To help out future generations, USAID invests to educate teachers ...

KARACHI:?

The importance of education is not only limited to students but also for those who impart knowledge. With this thought in mind, the United States aims to strengthen education roots in Pakistan by investing in higher education and teacher training programmes in the country.

Jo Lesser-Oltheten, the education office director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), shared these views on Thursday.

She was attending a ceremony where 155 students, who have enrolled into two-year associate (ADE) and four-year Bachelors programmes in education (BEd Hons), were awarded Rs20,000 each in the form of scholarships. The programmes are a part of USAID?s ?Teachers Education Project?.

USAID hopes that graduates of the programme will work as teachers at schools in their respective districts. It has partnered with the provincial government to launch them at 11 colleges and two public sector universities in Sindh, including the Karachi University. However, they are not only limited to Sindh, as 2,800 prospective teachers have enrolled in the ADE programme at 86 colleges in the country, and another 1,200 have joined the BEd (Hons) programme at 12 universities. Students in ADE programme will graduate by the end of next year, while those in the BEd (Hons) programme will graduate three years later.

With reference to the US government?s recent efforts in training teachers in the country, Lesser-Oltheten said that the US had always been committed to higher education in Pakistan. ?I feel that the focus [on teacher improvement] has intensified over the last couple of years, as there is a recognition that young people of Pakistan, if [properly] trained, will inform, instruct and inspire future generations.?

When asked whether the programme will continue once USAID?s collaboration with the programmes end in September 2013, Lesser-Oltheten said that the provincial education departments and the Higher Education Commission have assumed their control. She added that USAID was scheduled to launch another programme before September 2013.

Students? complaints

A number of enrolled students, however, appear to be dissatisfied with the state of affairs at their respective colleges and universities. Aazeen Islam, a student at Karachi University complained that uncertainty surrounded their future as the Sindh government has yet to announce a service structure for them.

?We do not have permanent classrooms to study, while the construction of a separate teachers? education department has been put on hold,? complained Bushra Asif, who has enrolled in BEd (Hons) programme at KU. ?We have to move from department to department to attend classes.?

Saima Shafiq, Mohamamd Fahad and Salman Ahmed, who have enrolled in the ADE programme at Government College of Education in Mirpurkhas, complained about shortage of books at their college?s library.

Lesser-Oltheten, however, is confident that reforms are in the pipeline and that graduates of these programmes will be hired in BS-17 or higher grades. She added that USAID will build teaching faculties for education across the country, with one in KU and another in Sindh University. ?These faculties will train the next generations of teachers,? she said.

USAID currently sponsors 36 Pakistani doctoral candidates in education at American universities, said Lesser-Oltheten, with another 60 doctoral students expected to soon follow them. The USAID official says that these students are expected to come back and join their alma mater in contributing to the standard of education here in Pakistan.

Provincial education secretary, Mukhtar Ahmed Soomro, was the chief guest on the occasion. He reiterated that the government would provide BS-16 and 17 jobs at public schools to the students as soon as they graduate. ?I believe that people will be surprised to find public schools with such highly qualified teachers,? said Soomro.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2012.?

Source: http://cnntopnews.com/2012/11/10/to-help-out-future-generations-usaid-invests-to-educate-teachers/

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