Pakistani Teachers Will Be Trained at Oxford University
Shehzad Roy, a well-known musician and supporter of educational reform, stated that the University of Oxford has inked a major agreement with the Malala Fund to help the Pakistani NGO Durbeen train teacher-educators in Pakistan through a ground-breaking initiative.
During an interview at Oxford University, Roy expressed gratitude to Nobel winner Malala Yousafzai for helping to form the collaboration. He clarified that the goal of Oxford and Durbeen’s partnership is to create a curriculum for an M.S. program that will prepare teachers to teach the B.Ed. program in Pakistan’s Teacher Training Institutions.
To educate teacher-educators in each field to teach particular B.Ed. courses, the M.S. program provides five specialisation tracks: Language, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, and Educational Psychology. In order to produce a new generation of highly educated school teachers, this project seeks to build a cadre of skilled professionals who can revolutionise teacher education institutions throughout Pakistan. The Malala Fund, Shehzad Roy (founder of Zindagi Trust), Salma A. Alam (CEO of Durbeen), Dr. Ann Childs, Dr. Aliya Khalid, and Dr. Ian Thompson from Oxford are important contributors to this collaboration.
According to Dr. Ian Thompson, he travelled to Karachi and other locations in Pakistan to observe contemporary approaches to teacher preparation, which influenced the creation of the curriculum. “Teacher-trainers will greatly benefit from this customised program,” he stated, praising the cooperation of colleagues in Pakistan.
With the words, “If teachers aren’t properly trained, children miss out on critical thinking and analytical skills essential for today’s world,” Shehzad Roy highlighted the program’s potential impact on future generations. The goal of this initiative is to raise educational standards for years to come by focussing on trainers.
Salma Alam described the effort as a significant step for Pakistan, particularly because it creates a unique professional association for teacher-educators, which is uncommon worldwide and a first for the nation. “Capable teacher-educators are the foundation of high-quality education. We cannot develop a workforce of professionally competent teachers until we fortify this base. The transformation Durbeen is aiming for is this collaboration with Oxford and the Malala Fund,” she stated. Alam said in closing that the project marks the beginning of Pakistan’s transformation into a hub for innovative education.
Content writer, educationist, teacher, researcher, social media manager, and a SEO manager from lahore. She has been working as a freelance academic and non-academic writer for more than 20 years now. She has a passion to learn new things and has a knack for writing and she combines both things to produce write ups she pours her heart out in.