Thursday, November 1, 2018

EDUCATIONAL EXPOSURE








Educational Exposure for O/L students from Karukupane

The exposure organised was timely as the students prepare themselves to sit for the O/L exams in the month of December 2018. The students went to Jaffna on 24th and 25th of October 2018. As the students approach exams the tension mounts and most of them without dealing with stress find a mechanism to escape. There were 18 students from both Karukupane Tamil and Sinhala schools.
Objective Observe, understand and learn the various skills needed to face the exams, Stress and anxiety management and the coping mechanism,Enhance the knowledge, skills and techniques needed in answering the exam papers , Learn new skills to support the efforts from the students who potentially would score the best results in Jaffna, Create an atmosphere in order to cultivate future programmes and reconciliation.

The program was designed in resonance with the objectives of the visit. During the 2day program, the participants have visited various historical places that they have studied about in their history lessons and the schools that are known for their excellence. The students also interacted with the students who would secure the best results in their respective schools and in the district. The first day the students were given an hour of talk on motivation and goal and value-oriented life by Fr. Dilan Perera a Jesuit. The rest of the day was spent on visiting the historical places students were amazed to find the historical evidence of the Fort in Jaffna the history of which spans a few centuries[1] and the Nalur temple. Before the students retired for the night evaluation for the day was organised in order to enhance the lessons learnt and to answer their queries. The second day was very significant, and all the students looked forward to it. It was organised that the female students would visit Holy Family Convent, Jaffna and the male students would visit St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna. Both the schools are well known for their excellence and performance in education in Jaffna district. The students were welcomed warmly and were introduced to objective of the day. The students followed different methods to get themselves engaged in learning from their colleagues how their counterparts in Jaffna learn and study efficiently thus preparing for the exam. They were impressed how the students are prepared to face the exam with confidence presuming that they would get the questions that they have prepared. The second half of the first session was to place the students in small groups in order to make the interaction lively.  Mr. Stanislaus who had been in teaching career for 32 years insisted that their study methodology should give them self-confidence to face the exam. He also insisted to invoke the blessing of the Lord before any activity that the students get engaged in especially the exams. They students were introduced to various techniques to write the exam expecting the results The students at the end of the programme felt amazing about the exposure they had and felt good about having invested time and energy. All the students expressed that it’s their first visit to Jaffna and meeting with the students have deconstructed the prejudice that they had. They also felt they were treated well by the students and these exposures could be of some help in building relationships across ethnicity. They also expressed the fear they had with regard to Tamil – Sinhala divide but at the end of the programme they genuinely spelled out that there was no language or ethnic difference expressed. Apart from the objectives of the exposure they students also articulated that these programmes or similar programmes can foster ethnic harmony and reconciliation.
Kottapitiya Community



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