Saturday Apr 27, 2024
Saturday Apr 27, 2024
Tuesday, 10 June 2014 00:24 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Organised in collaboration with Neth FM, the primary objective of the seminar series is to guide both the children and their parents to meet this pivotal challenge in a holistic and healthy manner, enabling them to produce the best opportunities for their future.
The seminars are designed to prepare a child’s mindset for the unique circumstance of facing a standardised, national examination for the first time in their life, as well as coping with the pressures of post examination results. All sessions are completely free of charge and open for children islandwide. This year’s program will especially focus on reaching students in rural areas of the country with limited access to supportive resources and facilities.
Commenting on this flagship program of the Sampath Children’s Savings Accounts, Tharaka Ranwala, Deputy General Manager – Marketing and Business Development, Sampath Bank, said: “We at Sampath Bank are 100% committed to the development of the country’s future, and it is with this objective in mind that we launched the ‘Pahe Shishyathwa’ Seminar Series for the sixth consecutive year. It is important to stress that the series of workshops are not limited to Sampath Children’s Savings Accountholders, since this value addition program was developed with the aim of supporting all Sri Lankan children. The 2014 seminar series commenceed on 24 May in Kamburupitiya, and will travel across key provinces in the country with sessions conducted in Sinhala and Tamil.”
During each interactive session, qualified teachers discuss two model exam papers with the students, explaining how to best decipher various questions and how to develop effective answers, as well as tips on time management and ‘short cut’ methods to answering questions. These model exam papers are prepared by the selected ‘Pahe Shishyathwa’ seminar tutor panel months in advance to conducting the seminars.
Renowned tutor and experienced teacher at a leading school Sarath Ananda, who leads the formulation of the Sampath Bank ‘Pahe Shishyathwa’ paper, said: “I am proud to say that the Scholarship exams for the past six years have had questions and areas covered by Sampath Bank’s pre-examination seminar series, and it is a testament to the colossal effort extended by the entire team, including us tutors, to design the sessions and develop the mock exam papers.”
“We additionally use fun and interactive methods to teach the children how to face the exam paper, as well as cope with the pressures of the examination as a whole to better manage anxiety and fears,” he added.
Running in parallel with the children’s seminar at each location is a workshop specially designed for their parents, which advices them on how to be encouraging and supportive to their child leading up to the exam, as well as subsequent to receiving the results. Sampath Bank further supports the attending parents with a session on managing household finances, providing them with the knowledge to efficiently manage their children’s savings funds and family finances.
The ‘Pahe Shishyathwa’ Seminar Series has continued to gain momentum since its inception, with escalating interest and demand, resulting in an increase in the number of sessions conducted over the years. Furthermore, 2013 marked a significant milestone in the history of the initiative when the first seminar to be conducted solely in Tamil was held in Vavuniya, with the overwhelming participation of more than 2,000 students.
