The Scholarship Examination (also known as the Grade 5 exam) is a highly competitive
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
n examination first introduced in 1947,
conducted by the
Department of Examinations The Department of Examinations is a non-ministerial government department of Sri Lanka and the national examination service. It comes within the purview of the Ministry of Education (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Education. The department is responsible f ...
of the
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
. It is optional for students to undertake it during the final year of
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
(Grade 5; usually aged 9–10). Based on the results of the exam, students could transfer to prominent national schools. The exams are held in two mediums:
Sinhala and
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
.
History
The examinations were introduced by the late Dr.
C. W. W. Kannangara
Dr. Cristopher William Wijekoon Kannangara (Sinhala language, Sinhala ආචාර්ය ක්රිස්ටෝෆර් විලියම් විජේකෝන් කන්නන්ගර; 18 October 1894 – 23 September 1969) was a ...
, who took the initiative in establishing
free education
Free education is education funded through government spending or charitable organizations rather than tuition funding. Primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is free in most countries (often not including primary textboo ...
when he was the Minister of Education. Under this initiative, the government established
Madhya Maha Vidyalayas
The "Madhya Vidyalaya (Central College)" concept ( English: Central College) is a type of state school in Sri Lanka. Originally mooted in the 1930s by C.W.W. Kannangara, 54 Central Colleges were founded between 1943 and 1947 as part of his initiat ...
(MMV - Central Colleges) that were scattered around the island. The Scholarship Examination was a means for gifted students from villages to move to better schools with government scholarships.
2021 scholarship exam - school cut-off marks
Boys Schools
#
Royal College, Colombo
Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...
- 188
#
Dharmaraja College, Kandy - 187
#
Ananda College, Colombo - 186
#
Maliyadeva College - 184
#
Kingswood College - 181
#
Nalanda College - 179
#
Richmond College - 176
#
St. Anne's College - 174
#
Rahula College
Rahula College () is a boys' school in Sri Lanka, located in Matara district. Though it was originally a private Buddhist school, now it is run by the Government of Sri Lanka as a National School. Rahula College has two sections - the Primary s ...
- 171
#
St. Sylvester's College - 169
#
Mahinda College - 166
#
D. S. Senanayake College - 164
#
Isipathana College - 161
#
Thurstan College - 159
#
Bandaranayake College - 157
#
Vidyartha College - 155
#
St. Aloysius' College - 154
#
Mahanama College - 152
#
Joseph Vaz College - 150
# Ashoka Vidyalaya - 147
Source: Ministry of Education, 2021
Girls Schools
#
Visakha Vidyalaya - 187
#
Devi Balika Vidyalaya - 185
#
Maliyadeva Girls' College - 183
#
Mahamaya Balika Vidyalaya - 181
#
Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya - 180
#
Southlands College - 177
#
Rathnavali Balika Vidyalaya - 167
#
Sujatha Vidyalaya
Sujatha Vidyalaya is a girls' school in Matara, Sri Lanka, Matara, Sri Lanka. The Matara Buddhist Society founded the school as a private Buddhism, Buddhist institution in 1929. It was the first Buddhist girls' school in Matara. Today, the Gover ...
- 175
#
Holy Family Convent - 173
#
Anula Vidyalaya
Anula Vidyalaya is a national girls' school in Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 ...
- 171
#
Girls' High School - 168
#
St, Paul's Girls School - 167
#
Sanghamitta Balika Vidyalaya - 165
# Janadhipathi Balika Vidyalaya, Kurunegala - 163
# Viharamahadevi Balika Vidyalaya, Kiribathgoda - 161
#
Pushpadana Girls' College - 159
#
Yasodara Devi Balika Maha Vidyalaya - 157
#
Sacred Heart Convent - 155
#
Ferguson High School - 153
# St. Joseph Balika Vidyalaya, Nugegoda - 150
Controversies
In recent years the exam has become extremely competitive, therefore many claim that it puts unnecessary pressure on students at an early age. It has been considered as a "parent's" exam rather than a student's. It is necessary to carry out a study on the long-term success of the scholars.
This exam is now being used as a tool for Political leaders in Sri Lanka to neglect the development of rural schools.
References
{{Education in Sri Lanka
Educational qualifications in Sri Lanka
School qualifications
School examinations