A Year of Achievements at CERD

February 1, 2016:

It is a year of up grading the human and administrative staff and activating communication with all whether inside or outside. Dr. Oweijane's first year at CERD started and ended with continuous work and production. This work is going on and getting broader, larger as well as more extensive and productive.

This work covers many elements, most of which are the following.

The Workshop of Curricula Development:

• Implementing the decision of the Educational Conference “Learning for All” and in accordance with the project opting for digital, interactive Lebanese curricula, CERD has already completed preparatory workshops
• CERD is also revising the Philosophy and Citizenship Curricula in collaboration with “ADYAN” Institution.
• CERD has also launched the schoolbag books, Teacher's Guide cards and activities for KG3 in 3 languages. Arabic, French and English.
• In collaboration with UNICEF, CERD has launched the “Accelerated Learning Program” (ALP) by designing special curricula and books written specially for Syrian refugee students
• Regarding curricula and books, it is important to note that the National Textbook prices have been reduced by 30 to 36%

Researches and Studies:

• CERD has prepared a number of field researches to improve performance in Education in accordance with (R4R) (Research for Results).
• In collaboration with SKILD and UK the British council, CERD has issued “Students at Risk for Learning Difficulties”, a booklet about learning difficulties in public schools
• In addition, CERD has completed the study of Children Safety on the internet
• CERD has completed a survey study about “Using Digital Tools in Teaching (TICE) in teaching
• CERD has also completed the comprehensive school statistics and is going to develop surveys according to the needs in education
• CERD has also participated in official examinations by printing exam cards, e-mailing final results to all public and private schools, as well as printing the official students' certificates

Participation in Global and Local Evaluation Systems:

• CERD participated in founding the National Evaluation System (DNE) to assess the level of students' proficiency in the French certificates
• CERD also participated in the National Study (TIMSS), that covered 273 official and private schools all over Lebanon
• CERD participated, for the first time in Lebanon, in the national study “PISA”, through testing students in 410 private and official schools

Enhancing Continuous Training:

• ​CERD  is re-evaluating the On-going, in-service training procedures for more effectiveness and for determining and monitoring clear procedures to detect the needs of teachers
• Training on the integrated management of solid wastes
• Training on road safety education
• Signed with Reseau Canopé and the French Cultural Institute the project of “DEMARCHE QUALIT É
• Established a lab for sciences within the ESPACE EUREKA Project for teaching of sciences interactively.
• “Profle” project for distance training aiming for professional development of teachers of French as a foreign language is currently taking place
• In line with the Francophone initiative (IFADEM), 4 booklets for training teachers at primary level distance learning have been issued. These booklets have been  transformed into digital.
• In collaboration with USAID, workshops about the following topics have been recently launched: Provision of social and psychological support to teachers 
• Using ICT in learning, in collaboration with the American University in Beirut (AUB)
• Improving the reading level through a writing project
• Teaching the English language (TOFEL / CELTA)

In collaboration with the British Council, a number of workshops were conducted regarding:

• Employability Skills: Skills necessary for the workplace that should be developed and introduced into the curricula.
• Teaching Divided Histories (TDH): An innovative and scientific way of teaching History through projects.
• Shakespeare Lives in 2016: a school worldwide competition celebrating Shakespeare's legacy through teaching Shakespeare's plays.
• Connecting Classrooms: A global project for cultural interaction among students around the world.
• Merging the (scientific) content in Mathematics and Science in teaching languages to facilitate learning (CLIL)

Diverse Projects: