Today, on May 11th, 2023, in the presence of the UoR president, Asst. Prof. Dr. Paiman R. Ahmed, director of the UoR's research center, Asst. Prof. Dr. Jamal Ali, as well as a number of the UoR lecturers and students, college of Education's department of English held a national symposium entitled 'the Status of English Language Teaching in State Schools'.

   The symposium began with the speech of Asst. Prof. Dr. Paiman R. Ahmed, and then the deanary speech of College of Education was given by Asst. Prof. Dr. Hawraz Q. Hama. Later that, Asst. Prof. Dr. Nawzad H. Qadir delivered the speech of the English department.
   The symposium was divided into two panels. The first one was chaired by Asst. Prof. Dr. Salih I. Ahmed, and the second one was chaired by Dr. Fatima H. Pirot. The following seminars were given during the two panels of the symposium. 
 
1- 'The Authenticity of 'Sunrise' Programme for High Schools in Kurdistan Region' by Prof. Dr. Himdad A. Muhammed
2- 'Challenges of Teaching and Learning Speaking Skill in High Schools' by Asst. Prof. Dr. Paiman Z. Aziz
3- 'Global Framework of Professional Teaching Standards' by Asst. Prof. Dr. Hawraz Q. Hama
4- 'Teaching English for Grades: Exploring the Reasons, Consequences, and Recommendations' by Asst. Lect. Soran M. Kurdi
5- 'Testing in 'Sunrise' Program' by Asst. Lect. Gharib B. Hussein
 
   At the end, the symposium attendants took part in a discussion, closing remarks and recommendations. The participants of the symposium were awarded certificates of appreciation at the end.
 
Translated by Rasul H. Rasul