After passing O/Ls, leaves school and then sits for A/Ls ... securing three 'A's!

After passing O/Ls, leaves school and then sits for A/Ls ... securing three 'A's!

Various dialogues keep springing up about the educational field in our country. There are age limits traditionally targeted for the normal GCE ordinary level, advanced level upto university education. As such, by the time a student obtains a degree from university across the normal school education ... he/she passes the 25th year. 

A student who turned tables upside down in the traditional educational field is heard of from the town

of Embilipitiya. This particular student has been studied in the Commercial stream in seven months at A/Ls and and has displayed exceptional ability in securing three 'A's. He is Indupa Arunod Samarasingha of President's College, Embilipitiya.

Indupa got through the ordinary level examination in the year 2018 clinching 9 passes. Moments when he goes beyond tradition, begins from there onwards. If this child was to study for his advanced level in the customary school education system ... he would have to wait for another three years to see its results. But having loosened himself  from the grip of school education and has studied for the advanced level in the Commercial stream and has obtained three 'A's within the space of seven months is indeed a rare phenomenon. 

His father Aravinda Dias Samarasingha is an attorney at law while the mother is a teacher of the English Language at Suriyawewa National School. Indupa's sister, Poojani Vishakya Samarasingha (13) is following her studies in grade 9 at Embilipitiya President's College. A collective dialogue thus exists always within this family. Therefore, the child's father including others decided on giving Indupa in making him sit for the advanced level and provide him with a university education instead of a school education. 

This is how Indupa's father expressed his opinion: "From my schooldays I was involved in various skills. I followed my education in a very relaxed and with a free mind so to say. I went to university also. Our son too followed on my footsteps and displayed special skills during his ordinary level education. In the process I directed him to educational exhibitions held at various locations in the island. Through it, it was possible to embed something into his mind. After he passed the O/L I looked into whether he would be able to achieve good results after sitting for the A/Ls in a short period of time. As a result of a common dialogue in our home, we arrived at a certain decision. Thus he started studies in advanced level studies even before O/L results came. The motive was to achieve good results by sitting for the 2019 advanced level examination. 

Indupa' father who discussed about this with three private-class teachers in the area finally decided to face the challenge. Those three teachers who had no understanding about the child's educational level even before the latter received his O/L results started classes from Indupa's home . As the child too showed extra ordinary skills, he had studied fifty per cent of the syllabus of A/L Commercial stream. 

The issue about age cropped up for Indupa when he applied for the  A/L examination and the hat is because he was a schoolboy. Therefore, on everybody's consent Indupa bade goodbye to his school. After that, his onward journey began to speeden up even farther. He has even surpassed the borderline of gaining the opportunity of entering the university by securing the A/L exam by securing three 'A' passes. 

Indupa Arunod joined us with what he had to say. "I tried to come forward in every subject in school. Parents did not impose unnecessary rules on me ... gave maximum freedom. So I wanted to reach upto O/L in a very relaxed way and thought that I could go to university across A/L in a short time. I got my education from one teacher for four hours per week. In the meantime I also enjoyed freedom to the maximum. But I moved towards my target with determination. 

When writing for A/L I had studied the complete stream of studies. The guidance I received from home as well as teachers was a great strength to me. I wrote for the A/L with great facility. The results was that I was able to secure 3 'A's from the Commercial stream. This is a great happiness. What I say is ... without waiting for the opportunity; go in search of the opportunity. Work with dedication. Without thinking of age ... train yourself to look at life in a different manner. My future ambition is to to become an intelligent person in the country and to serve the country where I was born in. 

Other contemporary students of Indupa of a similar age will have to wait till year 2022 to write for the A/L. But by that time Indupa will be nearing completion of university education. Finally, this student has shown that any child could become a graduate in this country itself even though under-age. Indupa has thus provided a fine example of how the education pattern of our country could be transformed into an exceptional change across this fresh journey.

(Information -- Prageeth Janaka - Kolonna and Sunil Harischandra - Embilipitiya)