Teachers as ‘In-service Advisors’ to improve School Education: Akila
View(s):The Ministry of Education (MoE) is to create a new sector known as ‘In-service Advisors’ to improve quality of School Education, Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam told Education Times. A new Service Minute will be issued shortly creating the new sector, to which more than 3,000 teachers serving as Instructors will also be absorbed, in addition to recruiting more teachers.
“The purpose of this new sector is to overcome the problem of teachers serving as instructors while being compelled to carry out their teaching tasks as well. In most schools, some of the classes are without teachers, as they are on duty as instructors,” Minister Kariyawasam explained.
Accordingly, teachers will not be required to serve as instructors and as teachers as well.
Mr Kariyawasam said he intends to have some 4,000 ‘In-service Advisors’ islandwide, who will be assigned to help teachers improve their knowledge on new subjects, assist in training of teachers, analysing school education results and taking necessary action and introduce new teaching techniques including digital technology. He said the problem has been existing for more than 10 years.
The Minister said the Public Services Commission will be sought to put the plan into effect. Western Provincial (WP) Education Ministry Secretary S.G. Wijayabandu told Education Times that, within the WP there are some 800 Instructors and most of them are not in classes, but unable to recruit teachers to fill the vacancies.
“As a result, the quality of Education in the WP dropped in some schools. Therefore, after this decision comes into effect, we will be able to fill the required vacancies,” he said. The new system will be useful to make better use of the teachers who will work as ‘In-service Advisors’.
- Damith Wickremasekara