Assessing the Emotional Intelligence of Sri Lankan High School Students: A Case Study

Success in higher education is an effective way of securing gainful employments, and career development for the youth in Sri Lanka. High school students have to be successful in Advanced Level (A-Level) Examination to secure entry to state universities, and to secure better employment opportunities for the school leavers. This has made A-Level examination ultra competitive and highly stressful among the students. The study focussed to assess the Emotional Intelligence (EI) level of high school students. Specific objectives included assessing of EI sub constructs of students, and analyzing the EI of respondents based on gender, and specific subject streams. Genos EI Inventory was used among 90 A-Level students (45 boys, and 45 girls) randomly selected from two Sri Lankan schools. EI level of respondents were further assessed based on gender and their subject streams. Mean values indicated a superior level of EI among boys, in comparison to girls. Science subject stream based students possessed a slightly superior level of EI in comparison to Commerce, and Arts subject stream based students. High school adolescents have found it difficult to manage their emotional situations. This emphasizes the necessity of providing counselling opportunities to high school students, and promoting improved relationships with parents, and teachers. Programmes to support the emotional stability of high school students could empower them. Further research is recommended to examine the relationship between EI and academic progress of Sri Lankan high school students.