IB Asia Pacific Newsletter

Quarter Three, 2006

Projects

It is with great excitement that the Schools to Schools Program announces the launch of its first Early Childhood Care and Development Teacher Training and Accreditation Pilot Programme in Sri Lanka! Since the formation of the new team, STS has been working on putting in place new systems of operation, new staff members in the regions, and of course, brainstorming new ideas for projects, implementing them into the system, and after the generous contributions of member schools, watching them come to fruition and be executed in many ways none of us could have imagined.

The Early Childhood Care and Development Teacher Training programme is in some ways a development out of the sudden boast of new school and hospital buildings in the country, built by major NGOs and governments at extraordinary costs. A passerby could be forgiven for thinking that all is well with Sri Lanka. In fact, a number of donor initiatives are already coming to an end, and the world seems set to turn its attention elsewhere, particularly as the civil situation worsens.

Sadly, many schools only look like schools on the outside, while their interiors remain empty halls filled with bright-eyed children sitting on cement floors, awaiting knowledge. In other words, many have been left short of essential items such as vocational training equipment, furniture, books, etc. Even more of a problem, however, is the gross lack of training for teachers. Lack of training was an issue before the tsunami, but that has not been a priority of the NGOs working to improve post-tsunami education.

Nowhere is this invisible lack more distressing than with the very young. Preschools form a special group in post-tsunami Sri Lanka. Not only were many preschools completely left off the lists of buildings to be rebuilt, but the training of preschool teachers was never considered. As it stands, many women set themselves up as preschool teachers (Montessoris in the local parlance) and take children, even though they have no training of how to work with them and have only the vaguest of educational qualifications themselves.

The IB is addressing this need directly by initiating a pilot programme for training preschool teachers that will form the basis of a government sponsored programme of national accreditation. It has strong backing from all relevant ministries and national universities, who are well represented on our committee. Glynn Richards, Projects Manager, recently returned from a three-week long trip to Sri Lanka to facilitate this project. As the programme currently stands, there is a good deal more to do, but it is believed that with the tremendous amount of enthusiasm, extraordinary progress has been made in reaching a broad consensus on the way forward.

We would also like to congratulate Ms Kate Fuller, our Indonesia Regional Officer, for another successful send-over of Acehnese student, Azimah, to Trinity College, Melbourne, Australia, who will be sponsoring her education for the upcoming year. Ms Fuller’s dedication to these Indonesian students and her incredible work in Aceh, have strengthened our partnerships with our schools, and made the lives of many young people filled with greater opportunities and a brighter future. The support she provides these scholars goes beyond the logistics, and encircles both the mental and the emotional. What these students eventually see in her is not a mere officer, but a mentor and friend.

We are excited about the way things have proceeded and developed to this date and none of this would have been possible without the patience and support of many STS member schools, member corporations, our sponsors and partners, and of course, the wisdom and guidance of IB Asia Pacific Regional Director, Ms. Judith Guy.

Thank you for keeping an interest in our programme. We feel privileged to be able to share our work with you and hope you will keep tuning in to check on the progress of our projects. Should you have any questions about STS or would like to join our network, please never hesitate to contact us at projects@ibo.org, or call our office at 65 6775 2356.

Glynn Richards, Projects Manager
Han Nguyen, Projects Assistant
Email: projects@ibo.org

“Acehnese children have come alive. They are like horses galloping with full of enthusiasm and conviction,” Titan Putra Arian, a grade 4 student at SD29, aged 10.

Having worked in Aceh with such amazing and resilient people continues to put things in perspective and to affirm that we are working to improve the lives of many students and teachers. At a recent meeting with World Vision, the Director of Programs expressed to Glynn and myself: “In my area, people want to see houses built. There is a lot being done here, but what you are doing is far more important than any of that. You are connecting schools and people and informing people about Aceh which is so important.”

Glynn Richards (Projects Manager, IBAP) visits Banda…

It was fantastic to be able to show Glynn around Aceh last month, and to take the opportunity to visit the many schools that we have been able to assist thanks to the support of our partner schools around the world and the IB community. We managed to get to most schools, meet with Principals and teachers as well as take some video footage which will be distributed to all of our partner schools as soon as possible. Glynn and I had many successful meetings with FBA, Sampoerna, World Vision, UNICEF and BRR regarding assistance with teacher training in the future and student exchanges. Coinciding with our visit, Murray Scoble and his lovely wife Astrida, made their last visit to Aceh representing Sekolah Pelita Harapan. They donated t-shirts which were made by one of the students as part of the CAS program and talked about how the school would continue to work with SMAN1 in the future. Murray and Astrida have since made their move back to Australia and I wish them both the best of luck in their new ventures.  They will be greatly missed.

BINus visit their new partner school in Aceh….

Last month’s trip to Aceh was particularly rewarding as I was able to witness another partnership in the making when Elsie, Richel and Herry, from BINus visited their partner school SD29, taught several classes in Maths, Music and English, ran staff workshops and generally formed warm relationships with the staff, students and the school community. BINus provided stationeries, dictionaries, exercise books, teaching resources and a number of musical instruments. Elsie, Richel and Herry were extremely professional, motivating and inspiring and I have attached an excerpt from their report below. It was a pleasure to facilitate their trip and I look forward to working with them all again in the coming months.

“Please come back and teach us again.”

Thus pleaded students and teachers of SD 29, our partner school in Banda Aceh in the Schools-to-Schools project of the IB, when we were about to leave for Jakarta on May 24. From May 21 to May 24, Elsie Bait, our ECY/Elementary Vice Principal; Herry Rajasa, head of Music Department and I stayed in Banda Aceh to teach English, Math, Music and Science to students and teachers of SD 29.

The idea of joining the IB STS project came up when our ECY/Elementary Principal, Anwin Samsudi and I saw Kate Fuller, IB Indonesia Projects Coordinator, present about the program during a Primary Years Program Dunia meeting at Sekolah Global Jaya in November 2005. It struck us when Kate showed graffiti stating that Acehnese need knowledge, not money. So we raised the idea of getting involved in the IB STS project to our school board members and they approved it.

 The request of students and teachers of SD 29 for a deep well has yet to be fulfilled. The school does not have freshwater. Water remains a big problem in the formerly conflict-torn province of Aceh, where tap water smells like drainage.

Our Elementary 4 students, who explored a Unit of Inquiry on natural disasters, sent letters to express their sympathy and care for students of SD 29. Upon reading the letters from students of SD 29, our BiNus School kids were happy that they have gained new friends and they wrote back.

“If by chance you are in Jakarta, you can play in my house,” wrote Valerie Lidwina, Elementary 4 student of BiNus School to Siti Arini Sofia of SD 29.

“We are back studying and we want to move on with our lives. We want to rebuild Aceh,” scribbled Agung Ma’ruf, head of grade 4 students at SD 29.

SMAN2 Balikpapan Visit by Sekolah Global Jaya (SQIP)

Last month Ibu Popy and Pak Kevin ran several interactive and motivational workshops at their partner school SMAN2 Balikpapan. They focused on Methodology - i.e. the idea that teaching does not simply happen: that teachers’ need to plan student outcomes, content of lessons, and the skills and attitudes that should be developed. How this is achieved can be determined largely by the teachers and the school in setting the assessment- especially in the subjects of Geography and History. The second area addressed Cross-curricular links using the topic of ‘Early Man’. Kevin and Popy demonstrated how this can encompass studies in Geography, English, Biology and Maths as well as Art (painting studies of Early Man as seen in pictures). Saturday’s workshop dealt with Criteria Based Assessment and encouraged teachers to find out what students know/can do, not what they don’t know/cant do. It also dealt with the importance of using other types of assessment (aside from multiple choice), such as oral tests, case studies, discussions, debates, self/peer assessment and project work. Finally we looked at what teachers envisioned as a ‘quality’ classroom and school and how this could be achieved in the coming years with SGJ’s partnership.

Assessment Workshop IB….

On 29-30 May, thirteen Indonesian nationals from a range of IB World and Candidate schools underwent training to become trainers. Patrick Ritter, MYP Associate Manager at IBAP, invited bilingual teachers from all over Indonesia to attend. Ibu Vivi from our partner school BINUS attended the workshop and described it as highly motivating, interactive and enjoyable and a great progression for her professional development. The next step will be to proceed with the Assessment Workshop run by the selected trainers for teachers and principals from all our SQIP schools.

Bali International School becomes SQIP Partner…

We are very fortunate to be working with BIS in Bali, who will form a partnership with SMAN4 Denpasar. Although BIS is a smaller school, they will work with SMAN to establish links, form relationships between staff and students and provide assistance with teaching methodologies in certain subject areas. Curtis Beaverford (CAS coordinator) has been instrumental in facilitating the program and recently visited the partner school to meet with the Principal and tour the school. Many thanks to all the staff involved at BIS for taking the time to meet with me recently and discuss this service project.

Kate Fuller