Low birth rates caused less admission to grade one [November 30 2010]

By Uditha Kumarasinghe

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardene told the Parliament that the number of students seeking admission to Grade One classes has gradually decreased in recent years due to decline in birth rates.

The Minister said the number of students who sought admission to Grade Once classes in 1994 stood at 353,189 had come down the 326,364 in 2009. Responding to a question raised by UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake, the Minister said the country’s birth rate is on decrease owing to success of population control and family planning methods.

The number of students who sat for the GCE Ordinary Level Examination in 2009 was 542,000 while the number of candidates who sat for the GCE Advanced Level including the number of students who sat for the examination for the second and third time in the same year was 205,000. The number of students who were qualified for university entrance in 2009 was 131,000.