{"id":184816,"date":"2017-11-26T00:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-11-25T18:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=184816"},"modified":"2017-11-29T00:22:50","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T18:52:50","slug":"what-a-husky-golden-retriever-chihuahua-can-teach-us-about-sri-lankan-educational-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/what-a-husky-golden-retriever-chihuahua-can-teach-us-about-sri-lankan-educational-system\/","title":{"rendered":"What A Husky, Golden Retriever, Chihuahua Can Teach Us About Sri Lankan Educational System"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kasun Kamaladasa<\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kasun Kamaladasa<\/p><\/div>\n

When looking for smart dog to be your next best friend, what kind of traits would you consider the \u201cbest\u201d? <\/span><\/p>\n

Would you go for a golden retriever that blindly obeys your every command or a Husky that could understand boundaries but will not play dead to be fed a cookie?<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though you most probably never owned a golden retriever, a Husky or any kind of dog, depending on your life experience and upbringing you\u2019d probably pick one of these dogs because of its obedience or independence. <\/span><\/p>\n

All dogs have their perks and quirks but the interesting thing about choosing a dog is there is no absolute \u201cbest\u201d dog. Depending your needs, we can choose a playful partner for our children, guide dog for our blind aunt, sheep herding dogs for our uncle at the farm or a guard dog to guard our houses and riches.\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Why did you pick the Husky or the Golden Retriever?<\/span><\/p>\n

I may have misled you with my question asking about two dogs instead of asking simply which dog breed is the smartest. I attributed qualities normally people would have very strong opinions about further blinding you to the fact that these dogs might have other good or bad qualities. I also withheld information about possibilities of training a Husky with a dog trainer or that even a golden retriever might be disobedient depending on its upbringing. Most importantly I mentioned an ambiguous quality, \u201csmarter\u201d. Which is a quality that is hard to measure objectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

Asking the correct questions when addressing a problem could shape the way we perceive our world. So ask yourself, who do we consider smart in society? what is our measurement stick? How has this measurement stick tainted our perception of children and students? How could you be smart in different ways? what other questions do you need to ask when we pick a candidate for a University or a Career?<\/span><\/p>\n

Benchmarking \u201cintelligence\u201d (Who is smart)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Most of Sri Lanka seem to be convinced that sole measurement required for a University or Job is intelligence and that intelligence can be measured accurately with A\/L and O\/L. Countless trade unions keep trying to use this excuse to Limit representation in their fields from people with different experiences and abilities.\u00a0 <\/span>From university entry criteria to entry in to professional circles and even the requirements for government positions all point to the same fact. A\/L and O\/L marks are inexplicably significant.<\/span><\/p>\n

You could argue that A\/L results do really give a proper intelligence rating and that is sufficient for entry criteria for Universities or Jobs. The trouble is our society is taking it a few steps further. We are equating A\/L results to absolute intelligence and black marking students with lower grades. <\/span><\/p>\n

Doctor\u2019s unions, Engineering student bodies and other groups claim that private universities are bad for the country because they will allow \u201cless intelligent\u201d people to get degrees in Medicine or Engineering. They are convinced that this as a selfless act and only way of preserving ethics and standards of their profession but time has failed to prove this hypothesis. <\/span><\/p>\n

Coming back to our question \u201care A\/Ls really the cut-off criteria we should use to grant access for higher education?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

A lesson from our neighbors <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The same way you would choose a Husky or a Golden retriever depending on what kind of traits you would like, lot of countries have multiple criteria to fulfill for university entry, in hopes of making their admissions reflect a broader range of social qualification. Some have exceptions for people who have not had the luxury to do A\/L properly when they were young, to qualify for jobs and higher education. Back to school initiatives in US, second career programs in Canada, Pre-bachelor courses in Australia and Foundation courses in UK are a few examples.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some universities value progress and success in workplace; for example, if you worked as a technician in an engineering company that would translate to earned credits in state universities in the US. Performance in athletics and sports which showcase a students\u2019 resilience and adaption will grant the student athlete into prestigious \u201cIvy-League\u201d colleges. <\/span><\/p>\n

So dear reader, even if the dog you dream of is a one with a golden coat, you don\u2019t always have to limit yourself to a Golden Retriever, you will find that you may as well be happy with Cocker Spaniel or Finnish Spitz just by understanding what the real requirement is. <\/span><\/p>\n

The real requirement <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

So how can we broaden our success criteria so that students with a wider range of intelligence get a chance at higher education without risking the quality of enrollment? That is obviously up for discussion by the experts, but here are a few things that can be used to distinguish whether a student is accomplished in other ways than just plain old A\/Ls.<\/span><\/p>\n