The Low Status Of Primary Teacher Education Courses

The low status of primary education among prospective primary education teachers is further signaled by the admissions criteria to teacher training courses. Able young people with GCE A Level passes in mathematics and science are denied access to colleges of education for the three year diploma course in primary education.

Although education officials prefer to describe the admission criterion in a more positive way - ‘only arts A Level students may apply’ - the net result is the same. Mathematics and science GCE A Level holders generally considered to be more able than arts A Level students, receive a clear message. If they wish to consider teaching as a career and wish to apply to a college of education, they must apply for post-primary courses.

Professional qualifications in primary education were attained through a non-graduate qualification route, through the teacher training colleges, and, more recently, as noted above, through the colleges of education and distance-education programmers. In 1997, eleven teacher training colleges and eight colleges of education offered training in primary education .The National Institute of Education established a B.Ed. in primary education in the Sinhala-medium in the late 1980s, and in the Tamil-medium in the mid-1990s. To date none of the universities has elevated the study of primary education to degree status (B.Ed.). The absence of university graduate status for primary education courses reinforces its inferior status.

Teacher Education and Primary Education Methodology

The teacher education system itself is not designed to promote skills in teaching methodology. Very few of those employed in the colleges of education and teacher training colleges as lecturers in primary education methodology have experience of teaching in primary classes. In a study of 48 lecturers in primary education from these colleges, only 8.3 per cent had experience of teaching at the primary level Such lecturers are reluctant to gain experience of teaching in the 28 Primary Education Reform in Sri Lanka primary classroom. Teachers for the primary classes are being trained by persons who themselves do not have experience at that level