixed school as appropriate) and schools that admit ten per cent or more children of the religion to which the child belongs.

In the writer’s view, “clubbing” all schools, irrespective of their grading, for the purpose of deducting marks is arbitrary and violates the fundamental right to equal protection of the law guaranteed by Article 12(1) of the Constitution. Government schools in Sri Lanka are classified according to the level of education offered. Grade 1AB schools are those that have classes up to GCE Advanced Level in arts, commerce and science streams. Grade 1C schools have classes up to GCE Advanced Level in arts and commerce but not science. Grade 2 schools have classes only up to GCE Ordinary Level, while Grade 3 schools have classes only up to Grade 5 or Grade 8.

Thus, while all government schools admit students at Grade 1, not all offer education up to GCE Advanced Level; some offer education only up to GCE Ordinary Level. Only grade 1AB schools have the Advanced Level Science Stream. Ideally, if the application is to a Grade 1AB school, only Grade 1AB schools closer should be taken into account. Deduction of marks for schools with lesser facilities is arbitrary and violates equal protection.

Let us take the example of a boy living in the Gothatuwa New Town who wishes to be admitted to Ananda, Nalanda or Royal, which are Grade 1AB schools. Even counting schools in Grades 1C, 2 and 3 only within a circle drawn with Gothatuwa as the centre, the 50 marks will be exhausted. Towards Borella there is Sirihada Vidyalaya, Janadhipathi Vidyalaya, Hewavitharana MV and Siri Perakumba MV, in the Rajagiriya area and SWRD Bandaranaike Vidyalaya Susamyavardhana MV in Borella—30 marks deducted for them only. Added to this, there are many similar schools towards Kolonnawa and Malabe, and the boy’s 50 marks maximum is over. He has no chance of entering the much sought-after schools. Those from less affluent families would have no option to enter a school of a lower grade in the area, while others would find ‘other ways’ of making it, including renting out apartments near prestigious schools, using political connections and even using financial resources.

Naturally, parents wish to admit their children to good schools at the Grade 1 level itself so that children do not have to change schools later.

The writer submits that when a child applies for admission to a school under the “close proximity” category, marks should be deducted only for closer schools of the same grade. It is time that the constitutionality of the present policy was reviewed, preferably by way of a fundamental rights application in the Supreme Court. Parents are reluctant to challenge the circular itself, hoping that their children will be selected. Even after their appeals are rejected, many go behind politicians or approach educational authorities. School authorities who know about the one-month period for filing fundamental rights applications keep on giving parents hope until the period lapses. Perhaps, teachers’ trade unions or others interested in the issue could file applications in the public interest and invite the Supreme Court to rule on it.

The long-term solution, of course, is bringing all schools to the same standard, which is easier said than done. Various proposals ranging from having at least one Grade 1AB school in every electorate or Divisional Secretariat area, to making the “closest school the best school” have been mooted by successive governments but without any significant change. Sri Lanka is nowhere near the globally accepted goal of spending six per cent of the GDP on education. In 2017, Cuba spent 12.9% of its GDP on education while Somaliland spent 9.6%. In South Asia, Bhutan spent the highest percentage of GDP on education, 6.6%. Sri Lanka’s contribution was 2.8% doing better only than Bangladesh.