The Inaugural conference of the International Forum for Teachers (IFT) under the theme Teacher The Life Changer jointly organised by Pearson Edexcel, the University of Nottingham and the Gateway Graduate School was held at the BMICH on Saturday.

According to the organisers of the event, the mission of IFT is to generate quality teachers, through global partnership.

The International Forum for Teachers will be held annually and will be open to all teachers. A panel of eminent international speakers with expertise in the field of education, graced the event.

Minister of Education Akila Viraj Kariyawasam stated that broad steps have been taken to transform the present education system, introducing some salient features in the system. He stated that the current challenges are to improve quality relevance and effectiveness in education and ensure smooth transition to do higher education without G. C. E. O/l qualification – and then by entering in to the world of work, with added qualification and accreditation .

“To facilitate this, we have introduced 13 years schooling to ensure that no child will be left behind”, said the Education Minister who pointed out that for these initiatives focus needs to be on quality teachers and quality teacher training programmes. And within next five years the goal of not sending untrained teachers to a classroom will be reached once the educational reforms come to fruition.

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