Collaboration with Governments
A major objective of Aga Khan University
Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) has been to work
closely with the governments
of Pakistan and other developing countries to help improve
the quality of education in these countries. AKU-IED faculty has
made a significant contribution to the development of the public
sector educational system in Pakistan, which has been widely acknowledged
at federal, provincial and district levels. Currently, AKU-IED is
collaborating with the public sector educational institutes of 10
countries: Pakistan, including Northern Areas and Chitral; Zanzibar;
Uganda; Tanzania; Kenya; Bangladesh; Tajikistan; Kyrgyzstan; Syria;
Afghanistan.
Pakistan
Federal Government
- In 2002, the Department for International Development (DFID),
UK, approved an AKU-IED proposal to conduct five policy dialogues
on educational issues. A Steering Committee was set up to facilitate
the organisation of the policy dialogues. The committee comprises
representatives of the government, AKU-IED and NGOs. During
2002, the Research and Policy Studies (RAPS) of AKU-IED organized
three policy dialogues, namely Teacher Education; Decentralisation
in Education; and Effective Resource Utilisation through Public-Private
Partnership. RAPS will organise two more policy dialogues in
the year 2003.
- At the invitation of the federal government, a senior faculty
of AKU-IED made a presentation to a high-powered team of the Education
Ministry. The presentation focused on the work of AKU-IED regarding
elementary and higher education, education management, best practices
in school improvement, and research work. The government team
was lead by the Federal Minister for Education.
- AKU-IED team participated in a technical group meeting of the
National Assessment System on February 8, 2001, in Islamabad.
The goal of this meeting was to facilitate the establishment of
an assessment system in Pakistan. AKU-IED hopes to contribute
to human resource development and planning.
- The Head of Professional Programmes of AKU-IED, Dr Muhammad
Memon, on the request of the Ministry of Education, submitted
a critical review of the integrated textbook for Class One, titled
`Meray Dost'.
Government of Sindh
- To date, 17 participants from the government of Sindh completed
their MEd from AKU-IED. Currently, six students are studying in
MEd Class of 2003 and four students in MEd Class of 2004.
- To provide maximum service to all secondary schools in District
Central, Karachi, the government of Sindh's Education Office grouped
the returning Professional Development Teachers (PDTs) into a
"Guidance Team". Team members are responsible for coordinating
the professional development activities of 134 secondary schools
in the District. AKU-IED is assisting government PDTs in the guidance
team in bringing about change in schools. This has been achieved
through training of government schools teachers and follow-up
activities.
- So far 231 candidates from the government of Sindh have successfully
completed the Certificate in Education programme (formerly known
as Visiting Teacher Programme).
- Till June 2002, 39 head teachers from government schools in
Karachi had successfully completed their Advanced Diploma in Education:
Educational Leadership and Management (formerly known as Advanced
Diploma in School Management).
- Ten participants from the government of Sindh have successfully
completed their Advanced Diploma in Education: Five curriculum
areas (formerly known as Advanced Diploma in Subject Specialist
Teacher programme). The curriculum areas are: English, Science,
Mathematics, Social Studies, and Primary Education.
- At the request of the government of Sindh, AKU-IED initiated
a Certificate in Education: Educational Leadership and Management
(formerly known as Certificate in Educational Management) programme
for Sindh Education Department officers. The course aimed to help
the officers to reflect on their current management practices
through critical analysis and to acquire new management and leadership
skills so as to bring about improvement in the management systems
in government schools.
- Of the 44 co-operating schools participating in the MEd and
Certificate in Education (Cert.Ed) programmes, 16 (46%) are from
the government of Sindh. These schools are being used for school-based
training of the participants in the MEd and Cert.Ed. programmes.
Consultations have been held with the Directors and District Education
Officers on this matter.
- Teachers and school heads from government schools regularly
participate in educational conferences and seminars at AKU-IED.
- The first policy dialogue on health education was hosted by
AKU-IED's Health Action Schools (HAS) project team in January
2001 to advocate for content and approaches for health education
in schools, based on lessons learnt from the HAS project. The
government of Sindh acknowledged the importance of health education
in the curriculum. This policy dialogue led the Sindh government
and Unicef to approach the HAS team for substantial programme
expansion.
- A management committee comprising AKU-IED and government of
Sindh representatives conducted a number of meetings with the
Education Secretary of Sindh to discuss possible collaboration
on the Sindh government initiatives, including the operationalisation
of the Provincial Institute of Teacher Education (PITE), Nawabshah.
It was decided that AKU-IED and the Sindh government would develop
a shared vision of PITE, which would assist the government in
its capacity building. AKU-IED would also provide assistance to
the Sindh government in teacher education, English language teaching
and information technology.
- At the request of the Education Secretary of Sindh, a workshop
was conducted during April-June 2001 at AKU-IED to develop instructional
material for the middle school project of the government of Sindh
and for the professional development of master trainers.
- At the request of the Sindh Textbook Board, Jamshoro, AKU-IED
faculty members and Professional Development Teachers and members
of the Curriculum Wing are collaborating on reviewing the primary
education textbooks in English, Mathematics, Science and Social
Studies. This collaboration has also opened doors for other possible
venues of collaboration in the future.
- The Head of Professional Programmes of AKU-IED, Dr. Muhammad
Memon, undertook a consultancy for the Education Department of
Sindh. He reviewed the existing organisational and management
structure of school education at different levels to identify
issues and to make recommendations for restructuring the system.
A report has been submitted to the government.
- The director and two senior faculty members of AKU-IED have
been appointed members of an Advisory Committee on Elementary
Education Projects, Government of Sindh.
- A working group has been set up comprsing senior officials of
the Education Ministry and AKU-IED to monitor government participation
in the Institute's programmes.
- AKU-IED collaborated with the Education Department of Sindh
to organize a seminar at the Institute on Sept 2 to discuss issues
related to the 9th Five Year Plan for the education sector.
Government of Balochistan
- Till now, 12 teachers from Balochistan have completed their
MEd from AKU-IED. They have become Professional Development Teachers
(PDTs) and conduct teacher development activities in Balochistan.
- AKU-IED has so far organized six Cert.Ed. programmes for primary
schools teachers of rural Balochistan. The aim of the Cert.Ed.
is to improve the teachers' content knowledge, pedagogical skills,
classroom management strategies, mentoring and student assessment
skills within the framework of a multigrade context of rural education.
The teachers trained through the programme become "mentors'
in their own schools as well as in the cluster schools identified
by the Primary Education Development Project (PEDP), Balochistan.
- AKU-IED also works with District Education Officers (DEOs) in
Balochistan. Two groups of DEOs from the same district (as the
Course Participants of Cert.Ed.) also participated for two weeks
in each Cert.Ed. Each group consisted of six members. The purpose
of their visit was to expose themselves to the alternative instructional
approaches in primary education and to enable them to facilitate
the mentoring process. Their participation helped the Cert.Ed.
graduates to work closely with senior education officers in improving
the quality of education in Balochistan.
- A study titled 'Follow-up of the Balochistan Cert.Ed. Programmes'
has been initiated. The study aims to measure the impact of the
Cert.Ed. programme on the professional development of graduates
who are working with teachers as mentors for change in their schools/cluster
schools. It also explores possibilities and further collaboration
with the Education Department of Balochistan.
- The Primary Education Department (PED), Balochistan, has facilitated
up to eight AKU-IED course participants in different MEd Programmes
for three weeks as part of the Alternate Exposure Module.
Government of NWFP
- At the request of the Director of Provincial Institute for
Teacher Education (PITE), NWFP, AKU-IED is assisting with capacity
development of the PITE faculty. Some of these faculty members
will enroll in AKU-IED's MEd programme. For others, involvement
in Cert.Ed. programmes and research initiatives has been planned.
The NWFP government has recently posted two of its MEd graduates
from AKU-IED to the PITE.
- To date, six teachers from the NWFP have graduated from the
AKU-IED's MEd programme, while 11 teachers have participated in
various Cert.Ed. programmes.
- PEP-ILE project has facilitated 18 AKU-IED course participants
in various MEd programmes for three weeks as part of the Alternate
Exposure Module.
Government of Northern Areas and Chitral
- To date, five government teachers have graduated from AKU-IED's
MEd programmes. Two government teachers are studying in MEd Class
of 2003 and six in MEd Class of 2004.
- Fifty-four candidates from Northern Areas and Chitral have participated
in various Cert.Ed. programmes.
- AKU-IED is actively collaborating with the Education Department
of the Northern Areas through the Professional Development Centre,
Northern Areas (PDCN).
- The PDCN regularly conducts workshops for Assistant District
Inspectors (ADIs) of Northern Areas. The ADIs get exposure to
educational leadership and supervision through action research
projects.
- The PDCN conducted a workshop for Deputy Directors of Education
(DDEs) in February 2002. The programme aimed at developing leadership
and management skills of senior education officials to help them
reflect on their roles and responsibilities in the changing scenario
in the educational context of Northern Areas.
Zanzibar
- One government participant from Zanzibar has graduated from
AKU-IED's MEd Class of 2002, while two are studying in MEd Class
of 2003 and two in MEd Class of 2004.
- To date, 21 candidates from Zanzibar have completed the Cert.Ed.
programme at AKU-IED, while 13 completed it in Zanzibar..
- Currently, 25 participants are studying in Cert.Ed: Educational
Leadership and Management programme in Zanzibar. The programme
is conducted exclusively for government teachers.
- Twenty-five participants are studying in Cert.Ed: Mathematics
programme in Zanzibar.
Uganda
- A meeting was held with Dr Bukenya, Minister in the Office of
the President of Uganda, on September 20, 2002, to discuss issues
of development and resource mobilisation in Uganda. Dr Bukenya
was very positive about AKDN activities in developing world, particularly
in East Africa. It was agreed to establish a technical working
group comprising key government officials from the Ministries
of Education and Health of Uganda to discuss the programmes being
offered by AKU and other AKDN agencies.
- By the year 2004, two teachers from government schools of Uganda
would graduate from AKU-IED's MEd programme.
- Eighteen participants completed the Uganda-based Cert.Ed. programmes
till Oct 2002.
- Twenty-Seven participants graduated from a special Cert.Ed:
Educational Leadership and Management programme in Dec 2002.
Tajikistan
- Nine participants have graduated from Cert.Ed. programmes till
June 2002.
- Currently, one government participant is studying in MEd Class
of 2004.
- Series of meetings were held between government officials of
Tajikistan and AKU-IED during 2000 and 2001 to discuss possible
future collaboration between the Government of Tajikistan and
AKU-IED. Dr. Mirgand Shahbozov, Rector of Khorog State University,
Tajikistan, made a follow-up visit to AKU-IED in January 2001.
Senior faculty from AKU-IED also visited Osh State University
(OSU) and Institute of Professional Development (IPD), Khorog.
- A two-day stakeholders workshop was held at the Institute of
Professional Development (IPD), Khorog, in Gorno Badakshan in
May 2002. The purpose was to discuss the possibilities for developing
a partnership between AKU-IED and IPD and identify areas of potential
collaboration.
Kyrgyzstan
- So far, seven government participants have completed their MEd
from AKU-IED.
- Fourteen participants have graduated from Cert.Ed. programmes
till Oct 2002. All of them were from Osh State University.
- Mr Askar Aitmatov, Advisor to the President of the Krygyz Republic,
visited AKU-IED in April 2001. The purpose of the visit was to
strengthen collaboration between Kyrgyzstan and AKU-IED.
- His Excellency Naken Kasiev Kasievich, Governor of Osh Province
of the Kyrgyz Republic, visited AKU-IED in May 2001. The government
has asked AKU-IED to participate in its task force to bring changes
at the elementary level of education in government schools.
Syria
A small-scale training needs assessment was conducted with teachers,
inspectors and teacher educators of pre-service teacher training
colleges in Syria. The study was conducted in January 2002. The
study suggests that AKU-IED, in collaboration with the Ministry
of Education, Syria, could offer a Visiting Teacher Programme in
English for school inspectors of English. Subsequently, meetings
were held with senior officials of the Syrian Ministry of Education
and members of Teacher Training Institute. On the basis of series
of discussions, AKU-IED has planned to offer a Certificate in Education
(English Language Teaching) programme in December 2002 to 25 senior
Syrian inspectors, including fire inspectors, from the vocational
education sector. The Ministry of Education would nominate its representative(s)
to participate in the planning of the programme.
Afghanistan
- Initial meetings were held with senior government officials
of Afghanistan in February 2002. The first delegation from Afghanistan
visited AKU-IED during September 2002. The delegation included
teachers from Teacher Training Centres (TTC) in Afghanistan. An
AKDN representative accompanied them.
- A mission from the Ministry of Higher Education, Afghanistan,
visited AKU-IED in October 2002. The purpose of the visit was
to explore possibilities of working collaboratively with AKU-IED.
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