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21 November 2005

Greater Cooperation between

INDONESIA AND SINGAPORE IN EDUCATION

Opening Ceremony of Train-the-Trainers Programme for

60 Aceh Teachers

1.                    The Ministry of Education (Singapore), Ministry of National Education (Indonesia) and SEAMEO Regional Language Centre (RELC) are collaborating on a “train-the-trainers” programme for 60 language teachers from Aceh to prepare them as Master Teachers of the English Language.  The programme is one of the items for cooperation identified in the Memorandum of Understanding on Education Cooperation between Indonesia and Singapore that was signed on 24 June 2005.   It is also part of Singapore’s assistance to Indonesia, in support of its reconstruction efforts after the tsunami of December 2004.

2.                    The 60 teachers, selected by the Indonesian Ministry of National Education, will attend a three-week course in English Language at SEAMEO RELC in Singapore.   The first group will start their course on 21 November 2005 while the second group will do so in January 2006.

3.                    The course, ‘Oral Communication Skills Training for Master Teachers from Aceh’, aims to equip the teachers with skills to train their own fellow teachers in Indonesia. The teachers will receive a comprehensive package of materials to support them in their role as English Language trainers in Aceh.

4.                    The Ministry of Education (Singapore) is sponsoring the “train-the-trainers” programme, developed by SEAMEO RELC.

5.                    Mr Chan Soo Sen, Minister of State for Education and Trade and Industry, who officiated the opening ceremony of the programme on 21 November 2005, said, “While the re-construction of the physical infrastructure is important, the key to the future of Aceh lies in the education of her people.  As such, the Singapore Ministry of Education has decided to work in partnership with the SEAMEO Regional Language Centre, to organise and sponsor the train-the-trainers programmes in the English Language for teachers from Aceh.” 

Background

6.                    The Memorandum of Understanding on Education Cooperation between Indonesia and Singapore, signed by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education, and Prof Dr Bambang Sudibyo, Indonesian Minister for National Education on 24 June 2005, set out a comprehensive framework for cooperation, covering collaborations from the school to university levels. These included school twinning programmes, teacher training and university linkages.