brand logo

From online to electronic media: Bridging the education gap

21 Aug 2021

By Sarah Hannan As the teacher-principal trade union action reaches yet another week of extended discussions, and the resumption of online education is further delayed, the Ministry of Education is focused on using electronic media to deliver lessons to schoolchildren. Earlier this week, the Ministry of Education launched a dedicated radio channel and announced the addition of six TV channels to broadcast education programmes covering lessons for grades one to 13, pirivena, and Montessori. The education programmes are scheduled to be broadcasted from 4 a.m. till midnight, where 65% of the programmes would cover academic programmes while the rest would cover alternative educational programmes. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, National Institute of Education (NIE) Deputy Director General Dr. Dharshana Samaraweera explained: “We do understand that these programmes will not fulfil 100% of the educational requirements of schoolchildren. We are amidst a global pandemic and the present situation in the country will not allow children to attend schools immediately. Therefore, when we designed these lessons, what we took into consideration is the basic elements of each subject.” When asked whether there is a way to monitor whether children are actively following the lessons that are broadcasted, Dr. Samaraweera noted: “Of course. We have a weekly quiz competition to encourage students to follow our lessons either through our YouTube channel on Channel NIE, or through the TV programmes or radio programmes. We have categorised it into three groups: Primary section, grades six to 11, and GCE A/L (Advanced Level). Winners of the quiz stand a chance to win laptops, smartphones, and school supplies.” State Minister for Education Reforms, Open Universities, and Distant Learning Promotion Susil Premajayantha noted: “While we have taken steps to deliver lessons through electronic media, various other methods have been used to ensure the continuity of education in provincial levels. The provincial education offices have printed activity and assignment sheets as well as lesson plans, and have sent them to schools, which are then made available to schoolchildren.” Premajayantha also noted that special revision lessons will also be broadcasted, targeting students sitting for the upcoming GCE A/L, Grade Five scholarship, and GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) examinations. The State Ministry is of the view that once all these learning materials are used in combination with the educational programmes that are broadcasted, the schoolchildren will be able to have a better grasp of the lessons. When The Sunday Morning contacted Ceylon Teachers’ Union General Secretary Joseph Stalin to inquire whether broadcasting educational programmes on TV and radio is an effective method to educating schoolchildren, he responded: “The Ministry of Education is launching a programme of this nature after a lapse of one-and-a-half years since the pandemic. We urged the Ministry to launch this method of education from the beginning of the pandemic. We now request from the Ministry that these education programmes be productive, where schoolchildren are made aware of the existence of these programmes and also by introducing a proper programme timetable.” When asked whether activity sheets have been produced and released for students to complete by following these educational programmes, Stalin noted that the Ministry has still not distributed any such activity sheets for students. Moreover, Stalin noted that teachers too have not been instructed as to how they could use these educational programmes to guide students to complete assignments or activity sheets. Education Forum Sri Lanka Co-Founder Dr. Sujata Gamage suggested that teachers should align their lessons to the educational programmes that are broadcasted, which will allow them to free up time to guide students who would require further clarification over a certain lesson. Advising on how to improve the productivity of electronic media or YouTube-based lesson deliveries, Dr. Gamage noted: “To deliver an effective distance education, we need to focus on the learning experience of children rather than the mere transmission of content. For every one hour or so of video content transmitted, there needs to be at least one hour of engagement guided by a teacher. This engagement can be created through activities that develop essential competencies in critical thinking, creating, collaborating, and communicating.” Meanwhile, when we contacted the Department of Examinations to inquire when practical exams for aesthetic subjects would be conducted, an official from the Department stated that no dates have been confirmed yet.


More News..