The Hambantota District has the highest ‘Z – score’ marks (1.9686) for Medicine for the 2009/2010 academic year followed by Colombo (1.9671) and Matara (1.9656), according to the minimum ‘Z – score’ marks released by the University Grants Commission (UGC) yesterday.

The highest ‘Z – score’ for Engineering, 1.9790, is for the Matara District and the second highest 1.9170 and third 1.8822 are for the Colombo and Jaffna Districts respectively. The highest ‘Z – score’ for Management, 1.5856, is for the Colombo District, while highest ‘Z –score’ for the Arts stream, 1.3529, applies to 18 districts.

Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake said that 21,111 students would be admitted to universities and another 2,000 students enrolled later under a special scheme. Accordingly, the total number of students admitted to universities would be over 22,500.

"We are planning to admit all students to universities on a single day next October," he said adding the government would go all out to stop ragging and other forms of violence in universities.

Dissanayake said all students to be admitted for the 2009/2010 academic year would have to follow a six-month English course conducted by universities and pass an examination held after six months by the Department of Examinations.

"If someone fails the exam, he or she will have to sit it again," he said.

Dissanayake said that the Ministry would pay special attention to three universities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and undergraduates still in rehabilitation and welfare camps would be admitted to their respective universities.

Minister Dissanayake said that infrastructure for other universities, too, would be upgraded.

"Academic and non-academic staff of the university have been affected by salary anomalies for years and speedy measures would be taken to rectify them," Dissanayake said.

Chairman of the UGC Prof. Gamini Samaranayake said that the UGC had been able to admit province students from other provinces to the Jaffna University after a lapse of 30 years.

He said that highest number of students, 3,802, were qualified for the arts stream and second highest, 3,270, for Management. He said 1,223 students had qualified for Engineering and 1,147 students for Medicine.

"Politically motivated students in universities who give up their degree courses in the second or third year try to sabotage the system by ragging, protests and boycotting classes," Prof. Samaranayake said adding that the government would leave no room for violent political elements to make a cat’s paw of students.