Easier exam hikes cutoff mark to offset increase in eligibility

1,000 Schools project now under way to ensure better facilities and quality education islandwide

The Cutoff point for those who passed the scholarship exam, to gain entry into better schools, has been further raised from 153 last year to160 this year, as the number passing the exam has also risen. The pass rate of the Grade 5 scholarship exam has continued to rise, bringing to question the effectiveness of the exam. Of the 322,455 students who sat the scholarship exam this year, 223,908 students, or 70%, obtained 70 marks or more. The highest pass rate of 80.11% was from the Kurunegala district.

Only 10.12%, or 32,617 candidates obtained marks above the cut off point. Over the years, only 10%-11% of the candidates have managed to obtain the cut off mark or above, in the scholarship exam.

Exams Commissioner, W. M. N. J. Pushpakumara speaking to Education Times said that the cutoff mark may be increased to 165 next year, depending on the pass rates.

Explaining how the Dept settles on a cutoff point, Mr Pushpakumara said that it is determined, based on the number of low income students who have passed the scholarship exam. A selected number of districts, assessed as underdeveloped districts, are given a lower cutoff mark than the common cutoff mark. More scholarships are awarded to students from these districts.

“Only 15,000 Shishyadara scholarships are available to be awarded this year. The cutoff is the lowest po in ts obtained by the top 15,000 low income students,” he said.

When asked for the reason for the steady increase in the cutoff marks, Mr Pushpakumara said that more students pass the exam than before.

“There is greater competition among the students now. We do concede that the exam has become a little less difficult, as we have attempted to make the paper easier over the last few years. But the standard of the paper has not gone down. It may be because the teachers are now more keen on grooming the students,” he said. However, close to 50% of the scholarship exam candidates from five districts, did not obtain the minimum pass mark of 70. These districts which are predominantly Tamil speaking areas, also include Nuwara Eliya, and Trincomalee. There was only one Tamil medium student among the 19 students who were in the top four rankings islandwide. The student from Chunnakam, Jaffna shares fourth place with nine other students islandwide.

According to the minister, the recent conflict situation in the North and East had affected the performance of the students, resulting in the low pass rates.

“This is an important exam in the students’ lives and we are happy that 70% of the students have passed the exam. The low pass rates are in Mullaithivu and Killinochchi districts, which were severely affected by the war,” he said.

Minister Bandula Gunewardena predicted that the importance of the scholarship exam as a means of gaining entrance to popular schools with better facilities, will cease to exist soon, when the government’s plan to improve provincial schools, is completed.

“There are fully equipped schools in many Divisional Secretariats (DS). And a majority of the students who have passed the scholarship exam, will opt for these schools, instead of the popular schools in the city. One school in each DS is to be developed and well equipped with all facilities under the 1,000 schools project which is already under way, from which many students have benefited,” he said. - Chathuri Dissanayake