The Light Millennium, Charitable Global Human Advancement Organization, proudly presents the below research by Suhansa Nanayakkara, Whyteleafe Junior Researcher (Sri Lanka), in support of the 2022 #WorldScienceDay theme’s #BasicSciencesForSustainableDevelopment, along with encouraging students toward further research-based projects.

The theme of World Science Day on 10 November 2022 is Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development. It is being celebrated within the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development, which kicked off on 8 July 2022. Scientists, science communicators, and science enthusiasts are encouraged to prepare their events to celebrate #WorldScienceDay.
“The annual observance of theInternational Week ofScience and Peace, 9-15 November (A/RES/43/61), is making an important contribution to the promotion of peace. The Week encourages greater academic exchanges on a subject of universal importance while also generating greater awareness of the relationship of science and peace among the general public. Based on observances of Science and Peace Week to date, it may be expected that participation each year will increase, contributing to greater international understanding and opportunities for co-operation in the applications of science for the promotion of peace throughout the year.” #ScienceForDevelopmentAndPeace 
Source: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-science-day/week

Whyteleafe Junior Researchers Series

Impact of Skipping GCE A / L And Doing A Degree In Sri Lanka
by Suhansa Nanayakkara, Whyteleafe Junior Researcher
28/09/2022

Introduction

Sri Lanka’s population has had an average adult literacy rate of above 92% over the last 5 years, which is above average by world and regional standards. Sri Lanka has been providing free education since 1938. Recently there is a significant upward trend in students skipping their GCE A/L and starting private degrees in the current education field in Sri Lanka.

The students who are currently doing GCE O/L or who have completed GCE O/L have their biggest questions on what they should do for their GCE A/L or do they need to do GCE A/L to pursue a degree. Therefore, it is important to know the impact of skipping GCE A/L and starting on a private degree in Sri Lanka concerning the opportunities in the job market, recognition from the society and industry, pros, and cons in the long run. The outcome of this research will be helpful for the students and the parents in their higher studies decision-making.

This report covers the objectives outlined in this research, the theoretical framework, research material & methodologies used, and the research results followed by a discussion of the research findings.

Research Question and Objectives

Some people have skipped their GCE A/L and started a degree in private universities. There are many private universities in Sri Lanka that are mostly affiliated with foreign universities that have attracted many students despite the huge amount of fees they have been charging. 

Therefore, the research question is to check the impact of skipping GCE A/L and following a degree in Sri Lanka.

Research Objectives

              i. The foreign-affiliated private universities influence students through their advertising to skip GCE A/L and earn a degree at a young age. This is an area many parents and students are uncertain about whether this decision will be good or bad for the future of the child. Therefore, it is needed to see whether it is worthwhile to skip GCE A/L and what are the long-term implications.

            ii. To know if it is productive or a waste of time to spend 2 years on GCE A/L.

           iii. To identify whether the knowledge that we gained through GCE A/L is needed or not needed to follow a degree successfully.

           iv. To know the perception of the employers and industries on the job seekers who have skipped GCE A/L but possess a degree.

Theoretical Framework

The University Admission Statistics Report published by the University Grant Commissions of Sri Lanka (UGC) in the year 2020 on page 20 shows the number of students enrolling in state-run universities is a very small portion of the number of students who are eligible to apply. 
(https://www.ugc.ac.lk/downloads/statistics/stat_2020/Chapter%202.pdf) 

This report shows how limited the opportunity to enter a state-run university is after spending tremendous effort, money & time on GCE A/L for 2 years the students. 

Most of the private universities publish their alumni who are currently holding top-level positions who have skipped their GCE A/L and started the foundation courses in private universities in their degree program. Is this showing the right picture of the reality or is it a hype of the marketing strategies?

There are very few articles & discussions published on the topic of skipping GCE A/L and doing a degree in Sri Lanka. The article written by Dr. Sujata Gamage & Mr.Tilan Wijesooriya published in Sunday Observer on 27th May 2012 discusses the advantages and disadvantages of skipping GCE A/L. It is an interesting area to explore further. This paper article is published on the official website of SL2 College organization. (Link: http://blog.sl2college.org/2012/11/to-do-or-not-to-do-gce-als.html)

In 2018, at the Whyteleafe Excellence Award Ceremony the guest speaker Mr. Dimuthu Ruwan Piyasena delivered his speech on “Endless future avenues we can take”. His speech opened many avenues we can take to succeed in our future and there is nothing like “this is the best path” or “this is the only path.” Many decades back doing GCE A/L is a must to succeed. As per him, finding what is the right path and going along that path is subjective and a personal choice. That is something we need to explore deeply, and this research is to analyze this type of scenario. When analyzing the above scenarios, it is worth checking what is the impact of skipping GCE A/L and following a private degree in Sri Lanka.

Material and Methods

Research Area

The research was conducted within the Colombo district due to a few reasons. 

The main reason is that skipping GCE A/L and going for a private degree is significantly happening in the Colombo district. Most of the private universities that offer foundation courses for students who have skipped GCE A/L are located in the Colombo district. 

There are few private universities located in districts such as Matara and Kandy. However, students joining those universities after skipping GCE A/L are still very rare. Therefore, this research was conducted within the Colombo district. 

Further, this research was conducted during the period of the Covid 19 pandemic and hence it was easier to continue the research within Colombo as there were restrictions on traveling out of the province.

Research Materials & Methods

The survey was conducted in English and Sinhala languages. 

It was created using Google forms and the survey results were stored automatically in Google spreadsheets.

The one-on-one interviews were conducted physically or through Zoom and WhatsApp video calls. Those were recorded after getting the consent of the interviewee for later references to prepare the research document.

I also referred to the statistics reports published by University Grants Commission, Sri Lanka for the years 2019 and 2020 to get an idea of the holistic view of higher studies opportunities available in state-run universities and the number of enrolments in each year in different streams. 

Focused Groups for Interviews & Survey

The research was conducted in 2 modes: Online Survey and Focused Interviews.

Online Survey

The online survey was shared with people above 18 years old who are living in the Colombo district. There were 50 responses to the online survey.

Focused Interviews 

The interviews were conducted with 6 different focus groups & 50 interviews were conducted. 

  Interviewed Focused Group

Results

The data gathered from the focused group interviews and the online survey will be described in this section. 

Online Survey Feedback:

Data was gathered from the Google Forms online survey of 50 respondents. At the beginning of the survey, it captures the data of each participant’s perspectives on the GCE A/L exam. The survey checked whether they know that they can start on a degree without sitting for GCE O/L as this is a must to enter the local university. Then the survey checked their opinion(s) on skipping GCE A/L and doing a degree. By looking at the responses, it is learned that only a few people think that doing GCE A/L is a must and it is the only way to get a degree. 

Then the research questionnaire asked the participants what positive things, and negative things they see in people who have completed a degree after skipping GCE A/L. Next, the survey participants were asked about their knowledge, and what group has succeeded more and advanced in their careers faster. 

After analyzing the graphs created with the survey data collected to get a holistic view of the data, it is noted that half of the participants believe doing GCE A/L or skipping GCE A/L does not impact your success in life. 

Personal Interview Results:

Each focused group had a separate set of questions prepared that aligned with their age category, education level, the role of society, and the category they belong in the research. The conversation was not limited to the questions but a casual discussion where they can freely express their ideas, views, and perceptions. These sessions were voice recorded after getting the consent of the participant for data analysis later.

Limitations

The research was conducted during the Covid 19 pandemic time which limited travel and meeting people. The interviews were mainly conducted Online, and some people were not feeling comfortable giving their opinions online.

During interviews, some people are biased toward the decisions taken when giving feedback and their opinion. This could have affected the clarity of the research data collected.

Finally, this research was done amidst my academic studies and extracurricular activities. Therefore, finding time to find the people for the interview-focused groups, then contacting and scheduling physical and online meetings, and analyzing the research data was a tedious task. 

Conclusion

This research was conducted because of the upward trend of students skipping their GCE A/L and starting private degrees in Sri Lanka. The students who are currently doing GCE O/L or who completed GCE O/L have their biggest questions on what they should do for their GCE A/L or do they need to do GCE AL to pursue a degree. Therefore, it is important to know the impact of skipping GCE A/L and starting on a private degree in Sri Lanka concerning the opportunities in the job market, recognition from the society and industry, pros, and cons in the long run. 

The majority of the students who sat for GCE A/L had the impression that it is the best path to higher education. They also mentioned that when you have the opportunity to earn a degree through free education it is a waste of money to pay for a private university degree even if it can be completed earlier than a state-run university degree.

The students who skipped GCE A/L had the thought that spending 2 long years on a highly competitive exam that provides very less opportunities to enter state-run universities is a waste of time and effort and skipping GCE A/L and starting on a private degree allows them to complete their degree soon and find a job in the industry easily. They say they can go through the career ladder faster with the exposure they get in private universities that are affiliated with foreign universities. The parents of the above 2 groups of students also had similar thinking patterns. 

The academic experts such as teachers, and local and private university lecturers could not see a huge difference in the success rate of students who have sat GCE A/L or skipped GCE A/L. The only concern they had was when a student skipped GCE A/L and started on a private degree, the extra effort needed to go through the foundation course for about 6 months. 

The employers and industry experts were not at all bothered when they interview the degree holders whether they have done the degree after sitting for GCE A/L or after skipping GCE A/L. Because they eventually earned a degree. They look mainly for the individual persona’s capability and suitability for the job role and their problem-solving skills and creativity.

With the data gathered through the questionnaire and the focused group interviews, it has been found that sitting for GCE A/L or skipping GCE A/L has its advantages and disadvantages.

Therefore, success or failure depends not only on the GCE A/L but also on the maturity of the student, personal skills, interpersonal relationships in society, and personal interests. 

Therefore, the research concludes that deciding on skipping the GCE A/L and doing a degree or sitting for GCE A/L is mostly an individual-specific decision and there is no thing such as one is good over the other as the success depends on a mix of many different factors such as individual’s personality, maturity, personal and interpersonal skills, opportunity, social skills and many more

– . –

Declaration

“I certify that the content of this research is my study findings. The information and data given in the report are authentic to the best of my knowledge.”

Suhansa Nanayakkara (28/09/2022)

Whyteleafe Academy

Dedicated to the 2022 World Science Day & International Week of Science and Peace byThe Light Millennium, Charitable Global Human Advancement Organization (LMGlobal.Org; 2001, New York); associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications (formerly, UN.DPI) since 2005. www.lmglobal.org

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