HEC trains instructors to enhance capacity of faculty

Islamabad : The Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) Postsecondary Education Reform Unit (PERU) and National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE) are working collaboratively to strengthen teaching in postsecondary educational institutions.

This capacity-building exercise has started with public sector affiliated colleges but will later be expanded to universities. The new HEC Undergraduate Education Policy 2020 (UEP) mandates a number of reforms to better serve undergraduate students.

These changes include the revamped BS and Associate Degree (AD) curriculums, the Gen Ed requirement, the practical learning requirements (Internship and Practical Learning Labs such as entrepreneurship, youth clubs and sports), and a shift to the semester system in affiliated colleges. The goal of this training workshop is to prepare faculty and staff of HEIs to implement these changes and improve the quality of education available.

PERU and NAHE will be working together to train Instructors who will go on to train faculty and master trainers from affiliating universities and affiliated colleges across Pakistan. Designed, developed, and facilitated by Dr. Shazia Awan (NAHE) and Danyal Wahid (PERU), the first workshop in this series was launched virtually on May 19, 2021, training a total of 15 instructors.

All the instructors who received training in this two-day workshop are the top-performing candidates from the National Faculty Development Programme in 2020 and represent multiple districts and provinces of Pakistan. This 2-day workshop included lectures and learning activities around the new Undergraduate Education Policy 2020 (UEP), training versus teaching faculty, and developing content for college faculty. Intended learning outcomes included improved understanding of teaching faculty, better knowledge of types of assessments suitable for educators and students and improved knowledge of the policy and rules governing affiliated colleges and universities.

Dr Shaheen Sardar Ali (Rector, NAHE) and Dr. Zulfiqar Gilani (Program Specialist Academics, PERU) opened the session on day one of the workshop. The trainee instructors were able to participate in extensive question and answer sessions with senior NAHE and PERU team members. The training comprised a rigorous two-day workshop with high-ranking officials from NAHE and PERU.

The core areas covered included UEP overview, training methodology, effective oral and written communication skills, along with robust discussions on timelines, activities, and implementation. The top performing instructors from this workshop will go on to train faculty at the affiliated colleges as well as master trainers from affiliating universities.