While it does not necessarily
yield a high salary or as much prestige as medicine or engineering, teaching is
still a much-coveted profession in Pakistan. This is indicated by the large
number of Pakistanis who seek to enroll in the country's teacher training
programs.
However, there remain many challenges in the area of teacher training. Most
notably, the lack of adequate programs in terms of number, as well as the
curriculum of some of these programs.
The importance of teacher training cannot be underestimated. The better a
teacher is trained, the better he or she can educate tomorrow's generation of
Pakistanis.
In fact, a joint study by Harvard University and the Academy of Education
Planning and Management in Pakistan shows that math scores for students in
grades four and five rose with the level of their teachers' level of education.
In addition, teacher training doesn't just positively impact a teachers and
students' knowledge of a subject matter. The teaching method used to share
information by teachers helps children not only stay in school, but also engages
young students and encourages them to keep learning. Reports on primary
education in Pakistan, for example, have noted that 'fear of punishment' and the
'harsh treatment by teachers' are key reasons for primary school dropout among
students (Morton 1992 and Semiotics Consultants 1994). This clearly stems from a
lack of proper teacher training.
Teacher training in Pakistan is primarily a provincial responsibility.
Generally, applicants to most teacher training institutes outnumber the spaces
available. But the shortage is not just in spaces. It is also found in the lack
of facilities for this endeavor, especially in certain places like Balochistan,
and particularly for female teachers. This is a tragedy considering that
Pakistan's rate of female literacy is abysmal.
Pakistan's federal level of government also plays a role in teacher training
through its Curriculum Wing, which is also responsible for teacher education
institutions. Primary school teachers seeking employment in government schools
are trained in three ways: through Government Colleges and Elementary Education
(CGETs), the distance education program of the Allama Iqbal Open University, and
teacher training courses administered in high schools. The graduates of these
institutions are taught a similar curriculum, and receive the Primary Teaching
Certificate (PTC) at the end of a course that lasts one year.
About 12,000 teachers are trained in the 76 GCETs every year, and close to 8,000
are trained through the distance learning program. In some provinces, crash
courses have also been arranged to reduce the backlog of teachers who are not
trained for their jobs.
In terms of the country's private schools, a number of the major ones have their
own teacher training program.
To be accepted into the PTC course, an applicant must have a minimum of ten
years of schooling. However, the government of the province of Punjab raised
this bar recently and fixed the minimum to12 years of schooling for admission to
the PTC course.
Although the PTC course is for only one year, in reality is usually much
shorter. An additional problem is that the curriculum for pre-service training
is overloaded. In general, the courses do not significantly improve a teacher's
knowledge of a particular subject matter or teaching skills.
A study conducted in the province of NWFP found that entrants had poor
proficiency in math and science. Even more disturbingly, there was little
difference in teachers' performance after completing the course.
Another study revealed there was no major difference in the teaching practices
of PTC teachers and untrained teachers, or between graduates of the PTC course
from different systems
It is clear then that pre-service training of teachers in Pakistan is sorely
lacking at a time when education for a nation in a globalized world is more
important than ever before.
In terms of in-service training, this is the responsibility of the Curriculum
Boards and Extension Centers. The provinces have given in-service
responsibilities to one or more CGETs. There are three different types of
in-service training: training of untrained staff in full-time crash programs
that last three months; refresher courses that last for a short period of time;
a few private initiatives such as the Ali Institute of Education in Lahore and
the Teachers' Resource Center in Karachi.
Every province has an Education Extension Center responsible that is in charge
of in-service education. The aim is to provide one in-service training session
to each teacher at least once every five years. But these sessions are fewer
than the number of teachers as indicated by a study of in-service refresher
courses in Punjab. This study found that the courses reached an nominal number
of teachers. For instance, in 1988, 16 refresher courses were offered to only
4,400 teachers, out of a total teaching corps of nearly 180,000.
Some institutions have taken it upon themselves to try to fill the gap. A
leading institute specializing in the training of private school teachers is the
Ali Institute of Education (AIE), which was founded in 1992. This organization
imparts teacher education for primary school teachers in both the public and
private sectors. So far, 205 teachers have benefited from pre-service training.
There are 104 teachers currently enrolled in the program. About 95 percent of
the trainees are female, with most of them coming from lower-middle income
backgrounds. About half of them receive financial aid from the institute.
The institute also has an in-service training program. About 2,200 teachers have
benefited from it, about 80 percent of whom are female. Close to the same
proportion belong to rural areas.
One in-service training experiment is the Field-Based Teacher Training Program,
which was started in the Northern areas of Pakistan in 1984. In essence, this is
an unusual way of teaching the PTC syllabus. It trains teachers to give up some
of the unproductive, traditional practices which are prevalent in rural primary
schools.
This program adopts a new approach in teaching , which shifts the emphasis from
the teacher to the student as the center of the teaching-learning process. The
most distinctive feature of this program is the practical application of the
theoretical concepts that are taught in the classroom of the PTC course.
While these and other initiatives are welcome, it is clear that the quantity and
quality of teacher training program in Pakistan must improve in order for the
next generation of Pakistanis to be better educated and better citizens than
previous ones.