RECSAM 50th Anniversary Coffee Table Book

16 The Eighties The nineteen-eighties saw the implementation phases of the Third and Fourth Five-Year Plan of RECSAM. All throughout the decade, RECSAM had accomplished a number of its programmes and activities in its effort to meet the needs of the SEAMEO Member Countries, particularly in the area of improving the teaching of science and mathematics. Highlights and accomplishments during the decade were as follows: • A total of 153 Training and Research/ Development Courses were conducted for a total of 2079 participants from the SEAMEO countries and non-member countries which included Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cook Island, Fiji, India, Mauritius, Nepal Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka. • Special courses were offered initially to the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture in connection with the project “The Improvement of Science and Mathematics Teaching in Secondary General School” and later to the Malaysian Ministry of Education. • For the fi rst time, the Centre conducted Research-Based Diploma Courses in F.Y. 1985-1986 with 11 participants for six months’ duration. The purpose of the programme was to provide practical experience in understanding and doing research so that the participants would be able to undertake small-scale researches suited to their circumstances and resources. • The decade saw the inclusion of the topic on computers in several courses which was sometimes reluctantly accepted by participants due to its low relevance to their course objectives and of little use to their jobs at home. However, towards the end of the decade, courses on the use of computers in education were in demand at the Centre.