ISSN: 1391 - 0531
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Vol. 41 - No 16
 
 
Sports

Cleared, not cleared … cleared… not very clear

By S.R. Pathiravithana

It was not very clear whether it was a yo-yo contest or an education ministry issue. It all began with Royal Principal Upali Gunasekera pointing out to the Ministry of Education in the aftermath of their inter-school rugby encounter against Isipatana that their opponents had included an ineligible player in their final XV.

The charge was that Isipatana’s inclusion of a player who had fail the GCE (ordinary level) twice was a violation of clause 4(a) of the SLSRFA rule. To this charge Isipatana’s response was that the boy was in a revision class pending the outcome of the re-correction of the Mathematics paper (which is a compulsory subject) by the Ministry of Education.

An inquiry was held on September 11 and Isipatana was cleared of all charges when their principal Punyadasa Kuruppu produced a letter issued by the Ministry of Education indicating that the player in question was eligible to stay in school until the re-scrutiny was completed.

On Thursday, the episode took a U-turn when Education Minister Susil Premajayantha ordered the Ministry to carefully study the ministry circular regarding this issue and took the case off Deputy Director General of Education Magavanarachchi and handed it over to additional secretary of the ministry, W. Dharmadasa. The minister also ordered officials to expedite the re-scrutiny.

Speaking to The Sunday Times the Minister said: “When I was apprised of this issue I ordered the education directors to go through the circulars carefully and if the boy has flouted any laws he cannot remain in school”. Subsequently, Additional Secretary Dharmadasa issued a letter to SLSRFA President Hemantha Prematilleke that the player was ineligible to represent the school as he had failed the GEC (O/L) examination twice.

On hearing this development Isipatana Principal Kuruppu made an appeal to the Ministry of Education and got the order re-issued to the effect that the boy was eligible to be in school until the re-scrutiny was done and upon its outcome may or may not be able to continue his studies in the school.

SLSRFA secretary Kumar Rodrigo said he was aware of the present status of the case in question. “The President of the Association spoke to me and updated me on the present status and mentioned about the two letters that he received on Friday,” he said, adding that “with all these developments I do not know if we could go ahead with the President’s Trophy Knock-out Tournament.”

He also said there was a similar case regarding a player who represented St. Anthony’s College Katugastota while a disciplinary inquiry against Vidyartha regarding an incident that took place after their inter-school match against Ananda was also pending. Both cases will be taken up on the 18th of this month, he said.

The Principal of Nalanda College Colombo, Hemantha Prematilleke, who is also the President of the SLSRFA speaking on the issue said: “Last afternoon I received a circular from the Ministry of Education to the effect that the student in question was not eligible to represent the school, but after the Principal of Isipatana College made an appeal, the Ministry re-issued the circular permitting the boy to remain in school until the re-scrutiny is done”.

Airing his views on the matter Isipatana Principal Kuruppu said, “As far I am concerned there are no players who have flouted any laws representing Isipatana”.

Additional Education Secretary Dharmadasa said “We have given permission to the boy to remain in school until the re-scrutiny is made after we received an appeal by the Principal of Isipatana College”.

What the Minister tells The Sunday Times

In the latest twist to this episode Minister Susil Premajayantha when contacted on Saturday just prior to his overseas departure was firm in saying “The boy is not eligible to stay in school and I have requested additional secretary Dharmadasa to re-issue a letter to this effect, but it will only be done on Monday. However by Monday the re-scrutiny also will be over.


The next step...

If Isipatana is found guilty of playing an ineligible player and disciplinary action is taken against them, they are disqualified. It is likely that Royal who missed a promotion to the top division will find a berth in the ‘A’ division next year. At the same time if St. Anthony’s too are found guilty of a similar offence on the 18th of this month then Ananda in spite of a very poor season will also get a chance of remaining in the top league yet for another year. An official of the SLSRFA who opted to remain anonymous said “If there is a development of that nature the whole rugby season will turn topsy-turvy. We will have to go back to the drawing board and see what steps have to be taken next”.

However he admitted that in the event of Isipatana and St. Anthony’s are found guilty the above scenario may come to pass.


The centre of controversy - Circular 2006/20

Admitting students for A/L classes

A – At least six passes including Language and Mathematics with three Credits at the O/L. However additional subjects will not be considered.

The above qualifications can be obtained in one attempt or two attempts. However in the event they are obtained in two attempts:

i. A student who obtains the qualification in two attempts should have obtained three credits have passed five compulsory subjects including Language and Mathematics.

ii. The student could be accommodated in the A/L classes temporarily if the student has passed five compulsory subjects including Language and Mathematics and obtained three credits in the first attempt and on the grounds that the remaining requirements are obtained in the second attempt. In the event the qualifications are not completed in the second attempt the student will be removed from school.

iii. In the event the student does not have one of the three credits as required in i and ii mentioned above, a Credit pass or a higher grade obtained at a national level written examination conducted by the Sri Lanka Examinations Dept linked with the school level assessment programme will be considered as one of the credits. However this cannot be for Language or for Mathematics.

iv. A student making use of the second attempt can use the qualifications mentioned in iii . This could be based on the school assessment scheme in the first attempt.

 

 
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Copyright 2006 Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.Colombo. Sri Lanka.