If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people – Chinese Proverb

“Nena Pahana” is an initiative of the Rotaract Club of Alumni of University of Moratuwa. We launched it with the prime objective of improving basic education and literacy of the young generation of the country. “Nena Pahana” mainly consists of a seminar series for O/L students in Mathematics and Science subjects.

A virtual seminar series during the pandemic

This year we selected “Diyalagoda Maha Vidyalaya – Maggona” to conduct the seminar series targeting the O/L examination of the students. With the pandemic situation in the country, we had to plan and initiate the project in diligent care. Most importantly, as the schools were closed for a long time period, this session series became a necessity more than ever. The project chairperson, Rtr. Nipuna Peiris initially contacted the Principal of the school and identified the requirements of them. Then we planned to conduct the sessions in a virtual platform (via ZOOM) as it is the safest and convenient way amid this pandemic. Moreover, we came up with a constructive plan to conduct the sessions more effectively. Above all, what we want is to sharpen the Maths and Science knowledge of our youngsters.

Carefully designed to meet the standards

The dearest teachers at the school were well familiar with their students. Therefore, we had a discussion with them to get an understanding about the students and their level of expectation. With the given input, we designed a paper discussion session covering the theoretical parts of the subjects. Two days prior to the session, we sent them the question paper which we expected to discuss. We wanted them to try and prepare for the questions before the session.

Finally, we launched our first session, on 5^th and 13^th of December. Rtr. Matheesha Abeysekara and Rtr. Shenith Dilshan contributed as the resource persons to the session. 

This is how it went, Nena Pahana phase 1

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Rtr. Matheesha Abeysekara started the session by giving them a motivational insight into learning and development. We were lucky to witness how the little ones being received a good learning experience through our session.  Rtr. Matheesha explained to them about the overall structure and the level of expectancy in the O/ L Maths paper. Furthermore, he taught them the tricks and techniques which would be useful to construct answers easily at the examination. Rtr. Senith conducted the second session. His main focus was to guide them through managing the time appropriately during the first paper. Moreover, he explained the theoretical aspects relevant to some questions in the paper.

We, being Rotaractors always value the free education that nourished us to conquer the world that we relish now. And it is our duty to guide the young generation of our country to become the best harvest of the free education. Therefore, we hope to conduct more sessions for Grade 10 and Grade 11 students in the future as well.

Content by Rtr. Kavinda Senarathne (Edited by Rtr. Odatha Bandara)