MoE to give broader approach and wider scope to Education
View(s):The Ministry of Education (MoE) intends to give a broader approach to Education, focusing on improving transversal skills, socio-emotional skills as well as values and ethics.
According to its 2018 Annual Report, a complete development and revision of the curriculum was carried out for Grades 3, 9 and 13, in order to develop transversal, social and emotional skills, and also to improve student’s values and ethics.
The Report says it had to develope primary education, engaged in development of national languages and humanities and improved bilingual education facilities. Apart from that the MoE had also developed religious and value education.
Under the work plan of development of primary education, the MoE trained 3,107 primary section teachers without primary education training.
The MoE also carried out awareness programmes for 301 provincial officers and teacher instructors on item analysis of Grade 5 Scholarship exams.
Programmes were conducted with 101 primary education instructors and teachers on preparation of learning equipment for teaching Primary Mathematics subject.
Also another 135 primary teachers were empowered as Learning Assistant teachers who provide assistance to students with learning difficulties. Progarammes were carried out on capacity development of 262 teachers on the utilization of the activity room.
Hundred and eighteen teachers were trained on the polyhedral learning methodology of the primary grades.
The MoE also provided Rs 6 million for quality inputs to primary sections of the 113 national schools. It has been scheduled to empower primary educational teachers as resource personnel in the schools, where Primary Resource Centers were conducted under the ‘Nearest school the Best school’ programme in 2019.
The MoE had also taken measures to develop national languages and humanities education by conducting 35 programmes to cover all the subjects including Sinhala and Tamil languages. Second National Language and Social Sciences. Under those programmes training was provided to 1551 teachers in charge of subjects, teacher instructors and officers in charge of subjects.
Forty teachers and officers were directed to follow postgraduate diploma in bilingual education conducted at the Open University under Capacity Development related bilingual education. The MoE also made arrangements to prepare and distribute a common module and 8 more modules according to the subject, including language, hearing, speech and classroom management for the subject taught in English medium.
Capacity development programmes were conducted for 60 bilingual teachers on the use of new learning methodologies. A team of 30 members including teachers and teacher instructors were trained on the core skills of the 21st century teaching with cooperation of the British Council.
The MoE has also taken measures to develop Religious and Value education by training 911 teachers who are engaged on teaching subjects such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Catholicism and Christianity under capacity development programmes for upgrading GCE Ordinary Level.
Some of the other programmes carried by the MoE are Student support seminars for 8,148 O/L students. Ministry also conducted Information Technology related training for 50 teachers who teach Buddhism. Apart from that, 5 Value promotion programmes were conducted for teachers and students.