Madurai :

A 16-member team from Singapore is in the city to participate in a two-week programme to hone their Tamil teaching skills. Apart from attending several sessions in the American College here, 14 high school teachers and two officials will visit seven educational institutions to learn about Tamil teaching methods and also share teaching methods in their country.

“English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil are official languages of Singapore. Our government promotes learning of mother tongue as it ensures that students are aware of their culture and tradition. Equal opportunities are given to all languages in the country,” said N Subramaniam, chief instructor of Tamil teachers under the Singapore education ministry. He was addressing the inaugural session of the event on Monday.

The objective of our visit is to brush up grammar and literature of Tamil. We will be imparting what we learn here to fellow teachers once we are back in Singapore, Subramaniam said.V Iraianbu, commissioner in the economics and statistics department of Tamil Nadu government, pointed out that mother tongue comes from heart, while languages that we learn are used at the mind level. Iraianbu apprised the visiting delegation about the importance of Tamil.

“It is important to learn the nuances of Tamil which has a rich literary history and culture. Ancient Tamil literature reflects society’s affinity to nature as early Tamils lived in harmony with nature,” he noted, while advising the Singaporean teachers to read more of Tamil literature as proficiency comes with practice. Tamil teachers from Singapore will visit Lakshmi School, Veerapanchan; OCPM Girls HSS, Capron Hall School, Madura College HSS; and TVS Lakshmi school in the city. The delegation will also visit St Peter’s School in Kodaikanal. Thiagarajar School of Preceptors, a BEd college in Madurai, is also on their itinerary.

Interacting with media persons at the sidelines of the meeting, Subramaniam said they will concentrate on learning as well as co-teaching in the schools so that they learn the teaching methods of Tamil. “It will be mutual where we learn and share our teaching pedagogy with the local teachers here,” he said.

The overseas delegation will focus on contemporary Tamil teaching. “Now, teaching is more student- and technology-oriented. Short films made in Tamil is one such example, he pointed out.

Eminent personalities from the field of Tamil art and literature will take technical sessions for the visiting teachers.

M Davamani Christober, principal of American College, presided over the inaugural session.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai> Teachers / TNN / November 12th, 2013