By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
Looking back at your Advanced Level (A/L) examinations years later makes you realise how insignificant a moment in your life it was, despite it feeling like an important milestone at the time. However, if you recall that day when your results were released, seemingly sealing your fate, it didn’t feel in any way insignificant. For some of us, our A/L results determined our futures and our career paths.
Not many are fortunate enough to not have their higher education or employment prospects depend on how well they fare at an examination. However, whenever A/L results are released, social media divides into two main camps; those who think they matter and those who think they don’t.
People can go on to achieve great things in life regardless of how well they did at their A/Ls, but it can also be said that the foundation for some achievements is set by one’s A/L results.
While these exams can play an important role in our lives, we don’t always have a say in our choice of A/L stream or subjects. Even if our parents don’t directly ask us to select certain subjects, there is pressure from peers, teachers, relatives, and society. Choosing the arts stream is sometimes made to seem like a conscious effort to disgrace one’s family, whereas maths and science may get an immediate seal of approval.
Fortunately, Hannah didn’t experience this pressure. She shared that when she chose her A/L subjects, she wanted to pursue a career in psychology, but her law teacher made the subject so interesting that she debated between the two subjects, before settling on law after receiving an A* for the subject.
“My parents have never pressured me about passing exams or getting really good grades. I put this pressure on myself when I hit A/Ls,” she said. “I don’t think I felt the A/L pressure as much as other kids did,” Hannah went on to say, explaining that she didn’t do local A/Ls and her parents could afford private education in Sri Lanka: “It was a privilege so I can’t speak for others.”
Going into detail about the privilege attached to this, Hannah said that her father, for example, sat for his A/Ls three times to get into a State university, because that was the only way out and the only way to get somewhere in life given his background. “If he hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t be here today with the privileges I have.”
Hannah said she knows this because her father was the first among his siblings to go to university and she sees a difference between herself and her cousins. “But it’s not just about getting really good A/L results and going to university. One must actually learn and learn to learn, and not just get into university for the sake of it, come out, and then demand jobs. But then again, our local education system needs a severe revamp to train people for the world out there.”
Kesan agreed on the importance of A/Ls, saying it allowed him to get into a State university, where he now works. A major part of his income also comes from teaching A/L kids.
Shameera said his A/L results played a big role in his life, especially since his parents couldn’t afford to send him to a private university. “My life would have been different if I hadn’t passed my Advanced Level,” he said, adding that his general advice for students was to try their absolute best to obtain good results.
Also sharing their views was Ech, who explained that they were adamant about doing English Literature for A/Ls and now manages a team that writes copy for brands. “And those results were crucial to my five-year career. I could not afford the ‘affordable’ private education options we had, but now I can for my brotherk.”
Ech went on to say that they expected higher results, as did others, but that it was their only try at the exam, so it wasn’t too bad. With regard to the privilege of being able to say A/L results don’t matter, Ech said it absolutely matters when you say it doesn’t.
Mihiri shared similar views, explaining that privilege plays a part in how far one gets in spite of their A/L results. “But so do luck and hard work. It’s not one thing, but a combo,” she said.
Achini found that A/Ls were the deciding factor in ensuring her career path. “Looking back, I’m sure I would’ve managed (in some other career) even without A/Ls, but that’s because my English is reasonably okay and my parents might’ve coughed something up to fund my education.”
However, she added, saying A/Ls don’t matter is a privileged take that only richer kids or those in high enough social classes can afford to have. “There are exceptions, of course, of those who might have managed without money or English, but that’s a minority.”
For Hansi Munasinghe, A/Ls let her skip some US college classes and get a scholarship, but that was also possible because her family had the means for her to study abroad. When asked if there was one thing she wish she knew when sitting for her exams, Hansi said: “You don’t have to stay in the same field as your A/L subjects. Even though it feels like you’re learning so much (and you are!), A/Ls are only the basics; an introduction. Changing fields can feel wasteful, but it’s important to realise that two-three years is nothing when you have a whole career/lifetime to look forward to.”
