Star Education and Leadership Initiative (SELI) has trained about 250 teachers in Plateau state on ’Promoting Learning in their various schools.
The founder of Star Education and Leadership Initiative (SELI), Esther Onyinyechi Mark, who spoke newsmen during the training programme in Jos on Saturday said the initiative, tagged Pages and Play Promoting Literacy and Learning Through Child-Friendly Environments is to equip teachers with 21st-century teaching approaches .
She added that “At Star Education and Leadership Initiative we provide services and implement projects that promote quality access to education for young people .”
” This is our fourth annual SELI Teacher Training Workshop and Our idea is to spark the curiosity of teachers and encourage them to go beyond traditional methods of teaching by incorporating play and literacy “.
The Founder of SELI added that “what we call pages and play “Pages” represent books and reading, while “play” brings in joyful learning,. “We want teachers to integrate both in their classrooms so that learning becomes more engaging, effective, and meaningful for children.”
In her words “We want children to be in school, to stay in school, and to love being in school. One of the ways we achieve this is through the services we provide ,such as building playgrounds and organizing teacher training workshops like this one.”
She added that over 250 teachers were drawn from over 30 schools across Plateau State.
“It’s a full-day programme featuring more than six speakers, panel sessions, workshops, and group discussions , all aimed at helping teachers perform better, grow professionally, and rekindle their passion for the noble profession of teaching.”
“We don’t want teachers to just teach because they stumbled into the profession. Even if they did, we want them to learn to love what they do ,to teach with passion and commitment. That’s why we have carefully selected speakers whose work and experience align with our theme this year.”
Esther Mark also said ” At the end of the day, when teachers improve, our classrooms become better, and the children benefit, Children begin to see reasons to love school, to attend regularly, and to stay in school, Because when children love learning, they grow into adults who contribute positively to society. That’s the bigger picture behind what we are doing today.”
She also stressed that “We made a deliberate effort to include teachers from underserved schools, as well as some from more established or “elite” schools.
” This mix allows for knowledge sharing teachers from different backgrounds can exchange ideas, learn what works in other schools, and collaborate to find solutions.”
” One of our goals is to build synergy among teachers to encourage collaboration, innovation, and curiosity.”
Esther also said ” We believe that if we can change the mindset of teachers, they can in turn transform their classrooms, adopt new teaching strategies, and inspire lifelong learning in children.”