Page 21 - Hemas_Piyawara_Book

CHAPTER 02

Training for preschool teachers takes off

he need was dire. As the Hemas team travelled across the country on a This was a turning point for Piyawara as working with the ministry gave the project
Tfact-finding mission with regard to preschools, a factor that became clear was the recognition among the people.
urgent need to train the teachers who were handling little ones in preschools under
their care. In this major Public-Private Partnership (PPP), behind-the-scenes there is much work
before the training programme gets underway each year.
Often, these teachers, all women, were not paid a cent for their efforts but allowed to
charge “something” from their little wards but that was not much. They were mostly The ministry would inform the relevant local authorities – the Municipal Councils
drawn from the village itself – young mothers or girls who were about to be married. (MCs), Urban Councils (UCs) and Pradeshiya Sabhas (PSs) – and also the Divisional
Secretariats about the forthcoming training.
They set up their preschools wherever there was a little space – in a hut close to their
homes, in the harak maduwa (cattle shed) in their gardens to which the cows returned While the teachers are paid a 3-day allowance by the Hemas Group, its staff would
at night after grazing freely during the day, in an open area in the village even like a make all the arrangements which include logistics and board and lodging. These
cemetery or on the bend of a road. staff officers stay overnight with the teachers to ensure their safety and the smooth
running of the programme, with the ministry also nominating 2 staff officers from
While a few of the teachers had secured a Diploma in Early Childhood Care and the Children’s Secretariat to do the same. The resource personnel are selected by the
Development (ECCD), numerous others did not have a paper qualification. ministry, with all payments such as their allowances and transport and lodging costs
also being borne by the Hemas Group.
The first step before refurbishing or even building preschools was the training of the
teachers and so with the support of the Deputy Director of the Children’s Secretariat, Such close interactions lead to strong and lasting bonds among the different categories,
Jayantha Peiris, the Hemas Group organized an 11-day formal residential programme forming one big family.
in August 2002 in Malabe, a suburb of Colombo. Another who played a key role in this
nascent project was Prof. Elsie Kotelawala, Consultant and Advisor to the Children’s Launched in Malabe, in the years that followed, the training programme ‘moved’ to
Secretariat which was then under the purview of the Ministry of Social Services and Polonnaruwa, Hambantota, Jaffna, Trincomalee, Anuradhapura, Kalutara and Ella,
later under the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs. while others were held in Malabe. For all who were part of the 2015 programme in
Jaffna, the train ride too had been memorable with compartments booked just for
It was the first of annual training programmes that followed, which later were 3-day them and the fun and laughter starting on the journey itself.
residential programmes that moved from district to district, so that the teachers
experienced the running of preschools in areas other than their own.
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