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Thursday March 28, 2024

Teacher capacity building plans on the anvil

By Jamila Achakzai
October 06, 2018

Islamabad : Declaring the role of teachers instrumental in building the foundation of the nation, Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood said special programmes would be introduced for building their capacity.

"Teachers are great asset of this country. We will provide them with support and will facilitate them so that they can play effective role in furthering the cause of education and building nation," he told the Best Teacher Awards Ceremony organised by the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project at a local hotel.

The minister said promotion of education was the top most priority of the current government.

"Our main focus will be to enrol the 25 million out-of-school children, introduce a uniform education and certification system, uniform textbooks where core subjects are the same, enhance the quality of education, and work on skill development," he said.

Linking the development and prosperity of a nation to its people's education, the minister said the government would introduce special programmes to build the capacity of teachers to help them come up with the goods.

He said his ministry had worked tirelessly in the last one month on planning education reforms and would execute them soon to deliver on the education agenda of the PTI government.

The minister thanked the USAID and Pakistan Reading Project for honouring and encouraging teachers for good work and said the USAID deserved praise for working in Pakistan for the development of education and other sectors for decades.

He congratulated the award winners chosen from among 24,000 teachers over good performance, dedication and integrity.

"This is not the end of the road. You must strive to be the best," he told them.

Mission Director of the USAID Jerry Bisson, who was also in attendance, said by improving the quality of education and extending access to it, the welfare of a nation could be ensured.

"We are investing in the teachers of Pakistan as they play a pivotal role in the success of the education system," he said.

He said research had shown that if every child got access to education and learn all skills to play an effective role in the society, the GDP of a country with an average economy went up by 28 per cent.

"The USAID will continue to work for the development of the teachers' skills and promotion of education in Pakistan," he said.