More News: GTZ BESP

As part of their countrywide response to the effects caused by the tsunami and following requests from the Government of Sri Lanka, GTZ , on behalf of the German Government (namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development) and UNICEF provided learning and teaching materials to a total of 21,500 students in 95 schools in Trincomalee district (12,700 by UNICEF and 9,000 by GTZ). The effort is a result of a well coordinated effort through the district subcommittee on education (under the District Task Force). In schools where GTZ has distributed materials like school bags, uniform cloths, water bottles and lunch boxes, UNICEF has supplemented with teaching material. In total, UNICEF has distributed 204 boxes with teaching material to 95 schools.

The function to mark the event was held at the Nilaveli M.V., a school which lost 32 students along with equipment due to the tsunami. In addition to the UNICEF and GTZ representatives and the school principal, the Secretary of Education, Mr R. Thiyagalingam, Zonal Director of Education from Trincomalee Zone, Mr. Thilagaratnmam, Mr. S. Varathaseelan, Director Planning PDE MoE and other Zonal Office Officials participated in the function.

The distribution of the learning and teaching material is part of the joint efforts to restore education for children in the tsunami affected areas, and it is expected that the school material will help the principals and teachers to ensure that all children return to the schools and other learning places.

Secretary of Education, Mr Thiyagalingam expressed his gratitude to both GTZ and UNICEF as two leading agencies in supporting education in Sri Lanka, not only following the tsunami.

Dr Gerhard Huck, Senior Advisor to the GTZ supported Basic Education Sector Program (BESP) expressed hope that in spite of the enormous disaster caused by the tsunami, the impressive response that has followed from everyone can be a catalyst for new opportunities and new collaboration beyond traditional ethnic borders.

Head of UNICEF Zone Office in Trincomalee, Gabriela Elroy, stressed that getting education up and running in an emergency situation is even more important than in a regular situation since in addition to ensuring that children do not miss out on their learning, it is key to help them regain their childhood and restore the rhythm of regular life.

While it was emphasized that the distribution of school material is only a small part of the UNICEF’s and GTZ’s total response to support the GOSL to recover from the tsunami, both organizations assured that they are continuing to support the GOSL beyond the reconstruction needs caused by the tsunami.

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Preparing students for living in a pluralistic and democratic society

Peer teaching of a Sinhala and Moslem student-teacher

Sri Lanka hosted a key Peace Event in the education sector this month at the Pasdunrata National College of Education in Kalutara where educationists, teacher educators, teachers and student-teachers from South Asia explored ways and means of instilling a culture of peace in school education.

The one-week international event dubbed “Promoting a Culture of Peace” brought together more than 100 professionals and practitioners in the field, as a continuation of previous activities such as the Literary Competition on Peace Education and Conflict Transformation, the Peace Link Ruhuna–Jaffna and the Peace Event in Batticaloa supported by the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

Panelists Dr. Akihiro Chiba, Dr. Lawrence Surendra, Dr. Jezima Ismail; and Seneka Abeyratne (from left)

The workshop was organized by the Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Education in cooperation with the GTZ-supported Basic Education Sector Programme (BESP) and the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) Korea.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation & Development, based on a bilateral agreement with the Sri Lankan government, provides support to a broad programme in the education sector which empowers children and adolescents with the knowledge, skills and attitudes for living in a pluralistic and democratic society.

As part of the peace event for the first time a sub-regional (South Asia) workshop with the theme: “Education for Democracy, Pluralism and Tolerance” was conducted for 30 teacher educators and teachers from India, Korea, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

According to GTZ senior advisor Dr. Gerhard Huck, this sub-regional workshop provided teachers, teacher educators and officials related to peace education programms with a critical conceptual understanding as well as practical teaching-learning activities of Education for International Understanding (EIU) towards a culture of peace. The participants have been familiarized with a teachers’ resource book introducing EIU concepts and methods.

“Participants in the workshop have thus obtained knowledge and skills enabling them to integrate themes and issues of a culture of peace, human rights, democracy and sustainability into their subject areas and schooling practices. The workshop also provided opportunities to interact with participants and learn more about current issues related peace education at the sub-regional level, to strengthen their networking for the future mutual cooperation at the sub-regional level and to develop their strategies and action plans towards a culture of peace,” said Dr. Huck.

As part of the event, there was a panel discussion on the subject “How can education promote a culture of peace?” with well-known Sri Lankan educationist Dr. Jezima Ismail; Dr. Akihiro Chiba, Visiting Professor, International Christian University Tokyo, Japan; Dr. Lawrence Surendra, Deputy Director of the UNESCO-APCEIU; and Seneka Abeyratne, Director of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process.

According to the event’s organizers, it became clear during the discussion that education through formal and non-formal activities can contribute to the implementation of new paradigms of Education for International Understanding. They included peace and freedom from fear and threats, understanding, dialogue, joint action, compassion, tolerance and conviviality, human rights, human values, freedom, gender equality, unity in diversity, participatory democracy, sustainable development & poverty alleviation & remedy of dividends, care for and share with weaker sector of population.

There are plans to organise follow up activities including another sub-regional workshop in 2005 in India in cooperation with Unesco APCEIU, Korea.

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Study finds new education culture emerging in Central Province

A recent study has found that a new culture of learning was emerging in the Central Province, thanks to interventions by education authorities and support from the Education Ministry’s Basic Education Sector Programme/Teacher In-service Project.

The study revealed this new culture of learning was characterized by cooperation and happiness of sharing ideas and materials. Also behavior changes of personnel, such as divisional officers and principals/section heads, who traditionally used to be more involved in administrative functions, have taken place. School families, advocated by the education reforms have been filled with life. The In-service Advisors (ISAA) who are most likely the key group of trainers have become more active, efficient and effective in guiding teachers.

This was revealed when the Central Province Ministry of Education along with the Teacher In-service Project - Central Province (TIP-CP), presented the findings of an Impact Study conducted to find out the developments in primary education resulting from project intervention, on 20th April at the Education Resource Center in Kandy.

TIP-CP is a component of the Basic Education Sector Programme of the Ministry of Education. It is supported by funding from the Ministry for Economic Cooperation & Development of the Federal Republic of Germany and is implemented with assistance of the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

In 2000/2001 TIP-CP conducted the Base Line Study on the Training Needs of Primary Teachers and Future Role of In-service Advisors (Primary) as a joint venture of the Provincial Ministry/Department of Education, the GTZ assisted Teacher In-service Project - TIP and researchers of the Department of Education, University of Peradeniya Kandy headed by Prof. Asoka Jayasena. The study found out that primary teachers in the Central Province were not teaching to the desired state of art, i.e. according to what is expected of them under the new education reforms. Based on a stratified random sample of 43 classrooms in 35 schools it was revealed that teachers applied learner-centered methods in only 11.6 percent of the lessons. The teaching-learning process was rather passive with little interaction between teacher and individual pupils, little positive reinforcement or attention was given to weak pupils.

It is after about three years of intervention by the TIP which had meanwhile become a component of the Basic Education Sector Programme (BESP) that this Impact Study was conducted in the Central Province based on structured objective observation instruments with the assistance of members of the Department of Education. The same 35 schools were visited. It is really encouraging for everybody who has been involved in TIP activities directly or indirectly to realize that learner centered teaching has become a common feature in primary classrooms of the Central Province applied by more than 70 percent of teachers. Likewise attention to weaker pupils has also risen significantly from below 10 to above 75 percent. This development is attributable to a great extent to the development and implementation of training manuals developed by BESP/TIP, especially the Joyful Learning manual. Comparative data collected from observation of teachers who have, for one reason or another, not been involved in the BESP/TIP training in the Central Province and in Wayamba Province are a reliable proof.

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Discussion of the findings of the Impact Study by panelists comprising from the left Mr. Sathkunarajah, Mrs. C. Semasinghe,
Mr. Muralidaran, Dr. S. B. Ekanayake,
Mr. Neumann

International Expert Meeting on Theory and Practice of Peace Education took place in Germany

Sixty experts from around the world met in February near Munich, Germany, in order to explore and discuss the opportunities and prospects of peace education in the field of development cooperation. Mr. P. D. Amaresinghe, Addl. Secretary Ministry of Human Resources Development, Education and Cultural Affairs and Dr. Gerhard Huck, Senior Advisor of the GTZ assisted Basic Education Sector Programme (BESP) participated in the conference. Sri Lanka’s activities related to peace education and conflict transformation were selected as one of four best-practice plenary presentations.

During the joint presentation Mr. Amaresinghe and Dr. Huck explained that the BESP supports the ongoing national education reforms in Sri Lanka. These reforms are largely focused on improving teacher supply and teaching quality by systematic upgrading of pre- and in-service teacher education. The programme also includes a peace education component for student teachers from the North and South of Sri Lanka. This component was initiated in 2001 with a literary competition on peace education and conflict resolution among colleges from the North and South in which student teachers were encouraged to compose stories, essays, poems and songs in Sinhala, Tamil and English. The competition culminated in a Peace Day on April 30, 2002. The best compositions were selected for Peace book that was published in 6300 copies in December 2002. Meanwhile it has been distributed to colleges, internship schools and libraries and is being used by student-teachers, practicing teachers and pupils. Following the competition, Peace Link programmes and Peace Events were organized, entailing visits among groups of student teachers and teacher educators from colleges of education in the North, East and South. The exchanges included visits to primary schools where the visiting teachers interacted with the pupils and staff, cultural performances and visits to historical and cultural sites of interest. The Peace Link programme activities have been covered by television and broadcast in both Sinhala and Tamil. A video comprising several episodes was produced and distributed to colleges.

During the conference the extraordinary significance of knowledge and education to managing the problems of the 21st century became obvious. Peace Education plays a decisive role in dealing with violence and conflict. Peace Educational approaches are gaining more and more significance to development cooperation. This is particularly true, when development cooperation takes place in regions of crises and conflict. Here, Peace Education is relevant in all phases of the conflict cycle, particularly in conflict prevention and post-conflict management. The demands on Peace Education vary depending on the historical, cultural and geographical conditions and circumstances. The underlying message of the conference was that Peace Education is possible, but that different conflict formations and conflict phases require different approaches. Dr. Huck argued that in the Sri Lankan context peace education has to include basic knowledge and skill development to enable children living in disadvantaged areas to catch up. Simultaneously conflict mediation should be a topic in all schools.

In the workshop Cooperation in Peace Education: Lessons learnt in Sri Lanka and Bosnia Herzegovina Mr. Amaresinghe elaborated on the National Action Plan. The plan has four components, i.e.

• Emotional integration, focusing on the personal level, especially ex-combatants (LTTE and army) and internally displaced people.

• Social integration, focusing on the community level and tolerance education.

• Intellectual integration, focusing on developing information on the causes of conflict, alternative outcomes, prevailing world systems.

• Operational integration, focusing on mechanism for power sharing.

Mr. Amaresinghe mentioned that the Ministry of Education is involved at the level of social integration. Activities planned for the formal, non-formal and informal sectors include:

• Children learning the „other“ national language (Singhalese children learn Tamil, Tamil children learn Sinhala).

• Learning English as a „link“ language.

• Establish schools where three communities (Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim) come together, teach some common classes in English.

• Educate about other religions.

• Appreciate other cultures through drama, getting television producers to add other language subtitles to their programs.

A "from the ground-up" approach is good in the initial phases, but support from mainstream institutions is essential for sustainability (for example, incorporation of Peace Education in pre-service and in-service teacher-training).

After the conference a visit was paid to a primary school near Munich to get an insight into school-based development. The visitors were impressed about the high standard of school management. Mr. Amaresinghe took keen interest in the way the school has developed a system of school-based conflict mediation involving pupils and selected teachers. He mentioned that such a system would fall in line with the National Action Plan of Reconciliation that has been developed in Sri Lanka with his direct involvement.

During a discussion at the State Institute of School Quality and Educational Research in Munich possible future cooperation was addressed.

Mr. Amaresinghe took the opportunity to meet the Managing Director of the German Development Cooperation (GTZ) Mr. Wolfgang Schmitt and other representatives of the GTZ to discuss possibilities of future cooperation in the field of education.

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Mr. P. D. Amaresinghe, Addl. Secretary Ministry of Human Resources Development, Education and Cultural Affairs and Dr. Gerhard Huck, Senior Advisor of the GTZ assisted Basic Education Sector Programme (BESP)

Prospective Teachers Learn to Live Together in Batticaloa Peace Event

The Peace Event Student-Teachers Learn To Live Together for 52 selected student-teachers from six National Colleges of Education (NCoE) took place recently at the NCoE in Batticaloa. It was a continuation of previous activities on Peace Education and Conflict Transformation organized by Basic Education Sector Programme (BESP) in cooperation with the Chief Commissioner of Teacher Education (CCTE) and the National Institute of Education (NIE).

This latest Peace Event has brought together Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim student-teachers with the intention of building confidence and creating opportunities to develop knowledge, skills, attitudes and values required to live and work in dignity and to participate in development. Out of 12 NCoE that offer Primary Pre-Service Teacher Education Course (PPTE), that has been developed with the assistance of GTZ/BESP, Sri Pada, Pulethisipura, Uva, Batticaloa, Alutgama and Ruhuna NcoEs participated after intensive preparations involving Colombo University, UNHCR and Fund for Local Initiatives for Conflict Transformation (FLICT) representatives. The student-teachers were selected according to set criteria taking personal traits, academic achievements, special skills in sports, music and arts. Further, teacher educators, several facilitators and resource persons were also actively involved.

The 2003 Peace Event on “Let’s Learn to Live Together”, commenced at the Batticaloa NCoE, on 27th October evening with an activity on Introduction. The activity was challenging for the youth with the language barrier which they gradually did overcome by using what ever the bit of competence they had in Sinhala, Tamil and English, and mostly it was English. It was a good start, in a relaxed atmosphere, outside in the college garden.

The formal inauguration of the Peace Event took place the following morning with The Chief Commissioner Teacher Education as the Chief Guest and the Add. Provincial Director of Education and Zonal Director of Education as Guests of Honour.

The week-long programme included school-visits, practicum tools, teaching-learning activities, field-trips, film shows in three languages, perceptual and reflective exercises and other creative activities in Sinhala, Tamil and English. The Peace Event was set in Batticaloa National College of Education in a supportive environment creating a community in which Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim student-teachers lived together in hostels, shared meals, and participated in numerous activities. Many of the participating student-teachers met fellow students-teachers 'from the other side' for the first time. They wrote poems, songs and essays. They found creative expression through music, drama and fine arts and prepared learning and teaching aids for primary schools and played sports together. All these intercultural learning opportunities allowed student-teachers to put peace-making into practice, both in the educational setting and in the wider community.

The daily schedule was designed to maximize the interaction of each Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim youth in intimate group settings. Through the medium of theatre and the arts, compassionate listening, critical thinking and non-violent communication were taught. Participants gained experience in dialogue and conflict transformation. They address issues of identity, stereotypes, mutual respect, equality in a democratic society as well as cultural similarities and differences. Role playing, reverse role-playing, collage, movement and improvisation were among the numerous tools used to facilitate learning by doing.

Creating a safe space, the facilitators allowed for the development of a deeper understanding of and compassion for 'the other'. The sessions were designed to create opportunities for the student-teachers to discuss the harder and more contentious issues and to learn the communication skills necessary to do so in a productive and meaningful way. In the process, the student-teachers were encouraged to expand their capacity for critical reflection and deepen their understanding of each other and of the conflict in Sri Lanka. Mother tongues (Sinhala and Tamil) were encouraged very much and English was used as the common language of the Event.

Visiting schools namely, Puthukudiyiruppu, Kannaki Vidyalayam and Eravur Tamil Vidyalayam was a very interesting activity which became a new experience for the student teachers. They exercised much creativity and imagination in their activities. It was a moving sight to see how the little primary children, who spoke only Tamil, enjoyed learning to sing Sinhala songs with actions in no time. Not only the students but also their teachers, and two student-teachers following the Internship Course, took part in the activities. In the afternoon, the student-teachers were engaged in colour-washing, painting and cleaning the classrooms’ furniture and compounds of two schools. Principals, a few members of the staff and parents got also involved. Such activities tear open the hearts of people for others and surpasses any elaborate political activity towards peace and harmony.

One other special event which was also open to all the students teachers, was the screening of the film "Little Angel" produced by Mr Somaratne Dissanayake. It was a moving film based on the 83 July riots that symbolically conveys the meaning that it is the innocent people who get caught in between a conflict and suffer the most. The little Tamil girl Nithyavani Kandasamy, who acted for "Little Angel" won the Sarasaviya Film award for" Best Actress for 2002".

For the final multicultural programme the Additional Government Agent, Batticaloa was the Chief Guest. The student-teachers took part in various programmes of speech, song, drama, dance etc. In one of the dance programmes, Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim students performed together in a very innovative and moving atmosphere. This programme was very much appreciated by the audience.

Most of the comments from student-teachers at the end of the event were positive and encouraging. Here are a few examples: “What I appreciated most was the involvement of multi - ethnic participants in groups.” “It helped me to understand my colleagues of other ethnic groups.” “There was no discrimination as Tamil, Sinhala, Muslim.” “All activities were full of joy and happiness.” “An opportunity was provided to exchange ideas through three different languages.” “Concepts were explained through games and activities and were organized in a co-operative manner.” “Through this programme we got a better idea about peace in our minds. We had the germs of peace in our hearts even earlier. But the opportunity we got to work together as Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims intensified this fact - that we are close in our hearts – though we belong to different communities.”

Planning for 2004 is already in progress to organize the next event within the ongoing Peace Programme of GTZ/BESP for student-teachers of all 12 NCoE that follow the PPTE course. The constructive comments received from some of the student-teachers and facilitators regarding organizational matters will result in an even more successful event.

Letter of a Tamil participant to the organizers stating
“I am lucky I got many nice Sinhala friends”

Highlights of the Peace Programme have been covered by Young Asia Television (YA TV) and resulted in several video films that have been screened in NCoE and on national and international occasions. The Peace Programme is also featuring high in a Memorandum of Understanding between the Unesco International Bureau of Education Geneva (IBE) and the GTZ. It will serve as an example of best practices during the forthcoming international seminar “Determining Good Practices in Education for Learning to Live Together” in Geneva.

Shirley Jayamaha, Dr. Somasundaram, Dr. Gerhard Huck, GTZ/Basic Education Sector Programme

Participants of the Peace Event in Batticaloa

Unfreezing activity to get to know
each other

Sinhala and Tamil peer teaching in a primary school classroom

Playing with primary school children

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GTZ Basic Education Network (BEN) Conference took place in Sri Lanka

BEN participants visiting Girhagama
Primary School

Education projects assisted by the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) have established a network to work together and exchange experiences. One of the networks is the Basic Education Network - BEN Asia comprising programmes and projects from Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Yemen. This year’s BEN Asia Conference took place in Colombo and Kandy. For the first time two projects from Latin America, i.e. Honduras and Guatemala and one project from Africa were also represented. The Director of UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education (IBE) Geneva was among the participants.

The Basic Education Sector Programme (BESP) Sri Lanka was the host. BESP is a project of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Education & Cultural Affairs, which is supported by GTZ with funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation & Development.

The conference was opened by the Sri Lankan Minister of Human Resources Development, Education and Cultural Affairs Dr. Kodituwakku, and the Secretary of the Ministry of School Education in the Auditorium of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Education & Cultural Affairs (MoHRD,E&CA). Dr. Rudolph, Head of the Education Department of GTZ Head Office Germany addressed the conference. Mr. Medagama, DG Education Reforms and Dr. Gunawardene, DG NIE presented papers on “Education, conflict and development” and “Need to learn to live together”. Dr. Braslavsky from the IBE Geneva elaborated on education for learning to live together, matching the focal topic of the conference “Education for Peace”. The GTZ Country Director Dr. Steurer and the Head of BESP Dr. Hirth also presented papers on conflict transformation and conciliation through psycho-social counselling.

After the first session participants traveled to Kandy where the Teacher In-service Project, which is a component of the BESP, was the host for three days. Initially trends in development and corporate policy and in the field of education were discussed. Afterwards Mrs. Byron (IBE) presented a paper on “Peace education, quality, and learning outcomes”. Another input with regard to peace education was given by Dr. G. Huck (Senior Advisor BESP) who talked about “Innovative approaches to education for peace - Experiences from Sri Lanka”. Dr. Riecke-Baulecke from Schleswig-Holstein, shared experiences on “Peace education in Germany and Europe”. It became obvious in the discussion that peace education is to be seen as part and parcel of quality education.

For working groups guided by resource persons from Unesco, Guatemala, South Africa and Sri Lanka addressed questions like “What is meant by peace education? How does it relate to quality? How do learning outcomes of projects relate to peace education in terms of skills, competencies, values and attitudes? How can impact be monitored?” It became obvious during discussions that peace education is to be seen as part and parcel of quality education and has to be incorporated in the curriculum.

Participating projects/programmes from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka presented impacts of their main products to schools in their respective countries.

Representatives of the GTZ Eschborn contributed to the discussion on the GTZ Business Plan, product development and product-oriented knowledge management. A new Monitoring Handbook was presented as one concrete sample for product development.

A new GTZ sector programme called “Promotion of reproductive health” was also introduced to the participants followed by a lively discussion.

One highlight of the conference was the visit of four schools namely Girhagama, Eeriyagama, Peradeniya Tamil V, and Kandy Girls’ High School. It was encouraging to see motivated pupils, teachers, parents, In-service Advisors and other educational personnel in their efforts to implement student-centered approaches and conduct a quality teaching-learning process advocated and supported by the BESP. A joint meeting with a round table discussion and multi-ethnic cultural programme took place at the Kandy Girls’ High School. Foreign participants who had never been exposed to this kind of multi-cultural programme commended very highly about the performance of participating pupils

The BEN Conference wound up with a review of BEN activities since the last meeting in Yemen and an outlook, i.e. tasks of BEN in the future.

After the official closing of the conference participants went on an excursion to the Dambulla Rock Temple and to Sigiriya.

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Peace link Ruhuna - Jaffna

“The German Government through GTZ has made some additional funds available for these activities under the motto “Let us learn to live together”. ”

The GTZ Basic Education Sector Programme (BESP) in co-operation with the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Education & Cultural Affairs (HRD & CA) and the National Institute of Education (NIE) launched a literary competition in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil, English) on Peace Education and Conflict Transformation for student-teachers of all National Colleges of Education (NCoE). Education for Peace is a cross-cutting issue of all BESP activities. This competition has brought student-teachers and teacher educators closer together in their strive to foster the peace process in Sri Lanka during the Peace Day at the NIE. As a follow up activity 50 student-teachers and 10 teacher educators from Ruhuna and Jaffna NCoE travelled along a “Peace Bridge” between Ruhuna and Jaffna from July 26 to August 2. The student-teachers were selected based on their general aptitude, academic performance, special talents related to culture, sports etc. The German Government through GTZ has made some additional funds available for these activities under the motto “Let us learn to live together”.

This peace link has to be seen in the context of other BESP activities like development and implementation of language curricula for NCoE. In cooperation with NIE the BESP has also developed an internship manual and has - on pilot basis - conducted training programmes at these two Colleges to improve the quality of teacher education. Therefore several interns of both Colleges were visited in their internship schools where they are based for their third year of pre-service teacher education. It was very encouraging to see that these interns had already become very active staff members of their respective schools. One could see that they are not exclusively at the receiving end regarding their relationship with Mentors and Principals but that they have also actively contributed to the improvement of the quality of teaching and learning. Visiting primary schools was an important part of the peace link. Student-teachers of both Colleges got actively involved in the teaching-learning process. Ruhuna student-teachers took the initiative and taught a Sinhala song to Grade 2 pupils of the Chavakachcheri Driburg College. Student-teachers of Jaffna NCoE reciprocated by teaching a Tamil song to pupils of Meepawala M V near Galle.

Mrs. Lakshmi Kaluarachchi, the President of Ruhuna NCoE mentioned in her address that she was so motivated by this Peace Link that she has decided to learn some Tamil. One could see her doing language exercises with her student-teachers on the bus while travelling to Jaffna.

It was very moving when Sasikumar, a second year student-teacher of Jaffna NCoE, who like all his colleagues from the North had never been to the southern part of Sri Lanka before, approached the organizers of the cultural show in Ruhuna asking whether they would permit him to sing a Sinhala song. He had come across this song just the day before and decided to learn it within 24 hours. His effort was highly appreciated and rewarded with a big applause of the audience at the Ruhuna NCoE.

The Jaffna student-teachers joined in the physical fitness programme of the Ruhuna NCoE which is accompanied by a video cassette from the NIE. The President of Jaffna NCoE, Dr. T. Kamalanathan was so impressed that he suggested to have a similar fitness progamme at his College with immediate effect.

Since a bridge might be more durable and steady if it is getting some additional support in the center it was decided to have a short pause between Jaffna and Ruhuna at the Girls’ High School in Kandy. Students of this school had already amazed the participants of the Peace Day at the NIE with their dance accompanied by a peace song that has even attracted the attention of the Director General UNESCO Paris during his recent visit to Sri Lanka.

This song and dance could be seen as a symbol for living together in peace and harmony which is the overall goal of BESP:

“The sun-moon symbol of togetherness.

How can this be divided?

Sharing is true living,

Sharing of our food, ourselves

Now will this be a land

Of scented flowers.

What difference is there

Between the coconut and the palmyrah?”

The Minister of Education of the Central Province Hon V. Radhakrishnan in his speech praised GTZ/BESP for their efforts to bring students, student-teachers, teacher educators and teachers of different parts of Sri Lanka together.

Highlights of the cultural performances at Jaffna, Kandy and Ruhuna were the dances jointly done by Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim students and student-teachers depicting the motto of the peace link “Let us learn to live together”.

Beside the professional links there was time allotted for experiencing places related to Srilankan heritage. Visits were made to the Jaffna Library, the Jaffna Fort and the island of Nagatheepam with a Tamil and Sinhala temple in the North and in the South the Galle Museum, the Anglican Church and the Martin Wickremasinghe Folk Museum were visited.

The Peace Link activities was covered by Young Asia TV team and some telecasts on TNL in Sinhala and Tamil are anticipated.

Special thanks are extended to the Chief Commissioner Teacher Education Mr. A. Ibrahim, the Presidents of the two Colleges, Dr. T. Kamalanathan and Mrs. L. Kaluarachchi and their staff, the Principal, staff and students of GHSK GTZ/BESP staff members, Dr. K. Somasundaram, Mr. S. Jayamaha, Mr. A. Abeykoon, Mr. M. Thambi, Mrs. P. de Silva, Mrs. M. Perera and Mrs. Y. Perera.

Dr. Gerhard Huck, Deputy Programme Manager BESP

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Programme Statistics / All GTZ Assisted Projects in Sri Lanka

2004 Design-host: Webvision Sri Lanka