Principal’s Report –  Awards Day  2014

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful, All Praise be unto him alone.

The Chief Guest of the day Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa (First Lady of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka) ,Guest of Honour Mr. Jayantha Wickramanayake (Zonal Director of Education, Colombo South), Special Guest Mr.A.I.M.Zarook Khan (Divisional Director of Education ,Colombo),Distinguished Guests, Directors of Education, Principals of invited schools ,members of the School Development Committee & Past Pupil’s Association, Past and Present teachers  of the school ,Parents and my dear students, Assalamu Alaikum and a pleasant evening to all of you.

On behalf of the school community, I extend my heartfelt warm welcome to everyone of you, and at the same time,  thank you for having spared a part of your valuable time to be with us today to share the joy of this eventful evening.

The Annual Awards Day is a significant day much focused in the school calendar. The objective of this day is to recognize and reward the students for their excellent performance in the curricular & co –curricular activities and also to encourage and motivate the other students to aspire higher and do better in the future.

We are proud and privileged to have Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa, First Lady of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka as our Chief Guest today .Madam, we welcome you as a personality who has a vast knowledge about the importance of education and a great contributor towards the upliftment of the standard of education of the girl child and women of Sri Lanka. Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa is a professional in Child Psychology and Pre-school Education.

Her vision is the development of a nation and educate the citizens. Inspired by this she started an education system to build the nation. This vision gave birth to Carlton School which rapidly set the standard for pre-school education. 8 branches of the Carlton pre-school has been set up at present covering 3 Provinces of the country. Over 2000 students receive their basic education in these institutions. Honoured Madam may God bless you and help you to continue the yeoman service you render towards the nation.

We feel very happy to have Mr.Jayantha Wickramanayake, The Zonal Director of Education, Colombo South, as our Guest of Honour. The Zonal Director , Mr. Jayantha Wickramanayake has a long record of service to the development of education in this country. He is a great educationist with many degrees which has led him to success. As a professional he possesses expertise, innovative ideas and that has immensely utilized to improve the standard of Education of the Colombo Zone.

We also feel much pleased to have Mr. A.I.M. Zarook Khan, The Divisional Director of Education, Colombo South, as our special guest this evening. Mr.Zarook Khan is a very supportive personality who helps us much in many activities related to the school.

On this note of welcome let me now unfold to you a brief encounter of the school. Muslim Ladies’ College, Colombo 4 is the only National School for Muslim girls in the Colombo District and one out of the 3 National schools for Muslims. At present, the school has a student population of about 3500 students .There are about 140 teachers in the Tutorial Staff .The majority of students receive their basic education in Sinhala medium while others obtain their education in Tamil or English medium.

The school plays a vital role in moulding of the overall character of the students. Being one of the leading Muslim schools in the island, it provides the students varied opportunities while preserving the Islamic tradition and culture.

 

Performance at the National Level Examination held in 2013

Sixteen students have produced the very best results at the Grade 5 Scholarship examination and among them thirteen students belong to the Tamil Medium stream while three students represent Sinhala Medium stream. In addition remarkable progress was shown last year as 125 students have obtained more than 100 marks.

Among the 6 students who have obtained 9 A’s at the G.C.E Ordinary Level Examination (4 students followed the English Medium stream while one was from the Sinhala and one from the Tamil Medium). However, there were 5 students who have obtained 8 A’s & 1 B and more than 10 students have secured 7 A’s representing English, Sinhala and Tamil mediums.

In depth Analysis of G.C.E O/L results reveal a remarkable progress of all the students and more than 90% who sat at the G.C.E O/L are eligible to follow the Advanced Level in any stream.

When speaking about the Academic Excellence achieved by the Advanced Level students of the College , one student obtained 3 A’s in the Commerce English Medium while 5 students obtained 2 A’s & 1 B from the English and the Tamil medium Commerce stream. 24 students obtained high z-scores.

64% of the students in the Tamil medium, 40% of Sinhala medium and 50% of the English Medium are qualified to apply for the University Admission and pursue Higher Studies.

 

Redefining “Education” Beyond Formal Schooling

Education can be an engine of economic progress and a chance for people to transform and improve their lives.

The new strategy redefines the term “education system” to encompass all learning opportunities in a given society, whether within or outside of formal education institutions. There is no quick fix and no miracle except hard work.

Dear parent, the new strategy focuses on learning for a simple reason: growth, development and poverty reduction depend on the knowledge and skills that people acquire, not the number of years that they sit in a classroom. Learning levels that have been measured in many schools are alarmingly low, especially among disadvantaged populations. Of course, even in poor learning environments, most students acquire some skills from schools.

Strategies

Learning needs to be encouraged early and continuously, both within and outside of the formal schooling system.

The emerging science of brain development shows that to develop properly, a child’s growing brain needs nurturing long before formal schooling starts at age 6 or 7.

Improving education systems means moving beyond simply providing inputs.

There is no question that providing adequate levels of schooling inputs-whether these are school buildings, trained teachers, or textbooks-is crucial to a nation’s educational progress. Answer the key questions that shape educational reform. At school level we need to ask:

Where are the strengths of our school system? Where are the weaknesses? What interventions have proven most effective in addressing them? Are learning opportunities reaching the most disadvantaged groups? Are children acquiring the knowledge and skills that they need?

Dear Parents, school needs your support and co-operation in imparting knowledge skills and attitude.

Researchers have evidence for the positive effects of parent involvement on children, families and school when schools and parents continuously support and encourage the children’s learning and development (Eccles& Harold). According to Henderson and Berla, “the most accurate predictor of a student’s achievement in school is not income or social status but the extent to which that student’s family is able to:

1. Create a home environment that encourages learning
2. Express high (but not unrealistic) expectations for their children’s achievement and future careers
3. Become involved in their children’s education at school and in the community

 

At this occasion I wish to thank every individual who helped us in numerous ways in making today’s event a successful one.

On this note of gratitude I wish to conclude saying that your presence with us this evening gives us immense joy and pleasure. May Almighty Allah’s choicest blessings be upon all of us.

 

Jazakallahu Khaira,

Thank you.

 

Dr. (Mrs) J.M.K.B.Hajarjhan Mansoor (SLEAS)