Chronology of Events

2004

• AKU-IED renews its partnership contract with the University of Oxford for three years; the tenure of contract begins January 1 st 2004. The areas of focus include: Development Education and Educational Policy, Teacher Education and Development; Education Management and Leadership and especially support the areas of Planning, Teaching and Sharing Supervision in AKU-IEDs Ph.D Programme.
• A Stakeholders' Conference is held at the PDC, Chitral. The objectives of the conference are (i) develop a vision/strategy for the PDCC which will enable teachers and educational managers to enhance student learning outcomes; (ii) develop contextually appropriate activities and approaches that will lead to improvement in the quality teaching and learning in Chitral; (iii) mobilize all stakeholders to support and contribute to the development of PDCC and; (iv) establish partnerships with all educational providers and utilize each other's expertise to improve teaching and learning process in the region.
• The first Professional Teacher Association Network (PTAN) Conference entitled 'Learning through Networking (Celebrating the Teaching Profession)' is held at AKU-IED on February 14 , 2004. AKU-IED Faculty and Professional Development Teachers present nine papers at the conference.
• Ms. Lucille Jones, a consultant in the area of Assessment and Evaluation, visits AKU-IED from February 9 to 27, 2004 and conducts a workshop on Alternative Assessment Practice/Methodologies. Moreover, she develops a proposal for a Certificate in Education (Classroom Assessment) which is submitted to the Academic Review Committee (ARC) and the Academic Program Committee ( APC ).
• Drs. Gordon Macleod and Sadrudin Pardhan, Professors, Dr Iffat Farah, Associate Professor, Dr Bernadette Dean, Assistant Professor and Ms. Farheen Alwi , Assistant Manager, Director's Office participate in the Third Task Force meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland from March 8 to 10, 2004.
• AKU-IED's Health Action School Project receives funding of US $ 37,000 per annum from the comic relief fund for the period of March 2004 - February 2008. IED will work as one of the four regional partners of the Child-to-Child Trust.
• Meetings are held with representatives of AKES and AKF, Afghanistan in Islamabad on March 31 , 2004. As a result a three-year plan of various programmatic activities (such as: Certificate in Education in Educational Leadership and Management; Certificate in Education in Primary Education; Subject based two week course for the enhancement of content knowledge in Science, Mathematics, Social Studies; and inclusion in M.Ed. cohorts) is proposed for the capacity building of the MoE, Afghanistan. This proposal is shared with AKF and AKES, Afghanistan . Their feedback is awaited.
• Meetings are held in March 2004 with Mr. Jahangir Tareen, Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab, Mr. Khushmood Akhtar Lashari, Additional Chief Secretary Punjab, Mr. Shahid Rashid, Secretary Education and Dr. Rukhsana Zia, Educationist, to formalize possibilities for a future cooperation between IED and the Punjab Education Department. As a result of these meetings IED has forwarded a concept paper to the Punjab Government.
• Mr. Michael Dale, Head of Development Operations, Delegation of the European Commission (EC) in Pakistan visits AKU-IED on April 3, 2004 to know more about its activities and meet with students.
• Funding of US$279,621 is received from USAID for launching a new Education Sector Programme in Zanzibar for two years, starting May 2004. The sector-wide Project incorporates a number of AKDN Projects (Aga Khan Foundation, NGO Resource Center , Madrassa Resource Centre, Professional Development Centre) as partners in the implementation of various components of the Programme.
• Dr. Nilofer Vazir is appointed Coordinator, Masters of Education Programme effective May 6, 2004.
• Dr Shirley Grundy, Dean, Faculty of Education, Deakin University and (Task Force 3 member), along with Mr. Stewart Bosner visit AKU-IED on the 13 th and 14 th of May respectively to meet with the Senior Management of AKU-IED.
• Dr. Muhammad Memon meets with Dr. Sulaiman Al-Khateeb, Deputy Education Minister, Syria . During the meeting Dr Memon discusses the background, rational and proposed programmatic activities to be offered to Syrian Educational Officers so as to enhance the capacity of Education System in Syria .
• Mr. Olivier Petre (Mission Leader) and Ms. Marta Alvarez, Consultants for the European Commission Monitoring Mission visit AKU-IED from May 24-27, 2004 to meet with Senior Management and to monitor activities taking place at AKU-IED.
• For the first time, AKU-IED offers a Certificate in Education (Citizenship, Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Education) Programme in May 2004. This is one of the key activities in the final phase of the project titled 'Citizens Rights and Responsibilities of Pakistan' funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
• A delegation headed by Mr. Haroun Ali Suleiman, Minister for Education, Culture Sports, Zanzibar visits AKU-IED from June 6 to 11, 2004.
• Ms. Rana Hussain, Senior Instructor is appointed Coordinator, ESRA Project effective June 2004.
• A delegation from AKF, Mozambique visits AKU-IED on 13 th of August 2004 to learn more about AKU-IED and its activities and to meet with some faculty members.
• For the first, the Professional Development Center , North, offers an Advanced Diploma Programme in Primary Education to a group of 20 participants, beginning August 2004.
• A Stakeholders' Workshop is held in Zanzibar in August 2004, in order to explore ways in which AKU-IED and East African PDC Lead-In Project can collaborate with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports in raising the quality of education in Zanzibar .
• The mid-term review of AKU-IED is carried out on behalf of the European Commission from September 7-21, 2004.
• AKU-IED in collaboration with AKES, T and PDC Lead-In Project of EA organizes the Tenth Annual School Improvement Conference in Bagamoyo , Tanzania . Dr Sadrudin Pardhan, Professor attends the SIP Conference from October 28, 2004 to November 3, 2004.
• Dr. Peter J. Samaranayake, Head of Education, AKES, Tanzania and Ms. Margaret Bell, Head of Education, AKES, Uganda visit AKU-IED from December 05-14, 2004.

2005

• Dr. Gordon Macleod assumes charge as Head Planning, AKU-IED, East Africa commencing January 1, 2005.
• A delegation of United Arab Emirates Fundraising, visits AKU-IED on February 10, 2005. The purpose of their visit is to learn more about AKU-IED and its activities.
• Philip Nagy, Professor Emeritus, Measurement and Evaluation Program, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto visits AKU-IED from February 15-25, 2005.
• A Faculty Retreat to discuss "Planning for AKU-IED's Phase III" takes place on June 15, 2005.
• Dr. Christopher L. Shaw - Director International Academic Partnership and Mr. Boyer D. Baird - Consultant, International Academic Partnership visit AKU-IED from June 20 - 21, 2005. The purpose of their visit is to discuss strategies to further enhance collaboration between AKU-IED and other partners of IAP, to assess the needs of the partners and suggest ways to build partners' institutional capacity, and to get familiarized with AKU-IEDs programmatic activities.
• Dr. Toni Griffiths, Pro Director (International) and Dr. Anil Khamis, Lecturer of Institute of Education, University of London , visits AKU-IED.
• A Faculty Retreat to discuss "Review of M.Ed. Programmes, Planning of Current M.Ed. Programme and Planning for M.Ed. Class Of 2007" takes place on July 15, 2005.
• Dr. Jan-e-Alam Khaki is appointed as Coordinator Advanced Diploma Programmes effective from August 1, 2005 for a period of three years.
• Ms. Kulsoom Jaffer is appointed as Coordinator Certificate Programmes effective from August 1, 2005 for a period of three years.
• Representatives from Resources Groups ( RGS ) consisting of -Ms. Joyce Wangechi, Kenya Aids NGOs Consortium (KANCO), Mr. Mark Rabudi, Kenya Aids NGOs Consortium (KANCO) and Ms. Joumana Zabaned, Arab Resource Centre (ARC), Lebanon visit AKU-IED from August 11-16, 2005.
• Senior level delegation consisting of - Dr. Soulaiman Al-Khatib, Deputy Education Minister (International Relations and Training), Ministry of Education, Syria; Dr Ali Al-Hosri, Deputy Education Minister (Curriculum And Training), Ministry of Education, Syria; Mr. Ghassan Shugrhri, Director, Ministry of Education, Syria and Dr. Ahmed Haydar, Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Education Services, Syria visit AKU-IED from August 25-31, 2005.
• A Delegation (Mid Term Review Mission) from the European Commission visits AKU-IED on October 3, 2005.
• A delegation from Royal Netherlands embassy visits AKU-IED on December 13, 2005.

2006

• Dr. Iffat Farah and Dr. Anjum Halai attend the Research Programme Consortium: Proposal Design and Development Workshop and Consortium Advisory Group meeting on Educational Quality in Low Income Countries organized by the RPC team (Research Programme Consortium), University of Bristol in Johannesburg , South Africa from January 19-20, 2006.
• AKU-IED's health education programme organizes an international workshop on "A Fresh Approach to School Health Promotion" in collaboration with the Child-to-Child Trust , UK from February 1-15, 2006.
• AKU-IED in collaboration with German consultants conducts a two-week Professional Development Programme from February 11-3, 2006 in Kabul .
• AKU-IED conducts a three day international conference on 'quality in education: teaching and leadership in challenging times' is from February 21- 23, 2006 in Karachi .
• Dr. Tom Kessinger, General Manager, AKF ( Geneva ) visits AKU-IED on March 9, 2006.
• Mr. Richard Cartier , Director/Chief of party, RTI International, ESRA visits AKU-IED on March 15, 2006.
• Dr. Marie Lall from the Institute of Education , University of London visits AKU-IED on April 6, 2006.
• Mr. Shahzad Babur, Media Advisor, European Commission, and the representatives of various TV channels i.e. GEO, ARY Digital, and AAJ networks visit AKU-IED from April 5-7, 2006 to video-document AKU-IED's programmatic activities and initiatives taken by its cooperative schools for improving quality of education.
• A senior level delegation including Mr . Nazeer Ladhani, Director General, University of Central Asia (UCA), Dr. Bohdan Krawchenko, Dean, Graduate School of Development, UCA from the University of Central Asia (UCA) visits AKU-IED on May 04, 2006.
• His Excellency Asadullo Gulomov, Deputy Prime Minister and AKDN Coordinator; His Excellency Abdullo Yorov, Minister of Energy and Mr. Sirojiddin Saidov, Deputy Chairman, Barki Tojik Company visit AKU-IED on May 10, 2006 .
• Mr. Paul Schoen from European Commission visits AKU-IED from June 27-July 01, 2006 on monitoring mission.
• A delegation from the Aga Khan Academies Unit, Aiglemont visits AKU-IED from July 10-14, 2006.
• A delegation from Bahrain Ministry of Education visits AKU-IED from July 10-11, 2006.
• AKU-IED, in collaboration with a team of German teacher educators, conducts a three-week workshop for 56 teachers from the German-sponsored schools in Amani High School Kabul from July 18-August 03, 2006.
• Mr. Michael Dale, Counselor, Head Operations Delegation of European Commission to Pakistan visits AKU-IED.
• A graduation ceremony for MA EID graduates of Institute of Education , University of London (IoE-UoL) is held on September 8, 2006 at AKU.
• A policy dialogue is organized with key stakeholders and policy makers in education at AKU-IED on Saturday September 16, 2006.
• Mathematics Association of Pakistan (MAP) conducts the seventh MAP Olympiad at AKU-IED.
• A team of CIDA representatives comprising Mr. Francois P. Dupuis, Ms. Andrea Horton and Ms. Neelofar Javaid visits AKU-IED to discuss the possibilities of funding specific programmes under Strengthening Teachers' Education Programme (STEP).
• An external review of the MEd programme (Classes 2003-07) is conducted from November 13-17, 2006.
• A two-day policy dialogue is organized at AKU-IED on "Gender and Schooling Practices in Pakistan " from December 8-9, 2006.
• His Excellency Mr. Ryan Crocker, Ambassador of United States to Pakistan and Ms. Mary H. Witt, US Consul General in Karachi visit AKU-IED on December 12, 2006.
• The ninth graduation ceremony of Advanced Diploma in Education: Educational Leadership and Management (Class of 2006) is held on December 16, 2006.
• Under the auspices of the Professional Teacher Association Network (PTAN), the Association for Social Studies Educators and Teachers (ASSET) organizes the third annual Olympiad on "Environment and Infections" at AKU-IED on December 16, 2006.
• A book-fair is organized by the AKU-IED library on December 27, 2006.

2007

• Dr. Mir Afzal Tajik, Assistant Professor, AKU-IED is appointed as the head PDCC on January 1, 2007 .
• Dr. Brian Street , Professor of Language in Education, Department of Education and Professional Studies, King's College, University of London , UK visits AKU-IED from January 1-4, 2006.
• Dr. Nilofar. Vazir presents a paper on "Reconceptualizing the teacher's role as curriculum planners: empowering teachers towards quality education" at the 20th Annual World (ICSEI) Congress held in Portoroz , Slovenia from January 4-7, 2007.
• Dr. Muhammad Memon attends the National Conference on Professional Development of Teachers organised by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan in Islamabad on January 18, 2007 .
• Dr. Sadrudin Pardhan and Dr. Dilshad Ashraf attend the AKDN Multi - Inputs Earthquake Reconstruction Programme (MERP) in Chakhama Valley from January 18, 2007.