Northern Province tops GCE Advanced Level 2013

Saturday, 28 December 2013 09:14 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Students of the Northern Province have taken full advantage of stability and peace and achieved the highest success rate of 63.3% at the GCE Advanced Level examination 2013. The Northern Province comprises Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Mannar Districts. The Eastern Province, comprising the Districts of Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee, recorded a success rate of 60.1%, thereby proving that there was normalcy in the region. The Eastern Province was placed third in the rankings behind Sabaragamuwa Province. The Government brought the Eastern Province under its control in June 2007. The Vanni region was secured in May 2009. Since the total elimination of terrorism of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the students of the north were able to devote their entire time and energy on education without fear of being abducted by the LTTE and forcefully recruited as child combatants. Educationists have pointed out that the student community in the Northern Province would never have achieved such results if the conflict continued disrupting their studies. After ending the LTTE terrorism, the armed forces, the Police, the STF and the Civil Defence Force (CDF) established a peaceful atmosphere, making it possible for the children to have four years of uninterrupted classes, resulting in the high rate of success at the GCE (AL) examination. Educationists are clearly of the view that these results depict a good level of security within the Tamil community in the north, where there is the opportunity once again to build on the traditions of hard study of the Tamil people. This certainly holds good promise for the future progress of the north, within a democratic society. It must be noted that the students who sat the GCE A/L this year would have been below the O-Level when the fighting ended, clearly showing that the Government had paid attention to education both during and after the conflict, with the GCE result being proof of the peaceful environment prevailing in the war-torn region.

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