Abstract

Sri Lanka is a nearly industrialized country in transition from a tradition-bound agrarian and cheap labour economy into the era of building a knowledge-based economy. The school system reflects a traditional society, especially in its features of an examination driven system. The question posed for the paper is what meaning the examination driven system has particularly in Sri Lanka and also in general. The method is to apply the conceptual framework of Emile Durkheim to empirical findings and follow his lines of reasoning. The concept mechanical solidarity is central for understanding the assessment system. The education will piecemeal change and become more individualized and learner centred and with new modalities of assessment. It is so if Durheim is right in his claim, that some social facts are caused by other social facts, not just connected to them.