Oxford University to begin first-ever training for Pakistani teachers

LONDON/OXFORD: The University of Oxford has signed a landmark contract with the Malala Fund to support Pakistani non-government organisation Durbeen in training teacher-educators in Pakistan through a programme that is the first of its kind in South Asia, renowned rockstar and education reforms campaigner Shehzad Roy said.

In an interview at the university in London, Roy thanked Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousufzai for her efforts in facilitating the partnership. 

He explained that the collaboration between Oxford and Durbeen has been focused on developing the curriculum for the MS programme to develop the Faculty who will subsequently teach the BEd programme in Pakistan’s Teacher Training Institutions.

The MS programme will have five specialisation tracks — Language, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science and Education Psychology — and each track will develop teacher-educators to teach a specific set of corresponding BEd courses. The goal is to develop a workforce that can turn around teacher education institutions across Pakistan, that in turn, can develop a new generation of professionally trained, high quality school teachers.

The key individuals involved in this partnership are: Malala Fund, Roy, founder of the Zindagi Trust, Salma A Alam, CEO of Durbeen, Dr Ann Childs, Dr Aliya Khalid and Dr Ian Thompson of the university.

Thompson said he visited Karachi and other parts of Pakistan and met the teachers and their trainers to gain first-hand knowledge about how the teachers of teachers are trained. “That helped us develop this specific programme for the teachers’ teachers. We are confident this programme will benefit the trainers a great deal. With our colleagues from Pakistan, we have put in a great effort in its development.”

Roy said: “If teachers are not trained properly then this affects children and they end up getting qualifications but without the critical thinking and analytical skills that are needed in the modern age. This programme is designed for the trainers and the impact, we are sure, will be in terms of improvement in educational standards, for generations to come.”

Alam said: “This is a major milestone for Pakistan, especially as it focuses on teacher-educators as a separate cadre which is a first for Pakistan. In fact, even around the world, the University of Oxford is the only programme focused solely on teacher-educators. Quality begins from the top — until we don’t have capable teacher-educators we can’t have a professionally qualified school teaching workforce and it is exactly this change that Durbeen is trying to bring in partnership with the University of Oxford and Malala Fund. 

"Through this programme, we will develop teacher educators for Pakistan’s government teacher training institutions. These educators, in turn, will prepare teachers for government schools. This initiative marks the beginning of a future where Pakistan can become a hub of educational innovation," she said