Context
In Sri Lanka, almost all school-age children have access to basic education. Around 97 per cent of pupils successfully complete primary education, and approximately 92 per cent finish secondary school. Access to education is, however, largely segregated according to ethic, religious and linguistic background.
There are still considerable shortcomings in the quality of education. One of the key challenges in the educational sector is to address the skills of teachers. Curriculums and teacher training programmes are still not geared towards the needs of pupils.
Objective
The education system is improved so that it better meets the needs of the population and enables children and teenagers to live together in peace in a multi-ethnic and multilingual society.
Approach
The project is helping the Sri Lankan Ministry of Education and the subordinate education authorities to implement the Education Sector Development Framework and Programme 2013-2017. The legal basis for this is provided by the 2008 National Policy on Education for Social Cohesion and Peace developed with the support of GIZ.
The project is advising the Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Education on education policy, development of curriculums and teacher training. The project is also strengthening cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the health and social services sector on psychosocial care. In addition, GIZ is collaborating with the 17 teacher-training colleges and local centres for continuing professional development of teachers.
The project is being carried out in five of the country’s nine provinces. These are predominantly poor, post-conflict regions. The project is working with the education authorities to trial innovative teaching methods in 200 pilot schools attended by more than 100,000 pupils and staffed by around 4,900 teachers. School activities are planned in a way that is sensitive to crisis and conflict so as to ensure that the different ethnic groups are able to get along with one another peacefully.
The project covers two areas, each of which has two different components:
1. Learning how to live together in peace
Peace and value education. Lessons on peaceful conflict management are built into the curriculums and teachers are trained in how to teach these.
Multilingual education. Promotion of the teaching of Sinhala and Tamil as a second language plays a key role in encouraging the peaceful coexistence of communities, and is given high priority in educational policy.
2. Promoting a secure teaching environment
Psychosocial care. Support is being provided for schools to set up psychosocial care systems and to integrate this with community-based networks, social services and the health system.
Disaster prevention for schools. By integrating disaster prevention into curriculums, continuing professional development for teachers and teaching materials, pupils learn how they should behave in disaster situations, and how they can prevent damage and protect the environment. This component is supported by ECO Consult.
Results
With the support of the project, the Ministry of Education is comprehensively implementing the National Policy on Education for Social Cohesion and Peace at all levels.
Education on social cohesion is being included in curriculums and teaching materials. In cooperation with the Goethe-Institut, training is being given to curriculum developers and textbook authors with a view to improving teaching in Sinhala and Tamil as a second language.
Pupil exchange programmes involving Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim schools are recognised as a key component of education on social cohesion and are increasingly taking place in state and civil-society institutions.
School theatre brings children from different ethnic, religious and social backgrounds together, and offers a playful way of avoiding stereotypes and at the same time encouraging creative and critical thinking.
1,560 schools in former conflict zones now have teachers qualified in psychosocial care. They have set up a network for exchanging experiences and providing mutual support to one another.
With the support of the project, the Ministry of Education has developed guidelines on disaster prevention and school safety, and introduced these in schools across the country.
The ministries of education in the provinces have put disaster recovery coordinators in place to support safety programmes for schools, disaster management and emergency aid.
The issue of climate change is currently being integrated into new lesson plans for natural sciences, geography and social studies.