SEAMEO TRAINS CORE GROUP OF MLE EDUCATORS

With the increased worldwide recognition of the importance of mother-tongue based education, SEAMEO and the World Bank are collaborating on a project that will sustain awareness and build capacities of a core group of educators in establishing multi-lingual education programs in Southeast Asia.

The project entails developing the competencies of a core group of trainers from SEAMEO member countries to train others in adapting curricula and developing materials for use of non-dominant languages in instruction.

SEAMEO INNOTECH is taking the lead in this training of trainers workshop scheduled from August 23 to September 01. The Center is joined by the SEAMEO Secretariat and two other SEAMEO Centers in its conduct—the Regional Center for Quality Improvement of Teachers (QITEP) in Language, and the Regional Center for Archaeology and Fine Arts (SPAFA).

Participants in the training include representatives from the Ministries/Department of Education of SEAMEO member countries, SEAMEO Regional Centers, and selected education institutions.

Part of the workshop activities is the review of multilingual policies, practices and programs in the region. Also included is the development of the framework for multilingual curriculum development, as well as plans for social mobilization and advocacy.

At the end of the training, the participants are expected to have acquired skills in monitoring, evaluating, and documenting mother tongue-based multilingual education (MLE) programs. They should have also gained knowledge and skills in orthography development, and have formulated strategies and approaches in producing teaching-learning materials for use of non-dominant languages in instruction.