Aptitude and potential for knowledge and development of skills:

A review of traditional education systems vital

by Prof Dayantha WIJEYESEKERA

Entering an education institute, may it be for primary, secondary or tertiary education is a matter of great concern in Sri Lanka for the parents and their children.

While entry to the primary and secondary levels has its own challenges, entering tertiary education has various factors and criteria as vast as the avenues of tertiary education currently available.

At the primary level within the laid down procedures, both the parents and the child go through a process, at the secondary level knowledge acquired and academic achievements begin to play a role. Secondary education caters for the two public examinations G.C.E. 'O-level' and 'A-level' and these two examination results indicate the achievements in General Education.

However, at tertiary level currently the entry processes vary from completely computerised systems entry to the conventional state universities such as 'Z-Score' which is much debated these days to selection tests, interviews and combinations of them all.

Through the fully computerised system currently practised, while the academic attainment is evaluated and the students are selected, the potential and aptitudes of the students are not known in most cases and the Heads of the Universities are given a list of students whom they should admit.

Of course there are some state universities and other tertiary education institutes which while maintaining certain minimum cognitive academic achievements adopt other techniques' such as "Aptitude tests", oral interviews and presentations as an integral part in the selection process.

Discipline

To inculcate knowledge in a particular discipline and develop skills in a vocation, it is imperative that the student has the aptitude in the relevant vocation.

At this stage it is worth mentioning that the "Vocation" referred to is not just carpentry, masonry electrical works or plumbing, but also refers to medicine, engineering, law, accountancy etc.

In the pursuit of knowledge in any of these vocations at various levels it is vital that the pre-requisite knowledge as well as the aptitude is prevalent to ensure the outcome is successful.

General Aptitude Tests provide vocational assessment. The assessment is particularly useful when it is contemplated to start a course of study, a career or want to shift to some other vocation.

Some of these assessments probe into general interests, abilities, work values, school subject preferences, and interests to help identify possible career options.

It can identify occupational interests and acquires specific information about education and training requirements.

Due to a widely spread variation and distrust to some extent in the signaling value of school grades and public examinations, researchers world over are probing into external standardised aptitude test results when recruiting students, apprentices and employees.

While the predictive quality of such test results have not been thoroughly researched as yet it is evident that external aptitude tests, selection tests relevant to the field can enhance the possibilities of predicting success of quality products of tertiary education institutes or through apprenticeship training without premature ending of apprenticeship contracts.

Since the G.C.E. 'A- level' is often the sole criteria for selection to Higher Education it is worth realising that the mere GCE 'A-level' is not proven as a good predictor for the success of higher and vocational education.

Academic achievement is a necessary pre-requisite for higher and tertiary education, but not a sufficient condition; particularly academic achievement does not have a strong predictive validity on the success in the trade.

The purpose of the G.C.E 'O/ A-level' exam is to certify the level of achievement at the general education.

In any case more than 95 percent of the total candidates are not gaining entry into university education.

Prestigious

On the top end of tertiary education, it can be considered that medical education is one of the most prestigious. A paper titled "Admission to medical schools in Sri Lanka: predictive validity of selection criteria" published in the Ceylon Medical Journal Vol 51 No 1, 2006 , authored by well renowned distinguished medical academics from the Faculties of Medicine in Sri Lankan Universities i.e. Kelaniya, Ruhuna, Peradeniya, Jaffna, Colombo and Sri Jayawardenepura, have found that the right policy for admission to medical school is a balancing act: the selection process needs to be fair to society, by choosing students with the potential. The authors conclude that "Marks obtained at the A Level examination (the only academic criterion currently used for selection of medical students in Sri Lanka) is a poor predictor of success in medical schools".

However, one of the most recently established Medical Faculties in Sri Lanka, i.e. the Faculty at the Kotelawela Defence University (KDU), while considering the G.C.E. 'A- level' results in the relevant subjects through the computer generated Z-scores as a pre- requisite, many other factors are evaluated through a series of rigorous processes to gauge the suitability and potential of the students to be competent medical doctors in the country.

The selection processes adopted by KDU even in other fields as well, should be considered in tertiary education.

Scrutiny

Hence, it is worth considering whether Psychometric Testing offer a solution to selection to tertiary education, as the number of youth seeking tertiary education places has increased dramatically over the past few decades. Therefore, the methods by which universities and other tertiary education institutes select applicants have come under closer scrutiny the world over. At present, the G.C.E 'A-level' exam remains the most common route into higher education. However, as the proportion of students attaining 'A' and 'B' grades have increased it is found that the G.C.E. 'A-level' has become less useful as a sole admission criterion as a means of discriminating between students.

In the absence of clear guidance from G.C.E 'A-level' grades, it is not always clear how admissions authorities make the difficult decision of which students to offer places and which to reject. Perhaps in view of these difficulties, the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) appeared as one way of identifying a student's potential for higher education. Supporters of the SAT drew on claims about its ability to predict success in higher education irrespective of a student's educational and social circumstances. Against the background of controversy surrounding the British admissions system, the SAT naturally appeared appealing.

However, through rigorous predictive studies it will be possible to realise whether aptitude testing could have a role to play in access to universities and tertiary education. However, it is reported that some universities and tertiary education institutes are already looking at additional assessments that may enable them to widen access.

Research shows that generic skills and work traits improve with systematic training and also further develops the aptitude in many different ways such as developing assessments that allow students to demonstrate their potential for learning.

Some are focusing more on identifying personality characteristics and other 'softer' predictors of success, attempting to provide a more objective assessment of the characteristics evaluated through interviews. However, as a perspective that appears increasingly significant now is that many youth proceed to higher education, to take a broader approach to the skills needed to be successful in the modern world and what they can offer in return.

Potential

The goal should not be to produce straight G.C.E. 'A level' students, but to focus on the potential tertiary education may give youth to contribute to wider society in the future. This would be a 'mature' approach to boost tertiary and vocational education developed through many years of experience and by taking a broader view of the role of education in society.

Well ranked state universities in Sri Lanka through their faculties and institutes, degree awarding institutes, together with technological institutes have made their mark, by adopting selection processes to their programs of study, by not solely depending on G.C.E. 'A-level' results and Z-Scores but on innovative methods of selection of students based on aptitude and potential and free from external pressure.

With the advent of modern educational technologies, course delivery systems and training such as online distance education and competency based training and assessments, recognition of accredited / prior learning, foundation / bridging tertiary education programs for pre-university education and diploma level programs, it would be essential to review the traditional systems currently prevailing in Sri Lanka. This would help attract those with aptitude and potential for respective vocations, to gain knowledge and develop skills to serve the country.

The writer is Chairman, Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission.