41 PhD scholars complete four-week intensive online training course

LAHORE: The first cohort of 41 Interim Placement of Fresh PhDs (IPFP) fellows graduated from the inaugural National Faculty Development Programme (NFDP), a four-week intensive training course, which was conducted online through Microsoft teams because of the coronavirus.

The graduating scholars are fellows of the Interim Placement of Fresh PhDs (IPFP) programme funded by HEC. This programme supports universities in getting the services of fresh PhDs for a period of one year in anticipation of their recruitment to regular faculty positions.

The NFDP course was organised by the newly established National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE). It aims to provide new faculty with the practical skills and competencies they will need in order to become successful academics. These include courses in teaching effectiveness, including online teaching, research management, and professional practice. This is in keeping with the HEC's strategy that all higher education programmes should be driven by the goal of future student success.

The programme, led by a team of national and international experts, was delivered in accordance with the highest standards online readiness established by HEC in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. The NFDP 2020 course is to be delivered between now and August 2020 in 12 cohorts of 40 participants each. This is the first cohort of the course.

In his keynote address, HEC Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri congratulated the graduating IPFP fellows as well as the organisers and instructors of the programme for their commitment and the success they achieved under difficult conditions, this being NAHE’s first intensive programme, which had to be delivered online and during Ramazan.

Banuri emphasised that the real success of this programme will come from the work of participants in the time to come. Lamenting the deterioration in the quality of higher education in Pakistan, he said that the current focus of HEC is to re-establish the value of our degrees and certifications. “Your success is not in getting this certificate.

Your success, and our success, will happen when you provide excellent education to your students, when you do first class research, and when you help solve the problems that the country is facing. That will be the time to congratulate yourselves.”

He said that while the four-week rigorous programme had introduced the participants to a number of tools and techniques, the larger purpose was to learn the habits and practices that will take them towards success.

Earlier, in her welcome speech, Rector NAHE, Dr Shaheen Sardar Ali welcomed the session participants and gave a brief introduction of the NFDP 2020. She congratulated the IPFP fellows and appreciated them for their hard work and commitment during all the sessions. She emphasised that the programme aims to provide a virtual, immersive, and integrated world-class learning experience that will prepare the participants for their academic careers.

The resource persons of the programme, including Dr Steve Burian, Dr Shazia Awan, Dr Hassaan Khan and Dr Saima Sherazi, also shared their experiences of the four-week programme and hoped that it will go a long way for participants to enhance and develop skills needed to become a good teacher and a successful researcher.

The participants' representatives said that modules included in the training are valuable in capacity building of teachers and cover almost every aspect of the effective teaching. They appreciated NAHE for introducing this fantastic approach to teaching and research.