PRESS RELEASE South Asian Centre for Teacher Development Meepe, Padukka

Enhancing Professionalism & Esteem, is the Best Respect and Gratitude that Can be Given to Teachers; Says, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Hon. Prime Minister and Minister of Education.

There are nearly 250,000 teachers and Principals who play a pivotal role in our endeavours to create ‘A Thriving Nation’, ‘A Beautiful Life’. The Yoemen service they deliver to nurture a future generation who are accomplished with knowledge, skills, and attitudes has not been adequately recognized, stated Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Hon. Prime Minister and Minister of Education, in a message issued on ‘World Teachers Day 2024’, hosted by the South Asian Centre for Teacher Development (SACTD) in Meepe-Sri Lanka.  

Reiterating her commitment and that of the country to uplift the education system, she further says that there is a need to look beyond a specific Day of felicitations, and take measures to uplift the standards of living and ensuring a satisfactory work environment, which has been a key reason for the departures of qualified teachers from the service and being non-attractive to the skillful youth.  

Secretary to the Ministry of Education Mrs. Thilaka Jayasundare too felicitated the teacher community and commended the Director-General and SACTD-the only UNESCO Category 2 Center in Sri Lanka, for taking initiative to commemorate the World Teachers’ Day 2024, with a rich programme hosted at its premises in Meepe-Sri Lanka on 5th October. It is the 30th Anniversary of the world event, since jointly recommended by the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1994.

The highlight of the event was the launch of a ‘Virtual Community Learning Platform’ (https://sites.google.com/sactd.edu.lk/virtual-com-learning-platform/home) adding value to the theme of the global event Valuing Teachers’ Voices: Towards a New Social Contract for Education.”

The Platform enable the teacher educators, mentors, and teacher community in the South Asian Region, to share ideas, pedagogical resources, pragmatic suggestions, experiences, and best practices. It further envisages to focus on promoting teacher empowerment through professional development, and cross-border collaboration in educational research, and setting standards for professional attributes of a teacher, which are the core mandates of SACTD.

The host of the celebration, Director-General of SACTD, Mr. Kamal Pathmasiri and the SACTD Officials were joined in person by the Secretary-General of the UNESCO National Commission of Sri Lanka, and a cross section of invitees representing University Academics, The National Institute of Education (NIE), Education Administrators from the Ministry of Education, Pre-Service and In Service Teacher Educators and, Principals of National Collages of Education and Teacher Training Collages respectively, School Principals and Students, and Private sector.

Among the experts joining virtually were Mr. Carlos Vargas, the Chief of Section for Teacher Development, Secretariat of the ‘International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030’ of UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, Education Experts and Professionals from India, Maldives, and Nepal, and the Senior Officials of the Permanent Delegation of Sri Lanka to the UNESCO in Paris

An open discussion enabled all participants, including the students to share their candid views on the challenges, and solutions to overcome them. A Song Composed by the President of the National Collage of Education in Kalmune-Sri Lanka added vibe to the solemn event. 

SACTD-Meepe, Sri Lanka

5th October 2024.