The University's Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) is working as a national partner with the Government of Pakistan to build the institutional capacity of selected districts in Sindh and Balochistan. Funded by USAID, the partnership programme will bring within its scope Hyderabad, Thatta, Khairpur and Sukkur districts in Sindh, and the remote and underdeveloped Chaghai, Qilla Saifullah, Turbat and Gwadar districts in Balochistan.

Education certificate courses will help participants acquire skills in management and leadership, enhancing their performance in the workplace as well as in the field.

The programme is a reaffirmation of the University's focus on the development of quality human resources to respond to the unique needs of developing regions through productive linkages and collaborations.

Under this programme, AKU-IED offers three Certificate in Education courses: Educational Leadership and Management for district education officers, additional district officers and supervisory personnel; Primary Education for supervisors, learning coordinators and senior primary school teachers; and Teacher Education for faculty of elementary colleges of education, colleges of education and Provincial Institutes of Teacher Education (PITE) in both Sindh and Balochistan.

The objective of the Educational Leadership programme is to develop pedagogical leaders who can improve the quality of education in their respective areas, whereas the focus of the Primary Education programme is on mentoring. Supervisors, learning coordinators and resource persons will be prepared through reflective practice and critical inquiry, and will ultimately apply their newly acquired knowledge to their respective schools. The Teacher Education programme, on the other hand, will help develop the competence of college and elementary college faculty.

Delivering his welcome address at an orientation programme, Dr Sadrudin Pardhan, Director of Outreach Activities, AKU-IED, apprised the participants of the Institute's role in improving the quality of education through research, professional development programmes and policy dialogues. He said AKU-IED is working with 10 countries and has considerable experience to share.

"It was time both the provincial and district governments worked together to improve the quality of education in the country through AKU-IED's innovative professional development programmes for teachers and educational officers," said Dr Noor-ul-Haq, Additional Secretary (Academic), Sindh Education Department.

Dr Muhammad Memon, Head of Programmes at AKU-IED, shared the Institute's plans and strategies for institutional capacity building of selected districts in Sindh and Balochistan. By August 2004, AKU-IED plans to conduct an MEd and a Cluster-Based Mentoring Programme for teacher educators. Some 1,200 teachers from Sindh and Balochistan are expected to enrol in the mentoring programme alone.

Praising the efforts of AKU-IED, a participant said that "the course has helped develop our professional skills and build our capacity to work in the office as well as in the field with a clear understanding of leadership and management."