A Member Resolution to be Presented at the IESL AGM 2017 to Establish an Entry Qualification Criteria to the IESL CoE

Minimum Achievement Standard as Entry Qualification Criteria to the IESL College of Engineering Study Programs

Introduction

The IESL College of Engineering (IESL CoE) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the IESL established under the Companies Act No 7 of 2007. Therefore, under the provisions of the said Act and the Articles of Association (AoA) of this private limited liability company, its governance is the sole responsibility of the duly appointed Board of Directors of IESL CoE. According to the AoA the company, the Board consists of the Officers of the Council of the IESL.

At present the Entry Qualification to the study programs of IESL CoE is a minimum of 3 Simple passes at G.C.E. Advanced Level (A/L) in Mathematics stream or its equivalent. It should be noted that this often cited minimum criteria of 3 Simple passes established by the State is to indicate a Pass in the overall G.C.E. A/L examination and is not an academic achievement established to determine entry to a specific program of study in the state university system.

The minimum entry qualifications to specific programs of study are published annually by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which is the sole authority for determining the entry conditions and criteria to state university system. This program-specific minimum entry criteria is indicated as the minimum “Z” score for selection to the indicated study program.

Review of Minimum “Z” Score

The following table is based on the data available from the University Grants Commission for the University Admissions in Academic Year 2015/2016 based on the results of the G.C.E. (Advanced Level) Examination held in August 2015. This summary table shows the minimum "Z" scores for selection to Engineering, Physical Science and Applied Science (Physical Stream) Courses of Study of Universities.

University	Course Name	Min Z-score	District with Min Z-score
UoM	Engineering	1.9831	Ratnapura
UoP	Engineering	1.8504	Gampaha
UoR	Engineering	1.6603	Puttalam
UoSJP	Engineering	1.5810	Badulla
UoC	Physical Science	1.4417	Badulla
UoJ	Engineering	1.4079	Anuradhapura
UoP	Physical Science	1.3426	Galle
UoSJP	Physical Science	1.2525	Colombo
UoK	Physical Science	1.1812	Colombo
UoR	Physical Science	1.1129	Hambantota
SEUoSL	Engineering	1.0933	Mullaitivu
SUoSL	Applied Sciences (PHY.)	1.0822	Colombo
RUoSL	Applied Sciences (PHY.)	1.0312	Colombo
WUoSL	Applied Sciences (PHY.)	0.9294	Kurunegala
UoM-EM	Engineering (EM)	0.8313	Mullaitivu
UoM-TM	Engineering (TM)	0.6729	Mullaitivu
UoJ-VC	Applied Sciences (PHY.)	0.6633	Anuradhapura
UoJ	Physical Science	0.6415	Nuwaraeliya
EUSL	Physical Science	0.5301	Nuwaraeliya
EUSL-TC	Applied Sciences (PHY.)	0.3206	Mullaitivu
SEUoSL	Physical Science	0.0123	Mullaitivu

As shown in the table, the lowest minimum Z-score for Engineering degree program (non-direct entry) is 1.0933 for South Eastern University of Sri Lanka in Oluvil from the disadvantaged district of Mullaitivu.

The lowest minimum Z-score for any Engineering degree program is 0.6729 for Earth Resources Engineering (EM) of University of Moratuwa from the disadvantaged district of Mullaitivu, which is a direct entry intake.

It is pertinent to note that both of the direct entry engineering intake programs of University of Moratuwa; respectively, Earth Resources Engineering (EM) and Textile & Clothing Technology (TM) require minimum Z-scores that are much lower than physical science and applied science courses at other universities. Also, both the minimum Z-scores are from the disadvantaged district of Mullaitivu.

Requirement for a Minimum Achievement Standard

The above analysis clearly indicate that the effective minimum Z-score for a degree program at a state university in the physical science stream to be 0.9294 for a "normal" candidate in Academic Year 2015/2016.