The Department offers a Post Graduate Diploma in Education for those who successfully completes necessary requirements.
The course is conducted under two defined formats as follows-
- Full- time course (duration one year).
- Part-time self-financed week-end course (duration 18 months).
1. Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Full-Time)
The candidates are selected by the Ministry of Education and they are sent to the Department as full time students on full pay study leave for one year.
2. Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Week-End)
The students are selected by the Department of Education through a competitive examination and an interview.
Entry Requirements
The candidates have to be graduates with teaching experience to enroll in the course. For the full-time course, candidates are selected by the Ministry of Education and they are sent to the Department as full-time students on full- pay study leave.
The second category of students are selected by the Department of education, Faculty of Arts, through a competitive examination and an interview.
One credit point is equivalent to 15 hours of lectures. A candidate has to obtain 32 credits in order to qualify for the Post Graduate Diploma in Education Certificate. In addition the following requirements also have to be fulfilled.
| Part- dissertation | minimum grade C+ |
| Research methodology | minimum grade C |
| Basic computing | minimum grade C |
| Basics in English Language | minimum grade C |
Syllabus under the course unit system
Course Structure
Compulsory Courses
PDE 501 Education Administration and Policy Studies 45 hours – 3 credits
PDE 502 Sociology and Education 45 hours – 3 credits
PDE 503 Comparative and International Education 45 hours – 3 credits
PDE 504 Educational Measurement and Evaluation 45 hours – 3 credits
PDE 505 Educational and Developmental Psychology 45 hours – 3 credits
PDE 506 Philosophy and Principles of Education 45 hours – 3 credits
PDE 507 Instructional Methodology: (4 credit points)
There are 2 sections under Instructional Methodology. Section 1 is compulsory. From section 2 , students have to select 2 courses.
Section 1 : General Methods 30 hours – 2 credit
Section 2 : Special Methods of Teaching 15 hours x 2 subjects – 2 credits
Subjects offered under section 2
PDE 508 Science and Technology
PDE 509 Mathematics
PDE 510 Biological Science
PDE 511 Sinhala
PDE 513 History
PDE 514 Buddhism
PDE 515 Economics
PDE 516 Primary Methods
PDE 517 Business Studies and Accounting
PDE 518 Aesthetic and Fine- Arts
PDE 548 Citizenship Studies
PDE 549 Health and Physical Education
PDE 550 English
PDE 551 Life Skills
PDE 552 Geography
PDE 553 Teaching ICT in Schools
Optional Courses
60 hours – 4 credits
There are 7 groups listed under optional courses. Each optional course has 2 subject courses. A student has to select four subject courses from among any four of the 7 optional groups.
Altogether a student has to collect 4 credit points from the optional group.
| Group 1 | |
| PDE 519 Managing learning in schools | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 520 Professional development and teacher appraisal | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| Group 2 | |
| PDE 521 Sociology of schools | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 522 Social stratification, social problems and education. | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| Group 3 | |
| PDE 523 Education and the development of nations. | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 524 Development of education in Sri Lanka. | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| Group 4 | |
| PDE 525 Educational evaluation procedures, models and methods. | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 526 Educational and psychological testing | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| Group 5 | |
| PDE 527 Principles and methods of educational and psychological guidance and counseling of children and youth. | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 528 Educational and social context of psychological development | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| Group 6 | |
| PDE 529 Modernity and Post Modernity in social thought and education. | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 530 A comparative study of educational thought in the West and East. | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| Group 7 | |
| PDE 531Designing curriculum and instruction for creativity, and critical thinking. | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 532Evaluation issues in curriculum and teaching. | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| Electives | 30 hours – 2 credits |
| Students have to select 2 courses out of 10 electives. | |
| PDE 533 Environmental education | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 534 Advanced statistics | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 535 Special education | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 536 Population education | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 537 Moral and Peace education | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 538 Life long education | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 539 Early childhood education | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 540 Gender and education | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 541 Curriculum development | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 542 Educational technology | 15 hours – 1 credit |
| PDE 543 Teaching Practice | 60 hours – 4 credits |
| PDE 544 Research in Education | 15 hours – no credit |
| PDE 545 Basic Computing | 30 hours – no credit |
| PDE 546 Basics in English Language | 30 hours – no credit |
| PDE 547 Part -dissertation ( Students have to obtain 50 marks or above for a pass) |
Course Evaluation and award of Diploma in Education
The compulsory (PDE 501, PDE502, PDE503, PDE504, PDE505, PDE506) courses will be evaluated in several ways as follows.
Assignment and In- class Quizzes 20%
Mid-semester Examination 20%
Final Examination 60%(The written assignment will bee limited to about 2500 words)
PDE 543 Teaching PracticeTeaching Practice is a compulsory component of the course. Students will be assigned to a few selected schools within the vicinity of the University. They are expected to teach 10 hours per week for 10 weeks under the guidance and supervision of two supervisors appointed by the Department. Practical classes will be followed by discussion classes. Prior to teaching practice period students will participate in demonstration lessons and discussion groups under the guidance of the staff. They will be evaluated by two examiners.
PDE 547 Part – dissertation
Part – dissertation is a compulsory component of the course. Ten lectures in research methodology will be provided during the 1st and 2nd semesters. Students have to submit a part-dissertation of 15000 to 20000 words based on a research conducted by them. Students have to score 50 marks or above for a pass.
PDE 544 PDE545, PDE 546 These courses are compulsory and are offered on a pass/ fail basis and carry no credit points.Based on the standard achieved under different components of the course students will be given the following grades:
Course Grade Guide
| Marks | Grade | Minimum Grade | Comments | |
| Point | ||||
| 100-80 | A | 4 | Superior | |
| 79-70 | A- | 3.7 | ||
| 69-65 | B+ | 3.3 | Good | |
| 64-60 | B | 3.0 | ||
| 59-55 | B- | 2.7 | ||
| 54-50 | C+ | 2.3 | Pass | |
| 49-40 | C | 2.0 | ||
| 39-30 | D | 1.0 | Fail | |
| 29-0 | E | 0 | ||
Candidates who fail to obtain at least a grade of ‘C’ in a particular component has to repeat the subject when it is offered next.
The final grade (Grade point average -GPA) will be a weighted average of the number of credits of the subject and the grade point. The calculation of GPA will be based on the following formula.
Where Ci is the number of credits of the i th subject and Gi is the grade point obtained for i th subject.
The GPA necessary to qualify for the distinction pass – 3.7 or above
The GPA necessary to qualify for the merit pass – 3.0 to 3.699
The GP A necessary to qualify for the ordinary pass – 2.0 to 2.99