Some observations on the feasibility of the white paper recommendations for a new scheme of measurement and evaluation in the school system in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The White Paper on Education (1981) has made a series of proposals for a new system of measurement and evaluation of student performance in our school system. The purpose of this article is to examine the nature of these proposals and the extent of their appicability. The White Paper outlines its proposals for the new system of measurement and evaluation at four levels: primary, junior secondary, senior secondary and collegiate, as shown in Fig. 1. It would be convenient to consider the proposals under the same headings. It would be relevant, however, to begin with a brief history of the present system of examinations so as to provide a background to a proper understanding of the nature of these proposals and their practicability. Sri Lanka inherited the British system of education as well as its principles and methods of evaluation as a result of her colonial status under the British Crown. This system of education based on the British model paved the way for the creation of an elite class in the society and remains unchanged even today. In feudal society education had always been the monopoly of a privileged few. The system of classifying schools according to the medium of instruction, which the British introduced, led to the perpetuation of this characteristic and the emergence of an ‘elitist’ group within the local population. Under the British system there were in Sri Lanka English schools where students received instruction in the English medium and Sinhala and Tamil schools where the medium of instruction was the mother tongue. English schools were, from the very beginning considered superior and their products naturally acquired a higher social status. Moreover, those who studied in the English schools were able to sit examinations conducted by British educa-