The Presidential initiative on English as a Life Skill successfully completed its first phase and launched its second phase MondayMarking the occasion at a ceremony in Temple Trees, President Mahinda
Rajapaksa was officially informed of the completion of the training of
60% of the country’s English Teachers to teach Spoken English to
students. He was also informed of the launch of a Public Examination
for a Certificate in Basic English. The Examination department is to
introduce a new system to provide 30 percent marks for spoken and
listening for English in the G.C.E. (O/L) examination in the future.
The President was presented with the School Based Assessment Tools on
Spoken English, the Guidelines for Standard Sri Lankan English
(Phonology/ Pronunciation, Vocabulary, Syntax including Grammar, Word
Order and Idiom) for Teachers of English, the First Copy of the 100
Hour Course in Basic English and the First Copy of the Revised Teacher
Guide and Resource Book for the Teaching of Spoken English.
Speaking on the occasion, the Coordinator/ Convenor of the
Presidential Task Force on English and IT, Sunimal Fernando stated
that children should be allowed and encouraged to speak English our
way and that they should not feel ashamed or inferior to do so. Many
countries in the world have their own ways of speaking English and
there is no reason for Sri Lanka to be an exception, he said. He
stressed that children should not be deterred from speaking English
our way.
The programme, English as a Life Skill promotes English Language
Skills, especially speaking and communication skills across the
country. A year ago, on July 19, 2009, the President launched the
National Road Map to promote Spoken/ Communicative English skills in
Sri Lanka.
With the guidance and support of the Presidential Task Force on
English and IT, the Ministry of Education and the Provincial
Ministries of Education have together ‘achieved a phenomenal degree of
success in the first phase of the programme’, Mr. Sunimal Fernando
said.
The English teacher community and the general public have been
mobilized to support this programme. During the first phase, a strong
new national cadre of 80 master trainers and 320 assistant trainers in
Spoken English from all nine Provinces has been developed. They were
trained at the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU),
Hyderabad.
60% of the 22,500 English teachers of the country were trained to
teach spoken English through an accelerated programme that will be
completed by the end of the year. The testing of listening and
speaking skills at the O/Level Examination was targeted for 2010 with
testing tools developed by NIE and the Sri Lanka India Centre for
English Language Training in collaboration with the Commissioner
General of Examinations. Re-visiting the school English syllabi
commenced to ensure that they cater to the needs of the second
language learner in the Sri Lankan context and is not beyond his/her
capabilities.
In addition, the country’s first teacher guide for spoken English was
produced, used and revised after one year by the Master Trainers
themselves during the 1st phase. A Sri Lanka-India Centre for English
Language Training (SLICELT) with modern technology and local and India
resource persons was established at Peradeniya with Indian government
assistance. Also, Indian government assistance was successfully
negotiated to establish nine Provincial Sri Lanka India Centers for
English Language Training (SLICELTs) with state-of-the-art teaching
technology, residential facilities for 80 trainers and local and India
resource persons in each Centers in the course of 2010-2011.
During the first phase, a 100 hour curriculum with teaching ads for a
Certificate Course in Basic English for the general public including
school leavers was produced by a team of Sri Lankan ELT trainers. A
public examination for a Certificate in Basic English to be conducted
by the Commissioner General of Examinations was also designed.
The preparation of a Teacher Guide on ‘Sri Lankan English Standards’-
Phonology, Vocabulary and Syntax (including grammar, word order and
idiom) was entrusted to an Academic Committee during phase 1. Their
work will be completed in August 2010.
In addition, a special Presidential Programme Unit (PPU) was
established as the Ministry of Education at ‘Isurupaya’ under the
Additional Secretary (Education Quality Development) to work in
harmony with the Presidential Task Force and the Presidential
Secretariat.
Courtesy : President Media Unit
