TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM IN PUBLIC SECTOR

1.      Pre-Service Training

                   There are two types of pre-service teacher qualification: these are the Primary Teaching Certificate (PTC) and the Certificate of Teaching (CT). The academic qualifications required to attend these trainings are Secondary School Certificate(SSC) and Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) respectively. In addition to the training institutions mentioned above Departments of Education in the universities(Public and Private) provide teacher education at graduate and postgraduate levels(B. Ed, M. Ed, PhD). Since the establishment of University of Education in Punjab (September 2002) the PTC, CT certificate courses have been abolished and only graduate and postgraduate courses are offered. The Curriculum wing of the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the provincial curriculum bureaus are responsible for developing the framework for teacher training in Pakistan. The PTC and CT courses were last revised in 1995. The B. Ed. and M.Ed. wing but routed courses are designed by the curriculum to the Universities through the Higher Education Commission. The pre-service curriculum for primary school teachers tends to over emphasize theoretical aspects poor quality teacher training coupled with outdated curriculum.

                   The Curriculum Wing has six sectors: Islamic Education, Language/Social Sciences & Teacher’s Education, Basic Sciences, Textbook development/Testing & Evaluating, Population &environment and the Coordinating Agency for Vision 2010 Programme. “Organization and textbooks, and a dysfunctional institutional and organizational set-up has resulted in low teacher motivation, absenteeism, and a largely dissatisfied teaching force. Some of the weaknesses of the curriculum framework are that it does not differentiate between the needs of urban and rural schools, and how teachers should be prepared to handle the two settings. The techniques and methods of training teachers is another issue that undermines the development of competent and confident teachers in Pakistan. The lecture method remains the most commonly used instructional approach in teacher training institutions. Although there are a few compulsory school attachments, these do not provide ample exposure to how teachers should relate and deal with real teaching challenges e.g. large class size, poor teaching and learning infrastructure etc. Problem solving and group work approaches are rarely followed. Thus, teacher training programmes provide little opportunity for teachers to develop the kind of skills that can make them more successful in their practice and build their confidence and motivation in teaching.

       2.      In-Service Teacher Training

                   Generally, primary teachers do not have sufficient opportunities for in-service training on a continuous and regular basis. Usually there is no recurrent budget allocation for this activity. Some provinces fund teacher training from their development budgets, but none of the provinces have a sustainable and coherent model for continuous in-service teacher training. Only a few teachers from the public sector attend the limited number of in-service courses on offer because of favoritism in the selection process. The policy is that every teacher should have in-service training after five years on the job. If this is to happen, then 20 percent of the stock of teachers will have to be trained every year.     However, there is lack of infrastructure and human resource capacity to deliver in-service on this scale. In-service teacher training is funded mostly through donor support, with little or no coordination among the donors themselves. The result is duplication of effort and alack of systematization of professional development and learning that has been identified after a careful analysis of teacher needs .The management of in-service training programmes is a complex and difficult issue .One challenge is identifying teachers who need specific training. In most cases, it has been observed that the same teachers are the ones attending in-service. Nomination to attend in-service training has been corrupted because of the financial incentives of attending, in the form of per diems and allowances. The lack of adequate facilities and other support measures for women teachers to participate in the residential training programme has also been identified as a disincentive for attending in-service training. Most critical ones are day-care centres for children and the absence of women resource persons. A general insensitivity towards the specific needs of young mothers or middle-aged women in the training programmers’ discourages women teachers from participating.

                   Quality control is another problem issue. The short duration of courses, the lecture style delivery, the absence of supervision, the lack of monitoring and performance appraisals of trainers are contributory factors to the low quality and committed certified teachers in public schools. Also, trainers are usually close to retirement by the time they join training colleges and lack interest in the job. Another observation is that many trainers of primary teachers (PTC courses) have never taught schoolchildren, and therefore, lacks practical insights into the needs of primary school teaching. Also, there is no system of performance appraisal of teacher educators to ensure that only competent and motivated ones are selected as facilitators for in-service training. The lack of instructional materials, laboratory schools and other facilities also affects the quality of training. Thus, trainers are generally not motivated and interested in their jobs.

      3.     Private sector

Elite private schools arrange different training workshops and exposure experiences for their teachers. Such opportunities are offered to teachers with 2-3 years teaching experience. Teachers sign a bond that commits them to serve the schools for a specified period, after receiving this training. However, training opportunities are not equally distributed among schoolteachers. Training and professional development opportunities for ‘medium level school’ teachers are limited whereas teachers in what is classified as ‘low level schools’ hardly get any opportunity to attend training courses.