New initiatives for distance and online learning from next week onwards
With more than 1.5 billion children including more than 4.3 million Sri Lankan students affected, the Education Ministry is set to launch its series of educational television programmes from next week as a long term measure to meet the educational needs of students.
Education Reforms Minister Susil Premajayantha said even if schools resume classes, the Ministry hopes to continue with the TV programmes to conduct the lessons.
“We will make sure these lessons are uploaded on YouTube so even if the students miss classes on TV, they will be able follow the lessons later,” he said.
He said students would also be provided a hotline that they could call to seek clarifications on any of their subjects. The following numbers could be contacted – 1377, 011-7601702 or 071-449131.
Despite the plans to conduct classes on TV there had been concerns that some students in remote areas who do not have access to TVs, computers or similar devices would still not have access to these lessons.
Education trade unionist Mahinda Jayasinghe said even though the concept was good, the issue of reaching out to all students still remains.
Meanwhile, UNICEF said the COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted education around the world. School closures due to the pandemic have affected around 1.5 billion children.
“Teachers have gone above and beyond to support their students and to help them keep learning by whatever means possible. Many have embraced new ways of teaching, including online teaching, over radio, television or hand-delivered materials,” a UNICEF spokesperson said.
“While children in many countries are still waiting for schools to fully re-open, education for some has continued – thanks to these champions for children,” they added.
They said these teachers were celebrated and the organisation had called for more investment in education, especially for the 463 million students who remain cut off from education due to a lack of access to remote learning.
“It is time to reimagine education, where every child is connected to the internet and to quality digital learning,” they added.
| Time tables for TV lessons released; Lessons to be uploaded online as well The Education Ministry has released time tables to the media and the National Institute of Education (NIE) website for the electronic media school lessons programmes that are set to begin today. Primary grades will have mathematics, mother tongue and the environmental sciences. Lessons for grades five to 11 will cover all 6 core subjects and for grade 13 the most important 16 subjects have been covered, including ICT. The lessons on television also include revision classes for Ordinary Level (O/L) Examination students. “We will not be focusing on the grade five scholarship exams and the advanced level examination since those examinations are completed,” an education ministry official said. He said lessons for grade three to grade 13 would be given more focus due to the availability of more resources and better preparation. Lessons for grade one and two would not be available on TV but are still accessible on e-thakshilawa. The e-thakshilawa and telecasted lessons would also be available on the NIE YouTube channel. Therefore, students can log in at any time they want and download the videos. Moreover, the Government granted the total requested budget of Rs. 100 Mn along with the approval of the Cabinet paper that was submitted in this regard. E-Thakshilawa was the online platform that this programme started on initially, it has lessons from grade one to grade 13. However according to Education Secretary Dr. Upali M. Sedera, only about 35-40% of students had internet connectivity and the equipment to log in which was a serious limitation. “This is why we decided to use broadcasting media,” he added. Obtaining long hours for the programmes was an issue as most channels had already signed their yearly MOUs for their programmes for this year. Six studios were required for recording over 2000 lessons, and 700 lessons had been completed. “Even with this we are aware of the marginalised population that won’t be able to access these lessons,” Dr. Sedera said. Therefore, the Ministry is also in talks with the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) to begin a series of programmes on the radio as well. Expensive air times were an issue. Until that issue was sorted, the Ministry is in discussions with the provincial education directors to provide self-study lesson packages with downloaded lectures printed as notes or ‘tutes’ for students in low income communities. The broadcasted distance learning planning process began a few months ago as a part of the Ministry’s planning for a potential second wave of COVID-19. Discussions with media channels, state and private, began a month ago where the media outlets were requested for time slots on their channels. Nethra and Eye channel had pledged 16 hours a day each on their channels from four a.m. for the programmes while other private media outlets had also provided slots of varying hours in support of the programme. Principals and sectional heads from fifty of Colombo’s best schools nominated the teachers for the presentations. “Therefore the best teachers would conduct these programmes, so it is a good opportunity for rural students as well,” Dr. Sedera said. -Tharushi Weerasinghe
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