Meepe, Sri Lanka — July 2025
The South Asian Centre for Teacher Development (SACTD) – a Category 2 Centre in Sri Lanka under the auspices of UNESCO – proudly hosted a two-day dynamic seminar and skill development workshop from 29-30 July at SACTD.The workshop, facilitated by renowned educator and scholar Professor Emeritus Lakshman Samaranayake of Hong Kong University, provided the participants an immersive international perspective on the theory and practice of Problem-Based Learning (PBL).
Marking an important milestone of SACTD’s 2025 academic calendar, the Workshop empowered the participants with transformative and student-centric pedagogic approaches. Participants engaged in insightful discussions including the ‘Triple Jump’ assessment method, case study-based group activities, and presentations. An inclusive audience comprising nearly 30 teacher educators, administrators representing the Public and private sector schools, National Colleges of Education (NCoEs), the Open University of Sri Lanka, and the Regional English Support Centres (RESC) explored skills in problem writing and formulation of learning issues. The teachers, as change agents, practiced how to critically assess and adapt PBL in their teaching in the classrooms for better outcomes, including enhancing social connectedness, motivation and self-direct learning of students, which empower them to address the real-world issues.
Inaugurating the Workshop, the Director-General of SACTD, Mr. Kamal Pathmasiri, emphasized SACTD’s vision on improving the professional attributes, and skills of teacher educators in South Asia, aligning with the educational mandate of the UNESCO. More recently, SACTD expanded its collaboration to includethe private Sector international schools, he further said. SACTD’s objective is to promote the UNESCO’s mandate on teacher development and supporting the South Asian Region in realizing SDG 4. By incorporating PBL in the class rooms, teachers will be adapting student-centric learning approach Cumulatively, resulting in producing a workforce that can be readily absorbed to the economic activities of the country.
Prior to the Workshop, participants were requested to submit an abstract on how they would incorporate Problem-Based Learning into their teaching approach. Five participants received merit certificates and an award from Professor Samaranayake for their outstanding submissions. Looking forward, SACTD plans to continue to engage with the workshop participants and a post workshop webinar will be held in near future, enabling them to exchange their challenges and lessons learnt with the peers, via the community Learning Platform of SACTD. This post Workshop virtual follow-up is expected to provide required support for the teachers and educators in their practical application of PBL. The Workshop was coordinated by the Academic Affairs and International Relations Teams at SACTD.
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