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In a country where education is free and childrens' right to education is fully guaranteed, admitting a child to Grade one has become a parent's 'nightmare' today. Apart from different quotas given in the circular such as for children of past pupils, brothers and sisters of children to seek admission in the same school, children of public officers who are transferred, etc., for parents who's desire to enrol their children to a popular school is a thing that needs to be considered before planning pregnancy.

The worst thing is the parents are compelled to start 'intensive courses' on the art of telling lies to their children. Parents have to be armed with bundles of forged documents to prove the required distance to the school.

Considering the petitions made by parents who lost chances to enrol their children, who have the qualifications to study in some popular schools, the Supreme Court cancelled the latest Circular issued by the Ministry of Education on school admissions on March 29, this year.

At present, there is no policy on enroling children to schools and under the Supreme Court order the National Education Commission (NEC) is entrusted with formulating a National Policy as soon as possible. However, this drafted policy came under fire with strong protests by the past students' associations of several schools.

The Sunday Observer interviewed the Chairman of the NEC Prof. A.V. Suraweera on the issue. Following are the excerpts of the interview.

A: The Supreme Court ordered the National Education Commission (NEC) on March 29 this year to formulate a policy setting out methods and criteria for admission of students to government schools. So, it is not possible for me to comment further as we have already submitted the drafted policy to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Q: Is this a carbon copy of the Policy, which is known as the 'Davala Pathrika' proposed in 1980s which created a big up-roar among the public?

A: No. The latest Circular No. 2006/523 issued by the Ministry of Education is about school admissions. The circulars issued for the past years by the Ministry are on school admissions, are very much based on distance to the school, quota system, etc. The judgement has nullified the entire latest circular No. 2006/523 as well as the previous Circulars issued by the Ministry. At the moment there is no policy or circular for the Ministry to follow to admit children to schools.

So there is no question about Dawala Pathrika or any other past policies that is taken into consideration in drafting the National Policy. It is prepared solely depending on the facts on the Circular 2006/523 and following the Supreme Court judgement.

A: Some parents whose children were denied admission to schools while having the necessary requirement had filed petitions in the Supreme Court. Going by their pleas, the Supreme Court ordered the NEC to formulate the national Policy because it is the responsibility of the NEC to prepare educational policies.

In the judgement it states " The Ministry fell into error by laying down classifications, quotas and a system of weighted marking being elements completely antithetic to the guarantee of equality before the law whereas the focus should be on appropriate methods and criteria that would apply in the process of effecting admissions".

Q: Primary Schools Concept has proved to be a failure. Why does the Government want to introduce such a system again?

A: How can you say this concept is a failure. Well the thing is this. At one time, even at the primary section of the so-called big schools like national schools Royal College and Ananda Vidyalaya were separated. Children of these primary schools had to sit for an entrance examination in order to qualify to gain admission to Grade 6 of the senior schools. For example Asoka Primary school.

I know very much about Asoka because my son also attended Asoka. Asoka was a separate primary school when the primary of Ananda was dealing separately. It had only Grade one to five. So it was a very good school with exceptional education. So it was a success but later the parents and school staff wanted to expand and then they gradually started Grade 6. And today it is a senior school. The primary concept is no more there.

Here children were not automatically admitted to Grade six and they had to sit for an entrance test. So the Primary was a separate entity.

Primary school concept is a good concept. In many occasions the NEC proposed the de-linking of the primary and the senior schools.

A: No. I cannot tell that it is in our proposals. I am just saying that it is a very good proposal to de-link the primary and the senior schools. That's all I can tell at the moment.

Q: Can the rat-race, which trained a child on telling lies, to get admissions to popular schools will end under the proposed policy on school admissions?

A: I cannot give you a direct answer but under this policy, which was prepared following the directions of the Supreme Court order, there would not be any room for corruption in school admissions. We hope so and expect there would be justice under this policy. Now what happens when admitting a child is the parents who live close to the school get preference. There is the quota system and people who have money can do anything today. So we expect this new initiative will be above all.

Q: Will the quota given to past students to enrol their children under the Ministry Circular be abolished under the new policy?

A: I cannot say anything but the Supreme Court stated in its judgement that the percentage given to the past students of a school to admit their children to the same school cannot be allocated. This is not the NEC decision.

Q: Hope the new policy document is not a secret any more as some other papers published the major points in the policy. So can you tell more about the NEC proposals on school admissions?

A: What I can say is that the published documents are not our final report. So therefore we are not responsible for the facts in these published articles in papers.

Q: Are you saying that the NEC proposals that was handed over to the President is totally different?

A: Yes, we have enough teachers and they are already teaching in the primary sections now. But if there is a shortage, primary school teachers need to be trained. The Ministry of Education has to consider the matter.

Q: What is the guarantee that these primary schools have the same facilities for quality education like in the popular schools?

A: No. You are assuming that there will be poor standards in these schools and asking the question. This is a matter to be addressed by the Ministry, which is responsible for improving the standard of education in these schools.

Q: The provincial councils cannot solve their own minor problems within their provinces. How do you think these schools will run efficiently under the provincial council administration?

A: How can you say that and I do not want to answer this question. My question is that who said that the school administration would be handled by the provincial councils. There is no such proposal.

A: I do not know. If you have money you can send your child to the school you prefer. If the parents have money and do not care about the cultural background of their children they can send them to international schools.

Q: Is that true that the students in primary schools can enter the grade 6 according to their merits? What is the future of the students who score low marks? Will they find it difficult to get into a school under the new policy?

A: Well. If the primary section is de-linked from the senior school there has to be an island wide test for admission for Grade 6. So children, depending on the marks that they score, they can get admitted to any school they like. The schools like in universities will be categorised and will be published according to the cut out marks. Those who get low marks will also get into a school according to their marks scored. The State has a responsibility to provide each and every child a school and it will be done accordingly. So the Ministry has to improve all the schools without discrimination.

Q: Is there an idea to abolish gender based school system and will all the schools be mixed schools?

Q: Some educational experts say that the new policy will abuse the system more and it will create more corruption. What is your comment?

A: Who are the so-called experts. I do not believe these experts. You do not make proposals if you think that there are failures. We have confidence in our proposals. They do not lead to corruption if they are implemented. On the other hand, the NEC's Committee appointed to prepare this policy consists leading educationists in the country.

The Judgement states : " The present situation resulted in a gross abuse of the process of admission of students. Under the circumstances, it would be necessary to devise a new process in which the participation of authorities who have brought about the tragic situation be excluded and the process to be administered directly under the purview of the President as provided in the National Education Commission Act". So there is no room for abuse or corruption like earlier.

The petitions on fundamental rights of children denied admission to some schools was taken before the Supreme Court. The judges were Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, N.E Dissanayake and A.M Somawansa The Supreme Court giving its judgement has stated that Grade one in government schools have resulted in a large number of applications being filed each year in this court alleging infringement of the fundamental rights guaranteed by Article 12 (1). Here are the excerpts of the judgement:

That, the assignment of quotas to past pupils and brothers and sisters is an unreasonable classification which negates equal access to education being the objective of the law.

In the light of these submissions being far reaching in their ambit, I would at first examine the specific classifications that are made in Circular P1 in respect of admission to Grade I. The Circular classifies seven categories specifying a percentage of admission for each as follows:

i) Householders children 40%

ii) Children of the past-pupils of the school 25%

iii) Brothers and sisters of the children receiving education in the school 15%

iv) Children of the public officers who have received transfers and taken residence in the area in which the school is located and the children of MP's and Provincial Councillors who have to live outside their area of residence 06%

v) Children of persons who are not householders 07%

vi) Children of persons who are directly involved in institutions connected with school education 05%

vii) Children of persons who have returned from abroad 02%

In addition to the foregoing, clause 1:1(d) provides that the initial selection should be of 34 students per class and 5 places be reserved for children of members of the Armed Forces and the Police who are engaged in service in operational areas. One place is reserved for the children of persons who get transferred after the initial admissions on the basis of exigencies of State service.

Thus a total of 40 students is specified for each class.

The preceding analysis reveals that the classification in P1 is not based on the suitability and the need of a particular child to receive education in a national school or any other State School.

The classification is based on wholly extraneous considerations such as the residence of the parents to be ascertained from the ownership of property; whether the parent is a past pupil and if so for what period and his achievements; whether the child to be admitted has a brother or sister in the school and if so the brother's or sister's achievements or whether the parent has been transferred in the manner that has been referred to above.

The suitability and the need of the particular student to receive education in the school is not ascertained in the process, nor is there any method and criteria specified to ascertain such matters.

Similarly, the system if weighted marking referred to above as contained in the Circular completely defeats the objective of providing equal access to education. For the reasons stated we hold that the Circular P1 applicable in the matter of admission of students is inconsistent with the fundamental right to equality before the law and the equal protection of the law guaranteed by Article 12(1) of the Constitution, in so far as it relates to the admission of students to Grade 1 of national schools and other schools to which the Circular has been made applicable.

National policy for school admissions: pros and cons