Sunday School Teachers Certification Program
Objective
The primary objective of the Teachers Certification Program is to ensure consistent, thorough, and correct understanding of the faith, sacraments, practices, and traditions of the Malankara Orthodox Church in all Sunday School teachers of the South- West Diocese of America.
Details
This Certification Course is being conducted at the diocese level. The syllabus and a few of the lessons are already posted on the website. Rest of the lessons will be posted by February/March. The course ends with the final examination on the last Sunday of June 2012(June 24)
Enrolment for the course will start in January, 2012. An organized pattern of sending e-mail lessons and updates will be done at the diocese level effective January, 2012. We also recommend that review classes be started at the Parish level with the intention of ending by May, 2012. We will try to do online Seminars / tele conference sessions to assist with the final reviews.
Current teachers and any new teachers will have 2 years more to complete the certification from the year of Sunday school teaching. Grade 5th and higher should be assigned to the certified teachers after the initial 3-year certification period. Centralized examination centres will be setup in different cities of the diocese and proctors will be appointed to conduct the exam. Certificate of completion will be distributed from the Diocese to those teachers who pass the test with minimum 70% score. Candidates can retake the examination any number of times to complete the course.
The teachers certification committee under the direction of the Sunday School Director will take necessary steps to set the detailed guidelines, prepare the notes and materials per syllabus, work and coordinate in setting the question papers and arranging an evaluation process and generally be responsible for the conduct of this course and the examination. We will also be taking the help of North East American diocese in this certification process. The intention will be to make the learning process easier and simpler with emphasis on the teachings of the Church on faith, sacraments and traditions. The plan may be to allow the use of The Orthodox Study Bible as a basic resource during the exam and also reduce the memorization aspect from the exams and concentrate more on the understanding part. The program and the examination shall be managed and administered by the Diocesan Sunday school leadership under the control and direction of the Sunday School Director.
Downloadable Resources
The Syllabus for the Certification Course.
Downloadable Notes which can be used for preparing for the exam
Sanctification through Sacraments
Sacrament of Baptism and Chrismation