32nd annual SPELT conference on Oct 29, 30

The 32nd annual conference of SPELT (Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers) is to be held at the Habib University, Karachi, on October 29 and 30, 2016.

This was announced at a press conference held by the body at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday evening. It was addressed by Professor Zakia Sarwar, honorary executive director of SPELT, Ameena Saiyid, OBE, managing director of Oxford University Press (Pakistan), and Dr Asif Aslam Farrukhi, associate professor at Habib University.

Professor Sarwar said that the body, established in 1984, was now a leader in teacher education and research. The example, she said, had been recognised the world over and was being emulated in other countries. 

She regretted that governments had paid only lip service to education and defaulted on teacher education. SPELT, she said, taught teachers to teach more effectively. “Our slogan is: self-help and team work,” she said, adding that 2,000 teachers had been trained thus far. 

Ameena Saiyid said she had been attending all SPELT annual conferences since 1984 and said that it was a matter of pride that SPELT had become a worldwide model in teacher education.

“In Pakistan,” she said, “Out of a population of 60 million of school-going age children, 25 million are not going to school. Education is compulsory but there aren’t enough schools.”

She said that it had been determined that learning was easiest in the mother tongue at the beginners’ level. Therefore, they had also decided to bring Urdu and Sindhi into the ambit of training. 

This was also echoed by Professor Mohsin Tejani, who moderated the press conference, who said that the importance of the mother tongue at the basic level could not be underestimated. Teachers, he said, were invited to share their expertise.

Dr Asif Iqbal Farrukhi from the Habib University, said, “Ameena transferred a dream whereby the Habib University partnered with the Oxford University Press and SPELT.” 

He also explained inception of the Writing Centre and the Centre for Pedagogical Training that had been set up at the university. It was, he said, meant to cater to pure sciences students and to develop their interest and expertise in liberal arts. Lubna Mohyuddin, a prominent member of SPELT, also addressed the press conference and said that the organisation charged very nominal fees for training. It was Rs1,200 for members and Rs1,500 from non-members.

“We don’t believe in commercialising education and training,” she said.

At the end of the press conference, during the question-answer session, a questioner suggested clamping on the intrusion by the private sector into education. 

Most of the panel members had their own opinions about the issue, saying that private sector had done lots for schooling and that the standard of education in government schools was well below the mark.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Expand your horizons in ELT”. Among the foreign speakers this year, there is Professor Adrian Tennant, from the UK, and Dr Dudley Reynolds from the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), USA.