Contrary to expectations, Ordinary Level English medium students outperformed the vernacular medium students in the remote Ampara District at the recently conducted examinations.

At the Kalmunai Mahmud Ladies College, one of the three schools that allowed students to sit the O Level in the English medium, all 25 students who sat for the English medium have qualified to study for the Advanced Level examinatons. One English medium student in the district got 10 As.

A. H. A. Basheer, Principal of this school, where the student obtained 10 As said that his school was the first to start English medium in the Ampara District and he was crticised by many parents and educationists for introducing the English medium. "There were many petitions against me. Now the performances of English medium students have stunned the critics," he said.

Their performances in subjects like Science, Social Science and Development Studies had been 88 per cent, 96 per cent and 95 per cent respectively which is higher than the performance of Tamil medium students, Basheer said.