The Ministry of Education and Higher Education launched today, Thursday, the "Activity Halls in Basic Education Schools" guide at the Curriculum Development Administration in Damascus, aiming to provide a unified educational framework that transforms multi-purpose rooms into interactive learning environments that place the learner at the center of the process.
The guide includes diverse activities targeting students from the first to the eighth grade, taking into account age differences and learners' needs, including those with disabilities, and encouraging interaction and cooperative work through projects and competitions. The guide represents a first version that is subject to development and expansion.
Part of the Approved Curriculum
Minister of Education and Higher Education Mohammad Abdul Rahman clarified that the idea began more than a year ago and is based on linking knowledge with values and behavior. He pointed out that these activities have become part of the approved curriculum, and that educational counselors will form a fundamental part of the implementation process as a tool for addressing individual and collective issues.
He noted that the nature of the activities will allow schools to propose additional activities that suit the specificity of each region, making the activity hall an educational space that can be utilized to address issues and problems facing learners and the local community.
Enhancing Cooperative Work and Positive Competition
For his part, Director of the Curriculum Development Administration Asmat Ramadan explained that the guide takes into account the variation in students' abilities and interests, noting that the activities are based on Syria's cultural and heritage legacy and support building the learner's digital identity and connecting them with their culture and society.
For his part, Director of the Activities and Protection Administration Hassan Hassan indicated that the guide represents a procedural reference that provides practical models for organizing activity sessions, where the time plan allocates 29 sessions per grade at a rate of one session per week, with activities distributed according to annual, monthly, and weekly plans.
Hassan clarified that the implementation of the guide is carried out in cooperation between the ministry, directorates of education, and schools. The ministry is responsible for determining objectives, while directorates work on distributing the guide and organizing training, and schools are responsible for implementing activities and involving students in planning.
Responding to Modern Education Skills
For his part, UNICEF Education Officer Yamen Mustafa presented an overview of the global framework for life skills, explaining that the activity hall responds to the requirements of modern education that go beyond knowledge transfer to building a learner capable of thinking and creativity.
Mustafa pointed out the link between the guide and 21st-century skills and social-emotional learning, which enhances critical thinking, creativity, resilience, and leadership. The guide is distributed across eight main areas: life skills, arts, sciences, environmental protection, legal culture education, digital identity, initiatives, and language skills.
The ministry had issued a decision on August 15 last year to allocate a multi-purpose activity room in each basic education school to enhance students' scientific, linguistic, mathematical, social, and value-based skills.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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