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| Sunday, 6 February 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Sort, set and shine by Ranga Kamaladasa The bell rings announcing the beginning of another school day. Students, spick and span in their fresh uniforms and polished shoes, rush to the gate, eager to begin their lessons. Excited chatter and impatient footfalls reverberate as they rush towards their respective classrooms.
A sea-change is taking place in the school system, with the introduction of the 5 'S' system. And though Ananda College is not the first school to start the 5 'S' system, it is one of the leading schools to have successfully put it into action. From keeping the classrooms, staffrooms, libraries, computer labs and schoolyards perfectly organised, clean and systematic the 5 'S' system has extended its serene and humble conventional Japanese way of life to this educational institute. Everywhere in the primary schoolyard signs are posted to guide anyone unfamiliar with the school surroundings to the place they want to go. Every classroom has three waste baskets; one for used paper where they send the paper for recycling, one for organic waste where they're trying to use it for compost and one for plastics where they're trying to reduce the amount of plastics brought by the students. Every path in the primary section is divided into two, showing people which side of the road they should walk. "It's so easy using the stairs because the staircase is divided into two. When climbing up we go on one side, and when coming down we choose the other side, so we don't bump into each other," says Shanka, a grade 4 student. Little Shanka was also thrilled about his Classroom. "Everyone has a place to keep his school bag. So now we don't have to fight over where to keep the bags, and also our chairs and tables don't get crowded with our bags." Ravindu, his classmate was mostly impressed about the fans and lights. "All the fans and lights have stickers on them, so we don't have to switch on every other switch before finding the right switch." "All our books are kept in one cupboard in the order of our index numbers and the subjects are divided using different colours. So it's very easy to spot our books." says Chamika, another one of Shanka's friends who eagerly joined in the conversation. The children are not the only ones full of praise over the 5 'S' affair. The teachers are also showing great enthusiasm for the whole project. As they've found out, this way of showing students to keep things organised, as well as being organised themselves, have led to more harmonious and productive approach to teaching. "The effectiveness has definitely increased. Everybody gets their share of responsibility, so working in this environment is really easy. As teachers we need only to guide our students if they're doing something wrong." says Mrs. Katulanda. Even small tasks such as cleaning the blackboard, keeping the cupboard neatly according to 5 'S', organising work for the next day, and watering the flowers are given to students on a rotating shift. "There's a cleaning roster that keeps students active and aware of their surroundings. But basically it's not about cleaning or the work, it's about children taking responsibility." She adds that many children who let their parents do their work at home are quite happily doing these little chores at school because of the satisfaction it gives them. But that's not all. Small groups are formed inside classrooms and leaders are being assigned different tasks, within the group itself, giving a chance for a lot of children to take responsibilities, even if it's just something like cleaning the blackboard or counting the students who are present. "If we find a child who is slow and backward, we give him small tasks first", she explains further. "Then when he is prepared, we take him step-by-step to the next level. I think in this way we can train students far better than the normal system." The masterminds of this 5 'S' project are the school's Old Boys. The project proposed by Prabath Ambegoda and the '83 group of Ananda College was chaired by the Principal, B. A. Abeyrathne and Mrs. Ranasinghe, Head of the Primary section. "When we learned that premier institutions and organisations have implemented this, we were very much looking forward to implementing this to our school," says Mrs. Ranasinghe. "Besides, education is a deciding force in a country, - and students are the future of this country - starting something like this here would be all the more appropriate." As Mrs. Ranasinghe points out there had to be a lot of research and planning done. They visited St. Joseph's College in Gampola and the Castle hospital for women, as these have been renown for their implementation of the 5 'S'. The whole primary section staff of Ananda College had also been through a one-day workshop in the Sri Lanka Institute of Development and Administration (SLIDA) where they learned the basics of 5'S'. The children had also attended a workshop of dramas and other activities concerning 5 'S'. "Then it was the hard part. Seiri, We had removed all the unwanted items and we had to plan our school anew." says Mrs. Ranasinghe. "We couldn't have done it without the help of the parents. They worked a lot and some of them were exhausted after we completed the whole thing." She also mentioned with gratitude Thilakasiri of SLIDA, former principal Tissera, of St John's College and Lal Fonseka who gave their full support. "I think this is a great system because children get to grow up with a sense of tidiness and cleanliness. If they catch this structure early in their lives, they'll really earn a plus point here." she finally added. The Japanese 5 'S' concept is only one of many oriental philosophies which has been known to the Eastern countries for ages past. As this example clearly illustrates, benchmarking these philosophies into the day-to-day chores is definitely productive and worthwhil. **** A Quick look at the 5 "S" 1. Seiri - Sort -Remove Unwanted 2. Seiton - Set -A Place for Everything. 3. Seiso - Shine -Clear Everything Regularly 4. Seikutsu - Standardize -Visual Control Management and Standardization 5. Shitsuke - Sustain -Training, Discipline and creating a 5 'S' culture with the help of everyone. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Another school day has begun. But at the Primary Section of Ananda
College, Colombo, there is nothing ordinary about the day. There is much
more happenings here to make the students excited, enthusiatic and
impatient. For starters they've got a lot to do, and they've got a lot of
procedures to follow. But that's not half the fund. The real thrill is in
the sense of responsibility vested on them. This makes them feel useful,
important and almost adult-like.
