R.M.G.W. Rathnayake teaches at Pubbiliya Maha Vidyalaya Naula where most of the students are farmers’ children. As one of the participants in the Distant Teacher Training Course conducted by the British Council in Matale, he is learning innovative teaching methods to help motivate the students to learn English.
“Earlier I was using the mother tongue more often to explain the lessons to my students. But now, I talk with them in English as much as possible and they are encouraged to communicate in English with their fellow students thus developing new methods as done in the training course,” he said, adding that even with difficulty the students now make an effort to speak in English in the classroom.
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| Rural teachers eager to learn new methods. |
“English is the key to many opportunities the world over. However, lack of English literacy is most felt among the students in rural areas. Resources available for English medium teachers in these areas to enhance their language proficiency are very limited,” said Country Director of the British Council Gill Westaway.
But given the opportunity to refresh their skills, the enthusiasm these rural teachers display is inspiring. There’s no better example than Chandima Lakmali, a teacher from Namini Oya Central College Wilgamuwa, who travels 85 km to attend the study sessions held at the Matale Regional English Support Centre (RESC) every two weeks. Chandima says she has not had any training ever since she passed out from the Teacher Training College.
The course includes writing lesson plans, teaching speech and listening, phonology, etc. The modules give ample ways in which they could derive ideas on creative teaching methods such as using authentic supplementary material like newspaper articles etc. “This is a theoretical course through which we are trying to bridge the gap between what happens in the classroom and this course. For example, the teacher is given a task to perform - they have to look at how they can set up a speech activity in the classroom. For this, the teacher is expected to adopt new methods by referring to the course book,” says teacher trainer Liz Evans who has been involved in the project ever since its inception.
Initiated in 2006, the project aims to improve the English language teaching skill of teachers from 26 districts across the country. Managed and delivered by the British Council, it is funded by the Council for Business with Britain (CBB) with HSBC being a key contributor.
A network of regional centres, better known as RESCs have been established all over the country, including in Jaffna, Batticaloa and Ampara which function as a forum for the participating teachers to interact with the qualified trainers from the British Council who visit these centres every two weeks. The project aims to train about 500 teachers across the island who will in return work with about 40,000 students.
For the teachers, the attractive teaching methods they are learning has made their work more rewarding. A teacher from Madawela Ulpotha Navodaya School, Kanchana Wijeykoone says that the course modules have also helped immensely in handling the students. “Students are more keen and enjoy the new studying process as we use a lot of visual aids and audio cassettes,” she says. |
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