Delivery of education should be intriguing - Permaul

Delivery of education should be intriguing – Permaul

Sep 28, 2009 News

It is crucial that teachers understand their fundamental role to deliver with precision the Education Ministry’s curriculum at the varying levels in the quest to improve literacy and numeracy.

Mrs. Rajwantie Permaul, Head of Learning Resources Development Unit within the Ministry underscored this notion during a recent interview with this newspaper.

Mrs Rajwantie Permaul

According to her, despite the unwavering efforts to put in place measures to help improve the general delivery of education, some teachers are just not taking advantage of available resources.

She explained that the Ministry has been producing its own materials, both reading and mathematics, which have been distributed to schools countrywide and are intended to help teachers, in an intriguing way, capture the attention of their students.

At an exhibition at the National Centre for Education and Research Development last week, which was engaged by the Ministry, several of the materials of which Permaul spoke of were on exhibit. The exhibition which was opened to public education institutions and members of the public, showcased a variety of teaching materials.

“These books that we produce and distribute are very age appropriate…they are level and graded and the language is so simple, pictures so attractive and some are in game form that the children will be enticed to learn. We have books with as little as 24 words moving up to 28, 36 and 72 until they reach to the thousands.”

Many teachers at the exhibition, however, registered their ignorance to the availability of the materials at their schools, according to Permaul. “Some of them were telling me, ‘Miss we don’t have these materials, we never saw them before’.” As such, she emphasised the importance for teachers to familiarise themselves with the materials that are made available through the Education Ministry.

In fact she disclosed that parents of students can also seek to have the materials as well in order to get a firsthand view of some of the intriguing materials being utilised in the school system.

According to Permaul, the exhibition which was the brainchild of the Education Minister, Shaik Baksh, served to demonstrate the Minister’s passion to improve the sector.

At the recent observance of International Literacy Day, the Minister, in his address shared his optimism that, “we are making headway in the new literacy methodology we have embedded in the school system.”

The new literacy unit, he said, is mandated to ensure that it continues and that teachers have the tools to deliver the curriculum.

Moreover, he disclosed that activities such as a book fair and exhibition which were held as part of the International Literacy Day observance was in fact timely and should be sustained with collaboration from the National Library and be taken to each administrative region.

“We don’t have to wait until Education Month to do that. This can be a mechanism to sensitise, to make the communities aware of the importance of books and reading. I have had discussions with the (National Library) Librarian of how we can take the Library to the people.”

As such, he pondered over the thought of putting in mobile library units. “I would like to see each region, and all of the areas that need it the most, with one of these mobile units. I will have to cost it out and seek some funding for that.”

And in order to ensure that support would be given to the innovative venture, the Minister has since requested that NCERD work closely with the National Library, adding that there are resource persons employed at NCERD who are designated to address the concerns of school libraries.

He also emphasised the need for parents to play a more pivotal role by encouraging their children to read.

“Too many parents are not taking up their role to let their children know that they need to read more. This is one of the key ways to help improve the level of literacy in our country,” asserted the Minister.