Int’l teachers meet in RI for training

Hundreds of educators from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia and Mexico will join a training program in Indonesia as part of a multilateral initiative to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015, the government’s education chief says.

National Education Minister Mohammad Nuh said Monday that 320 teachers would be trained for 12 days from Sept. 20 to Oct. 2 thanks to recent agreements between the governments of the E-9, which is a group of the worlds’s nine most populated developing nations.

“The training underscores the vital role of the E-9 to meet development targets, especially those related to education,” Nuh said.

The combined population of the E-9 countries is more than 3 billion and accounts for 65 percent of the global population, according to the minister.

“If the E-9 succeeds in their efforts, the world will reach the MDGs by 2015,” the minister said.

The E-9 is comprised of Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, Indonesia, India, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan. Bangladesh, Egypt, and Mexico will send a total of 26 educators; the balance will be comprised of Indonesian teachers.

The training will be conducted at polytechnics in several cities in Indonesia, such as Bandung, West Java; Malang, East Java and Medan, North Sumatra.

Ministry secretary-general Dodi Nandika said the training would improve competence, as the teachers would be taught education management and skill-oriented programs for 12 days.

“Program modules will include teaching English to young learners, lesson planning in mathematics, science laboratory management, food processing technology, learning methodologies for social studies and other subjects,” Dodi said.

Hubert Gijzen, director of the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s Jakarta office, said improving teacher quality in remote areas of the E-9 was keys to meeting the MDG for universal primary education. (tsy)