DERC

The Dharmaraja Education Research Conference (DERC) seeks to be a platform which inspires the
establishment of a research ethos at Dharamaraja College and the wider school system in the country. It
envisions the emergence of a teaching-learning culture which is sensitive to current and future
challenges in primary and secondary education. DERC’s long term vision is the emergence of teaching
professionals who are able to apply practical and theoretical knowledge creatively and innovatively to
adapt and position themselves and Dharmaraja College at the helm of educational leadership in Sri
Lanka.

Through timely and contextually sensitive interventions to promote a culture of research among the
teaching staff of Dharamraja College and the wider school community in Sri Lanka. DERC actively
pursues backwards and forwards linkages between the school and higher education communities of Sri
Lanka to cross-fertilize both sectors and uplift the standards, knowledge and practice of the teaching
profession in the country. DERC actively seeks out opportunities, knowledge and resources to realize its
vision of positioning Dharmaraja College as a leading innovator in the primary and secondary education
systems of the country.

The objective of the conference is to promote education innovation and research to explore more
effective and contextually appropriate teaching-learning methods and assessments and evaluations
in the current post-COVID pandemic recovery phase in Sri Lanka.
In parallel, training of teachers in all aspects of education research and dissemination is addressed.
DERC 2020 will build collaborations with foreign experts to provide opportunities for teachers to
present their research and share knowledge with an international audience.

Dharmaraja Education Research Conference (DERC) 2018 was conducted in collaboration with the
Professional Collective of the Old Boys’ Union and the Central Province Department of Education.
The objective of the 2018 conference was to create an opportunity for teachers of the school to
showcase their educational innovations

Building on the success and experience of DERC 2018, this year, the Rajans Professional Collective is
organizing the second DERC conference under the theme of “Innovating Education to face the
Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
Participants are encouraged to focus on themes of education research advocated by the Ministry of
Education (annexed) while highlighting innovations suitable for the challenges of education in the
Post-Covid 19 period. We particularly invite research on adopting/adapting new pedagogies and
enhancing the focus of education to foster capacity building and attitudinal and behavioral changes.
A detailed document on research themes, training on research design and implementation and
virtual presentation skills will be made available for all conference participants
This year, wider collaboration and participation is anticipated. Official endorsements from the
Ministry of Education as well as the Central Province Department of Education and the University of
Peradeniya and the Postgraduate Institute of English of the Open University of Sri Lanka will
enhance the quality and recognition of the event.
The conference as well as the pre-conference training programme is conducted on a virtual
platform with resource input from recognized teachers from the Ministry of Education as well as
Universities.
DERC 2020 is scheduled to be held on 29 th October under the patronage of the the Hon. Minister of
Education.as well as high ranking officials from the Ministry of Education and the Central Province
Department of Education. Research papers will be classified and allocated to several parallel virtual
seminar rooms. Following the tradition of the first conference, the seminar will be open for a liited
number of student research papers as well.
All presenters will receive a “Certificate of Participation” and selected papers will receive
“Certificates of Commendation”.