Project English in partnership with the Council for Business with Britain (CBB) is providing high quality training to English teachers all over Sri Lanka and motivating children to achieve better results through the CBB Distance Training Course, 'I am more interested in learning English now and I understand the value of English for my future prospects' said Sadisha Piyaratne a 10th grade student at Vidyakara Isuru School in Opanayake.
CBB is concerned about the well documented skills gap in the country, particularly in English, which is having an adverse effect on future economic development. The main sponsor is HSBC, but CBB has recently introduced a ‘Sponsor a Teacher’ scheme to encourage other members to contribute to the programme.
During the CBB programme, developed and managed by the British Council, the teacher completes twenty-two units of distance study over a six-month period. These have been designed by the British Council to introduce a learner centred, activity based methodology. There is a strong focus on developing pupils’ speaking skills and these skills, so often neglected in the classroom in recent years, will soon be tested at O-level. In this way the CBB distance training course shares the core goals of the National Presidential Initiative on English and is complementary to its aims and objectives, Miss Manora Gunawardana of Dimiyawa Maha Vidalaya school said that since doing the CBB course and introducing the new methodology, her students are 'more motivated to learn. They try to speak in English now - they want to speak English now.'
One crucial factor in the success of the programme is that the teachers sit the internationally recognised University of Cambridge Teaching Knowledge Test examination (TKT) at the end of the course. The Honourable Susil Premajayantha, MP, Minister of Education praised the programme in September this year, 'The Ministry of Education recognises the value of TKT in providing an internationally valid qualification and understands how powerful a motivational tool this is.' He also said of CBB, 'I pay tribute to CBB for recognising that in-service teacher training is at the heart of improving pupils’ performance in examinations.'
The teachers also attend fortnightly study sessions at their nearest RESC, which are facilitated by British Council trained mentors. This gives them the opportunity to share their learning with other teachers and benefit from the mentors’ considerable experience. W A I Pushpakumari a mentor from Kahawatta RESC said, 'I am very happy to see the teachers who followed the CBB course helping pupils participate actively in the learning process. They have found a more effective way of planning lessons.'
A group of pupils, teachers and mentors met at Kahawatta RESC to talk about the programme and how they have benefited from it. This is the last RESC visit of the current CBB distance course conducted by the British Council. Each course is visited to ensure high standards are being maintained throughout the country and to canvas ideas for improving the programme. Seamus Harkin, Project Manager from the British Council said, 'It is great to hear the success stories from pupils and teachers here and it is a huge privilege to be working alongside a team of true Sri Lankan professionals - the mentors. The RESC network is one of Sri Lanka’s lesser known gems.'
It is estimated that 36,000 pupils are currently benefiting from the programme and the Ministry of Education is assisting the British Council in evaluating the impact of the programme on O-level results.
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