Where are the parents? – when it comes to bat for their kids? – Z score

I was at a discussion at the Official Residence of the Mayor of Colombo, yesterday, 1^st of August 2012. The notification was in the Newspapers for anyone who wished to discuss their grievances regarding the Z score results to meet with the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe and to inform him of what it is they wished to do about. It was a reasonable request to make, so that the Opposition as a whole can request in Parliament, for a solution based on the requests made by the public who have been affected by this hiatus. There is nothing more important in a society, where anyone with a grievance has an ear to a politician who is able to represent them in a forum that can actually provide relief or offer a solution.

The Government has clearly got itself into a huge muddle over this Z score. The President is floundering, daily requesting for reports on the matter. Even MP Namal Rajapakse is making off the cuff unconsidered statements, that no one will be inconvenienced as a result of getting a lower mark, without SPECIFICALLY saying what they will do about it. The Human Rights Commission has got 1650 complaints, but even they do not know what to do about it, and how to handle the problem, except for appealing to the government to do something about it.

So when a discussion with the full glare of the media was announced, I expected parents with their sons and daughters in tow to come to the Mayor’s residence to express their views and desires on behalf of them. I only saw one DAD with a daughter who came in a motorcycle on this traffic free Poya Day to attend this event. All this benefits the government because when people affected by this do not express their grievances, out of fear of repression or otherwise, it makes for a poor democracy. It is also a fact of life, that parents and kids are frightened to openly express their dissatisfaction, lest the Govt. picks on them and ensures that they are punished for speaking out. That is sadly the state of the nation today.

The reality is that ‘A’ level results in general and the Z score in particular have lost credibility. Due to this the whole free education system in Sri Lanka has taken a beating, where any parent who has the means will try and get their children into private or international schools, for them to sit foreign exams that are held in higher regard!

The Leader of the Opposition was questioning the use of the Z score as a means of determining University entry, and suggested that there might be more equitable means of entry. There is simply the law of supply and demand in this crush for higher education, and how does one fairly manage that? Don’t PARENTS CARE?