The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has one of the world's most successful primary education systems: 96% of the children are enrolled. Shalom Magazine's reporter met at the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC), in the Mediterranean City of Haifa, with the people responsible for this truly phenomenal achievement. What made them think that embattled Israel had something valuable to add to their thriving educational network? Mr. Muthu Sivaragnanam, Director of Primary Education, of the Ministry of Education, Isurupaya, Sri Lanka, answers the question posed by the reporter. "In the year 1998, Sri Lanka launched its reform of the primary education system. We do not want more of the same. We are seeking quality. We have many schools in remote, rural, disadvantaged areas, which we would like to upgrade. And in quality improvement, we feel that teachers are the most important resource. That is the reason why we have already sent two groups of primary teachers to receive advanced training at the Mount Carmel Center in Israel, and that is the reason why we are here now." MCTC staff expressed great appreciation of Ambassador Mahinda Bandusena, ambassador of Sri Lanka to Israel, who was instrumental in bringing this interchange to fruition.
After the first two groups of primary teachers from Sri Lanka finished their training courses at the MCTC and returned home, Mr. Sivaragnanam decided to experience the program himself in March, 2002. But not as a removed observer or a detached critic. He assumed the working role of leader of the third group, filling at the same time a pivotal function in the course, which included 27 women and four men. In this group, he was the only one fully familiar with all three languages spoken in Sri Lanka: English (which, according to him, "should not be considered a language but a commodity"), and the two main languages of the island: Singhalese and Tamil. He tirelessly used this skill to translate and to explain the subject matter to the teachers, who did not speak enough English. He acted as the communication hub for the whole group, linking the participants among themselves and with the Israeli instructors. In the evenings, Mr. Muthu Sivaragnanam led a group discussion, debating the techniques witnessed during the day and how they could be adapted and applied in the Sri Lanka primary school environment.
"We have in Sri Lanka several training programs running with the help of the World Bank, the UK Department for International Development, and other foreign assistance programs. I have participated in courses in a number of countries and learned many interesting approaches. We have found MCTC to be very well organized, very competent to suit the needs of a country seeking training programs. We are fortunate of having come here, because we have learned many things and we feel that our primary teachers who return to Sri Lanka have greatly benefited. I was very impressed by what they reported to us, so I decided that I should come to Israel and see for myself. Here we are exposed to innovative thinking and I have decided to implement in our country some of the Israeli ideas - those suited to us - we have seen here at work."
"I find that in Israel difference is considered something natural and it is accepted. Organization of learning activities is adapted to the interests and the mastery level of the students, the teachers make learning a fun activity and I find that, in fact, children here do learn a lot. Students are allowed the freedom to learn at their own pace. Learning is not monotonous: music, dance and art are integrated in a balanced way. Teamwork and participation are done under the leadership of the principal. I am reminded of the quality circles' of Japan and the importance of exchanging ideas and discussion. It is very insightful to see this type of environment at work and to understand the culture of Israel. It is because it is a truly multiethnic society, just like ours, and its approach to quality primary education is precisely what we need. We have learned here very much that we can put to good use in Sri Lanka."
"According to our education policy, all children must learn oral English, in addition to their own mother tongue and, from grade 1, the second language of Sri Lanka. This is compulsory, since we want our people to be able to communicate in three languages. For us, English is not considered to be a foreign language, but a world language, and it is important that everyone should be familiar with it. When people understand each other, they will not fight. Language must not be a barrier to understanding. We are sending to Israel mixed groups of teachers, from different communities. We are working for the future."
"Our relationship with Sri Lanka has a long history and is rapidly expanding," said Janette Hirschman, the course director. "We two peoples seem to have a feeling for each other. The first two groups from Sri Lanka were also primary teachers. I feel they all profited from their training and enjoyed their stay in Israel.
"Each group stays at the Mount Carmel Center or a nearby hotel for three weeks, engaged in an intense curriculum that includes field trips, to provide a sense of how our education actually works at the primary school level. On the basis of what they observe, each group maintains daily discussion sessions to interpret and to clarify the learning experience, building up a usable model that can later be applied to the specific Sri Lanka environment."
"Participants arriving at MCTC have been selected not only on the basis of their seniority, but also according to the area where they teach, giving preference to those from remote, isolated areas. The Israeli experience enhances their pedagogic skills, and also strengthens them personally in pursuit of their vocation. I am amazed to witness how quickly they adapted themselves to our system and how they strived to extract and distill the basic principles that may be useful to them in their own land. This third group had the good fortune of enjoying the leadership of Mr. Muthu Sivagnanam, who in his former post was an accomplished teacher. Much of the success of this third course is due to him personally."
"They have been exposed to some of these ideas in pilot studies here, such as the concept of mixing two age groups within the framework of a single class. This method allows the more advanced children of the lower age group to find their suitable environment among the children of the higher age group in the class. On the other hand, those slower learners naturally find their place among the younger children. Children learn well from other children, and those learning faster tutor those going at a slower pace. Each child spontaneously finds his or her level and role in the class."
"The Mount Carmel Center's approach is to display all we have in the primary education field and let the participants encounter personally, at the school level, the Israeli experience. We do not promote or champion any specific technique. We encourage the participants to discuss among themselves what they see and experience, and to choose and adapt what suits them best. In fact, some of the ideas hailing from Israel are already being successfully implemented in Sri Lanka. We are very happy to hear that some of our ideas work there. Our ideas are the result of what we have gone through in Israel since the 1950s (the decade after the establishment of the State of Israel), which is the same process that Sri Lanka is undergoing now. Israel has had to cope with succeeding waves of hundreds of thousands of penniless immigrants and refugees, arriving from many different cultures, and we had to forge a program to suit all these extremely diverse ethnic groups. Israeli society is a mix of many cultures and languages. We are the paradigm of a modern, multiethnic society. It is reasonable to contend that something may be learned from our experience. This is my deep conviction and I am glad that in our conversations, Mr. Muthu Sivagnanam seems to have arrived at the same conclusion. And then, the learning being done in the course is not a one-way street, in these encounters we too benefit by being exposed to Sri Lankan educators."
An intensive course
The course was very intense. It was inaugurated by a lecture and a discussion led by Ms. Janette Hirschman, director of the course, on Creating an Observation Questionnaire, and Planning a Project. The first visit was to a kindergarten emphasizing music and literacy studies, in Rishon le-Zion, a town of 200,000 on the Mediterranean Sea, south of Tel Aviv. Among other visits in Rishon, at Ms. Orna Weinstein's Kindergarten, which has a free flow program, participants saw many activity corners which cover all the study areas, language, maths, science, socio-dramatic play, computers, etc. The materials in the corners are all related to the topic being studied. Children choose the activity they would like to be engaged in and spend as much time there as they want.
The participants then proceeded to the Arazim School, an experimental school for children with emotional problems, who cannot study in a regular class. Their social behavior is generally a result of some organic problem. Children remain there for 3 years only and then are integrated into regular classes, whose teachers are given counselling. Arazim staff follow-up the child for 3 years or more.
The next visit was to the Magen School, in Tel Aviv, that emphasizes cultural studies and languages. Children learn spoken English from first grade and each level studies a different culture: Israeli, Islamic and Japanese. In order to receive the guests in a fitting fashion, the third graders had learned about Sri Lanka. The guests witnessed a presentation and answered the children's questions about their country.
Then they went on to the School for Nature, Environment and Social Studies. The participants there applied the questionnaire they had created earlier to set down their field observations and analyze the educational environment and the relations between teachers/pupils, pupils/pupils, and teachers/principal.
A significant training experience was the participation of the Sri Lankan teachers in a workshop on "Making Didactic Games," led by Ms. Nava Groman, the director of the Pedagogic Center of Petah Tikva, a town east of Tel Aviv, the focus being on teaching/learning tools and on integrating alternative teaching methods in the classroom. Another workshop dealt with "Creating an Integrated Curriculum Using Newspapers," where newspapers can be used to teach literacy, science, math, etc., conducted by Ms. Haggith Gor-Ziv.
The next stop was in the northern tip of Israel, in Carmiel, in the Galilee, with its heterogeneous population, where they visited the Irisim Elementary School, which specializes in the use of computers in education, and the ORT Megadim Junior and High School. In the Druze minority town of Daliat el-Carmel, they met with Ms. Rushdia Birani, the director of the local school, who demonstrated the education process practiced in her establishment.
In Acco, an historic town north of Haifa, characterized by its mixed population, participants visited the Shazar Elementary School, led by its principal, Ms. Dalia Firman. This school is a community school which works in close contact with a number of local industries - for example, the dairy and ice cream factory and the paint factory. From the first grade children already learn about the process of production from raw materials to the finished product, marketing, packaging, etc.
The course included many other workshops, such as "The Use of Creative Arts in Teaching a Topic," given by Ms. Aviva Talmon; "Diagnosis of Learning Difficulties and Remedial Activities," led by Ms. Shlomit Elhanani, director of the Beit Ruth Institute for Learning Disabilities, and "The Use of Drama as a Teaching Tool," by Ms. Timna Peter.
The program was concluded by the presentation of projects prepared by the Sri Lankan teachers, and the evaluation and summing-up session, with Ms. Mazal Renford, Director of MCTC, Ms. Janette Hirschman, director of the course, and Ms. Lilach Grunfeld, its coordinator. Three successful weeks were crowned by the distribution of Certificates at the Closing Ceremony by Ambassador Mahinda Bandusena.