Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva called for the scrapping of the ‘Z’ score system at the GCE Advanced Level examinations as it only turned students into ‘parrots’.

He said he would forward a Cabinet proposal calling for a change in the method in selecting students for higher studies.

De Silva said yesterday (13) that it was not an accurate method of selection of students for medical, engineering, and arts degrees. "No other country in the world adopts this system of choosing students for higher education. They adopt systems where students are judged on their extra curricular activities as well. They don’t only rely on how well the student had performed in mathematics, zoology or literature but on his or her cadetting skills, social service activities, environmental protection activities etc." he said. "Our students have to attend a large number of tuition classes, by-heart, and throw up what they have stashed in their memory at the examination hall. The ‘Z’ score,’ is computed on the percentage of the total marks the student received," he said.

The Health Minister said that with the proposal the Cabinet and all stakeholders would hold lengthy discussions on how to include extra curricular activities when selecting students for higher education.