Daily Times

Teachers are not born. They are made through years of education that must involve academic and professional preparation. Their professional development should result in equipping them with a blend of content knowledge and pedagogical skills. Teaching skills also need to evolve to be able to respond to a fast transforming world. As the schools and teachers in the rest of the world gear up to teach 21st century skills to the pupils, we must also prepare our teachers to do the same. Teacher-pupil interaction is where knowledge transfer happens. Therefore, the quality of that interaction cannot be emphasised enough.

All countries that have achieved well functioning schools systems have one thing in common. They have effective systems of teacher education, selection, and life-long professional development. In effective institutions, the initial mandatory teacher training includes practical teaching practice under observation and review of experts.

The KP government has recruited 40,000 teachers in the last three years. This was groundbreaking for two reasons. One, such a huge influx of teachers in the education system was unprecedented. Two, the recruitment process was made free of bias by employing a merit-based testing method. Recognising the importance of teacher preparation, PKR 800 million were spent on professional development activities for teachers in KP.

Realising that language skills are core development need of a child, a training program for teachers has been developed to teach reading and writing of English to developing learners using phonics. 45,000 teachers from schools all over the province are enrolled in this training. Improvement in teacher competency to teach using phonics will greatly enhance learning outcomes.

The KP government has recruited 40,000 teachers in the last three years. This was groundbreaking for two reasons. One, such a huge influx of teachers in the education system was unprecedented. Two, the recruitment process was made free of bias by employing a merit-based testing method

Furthermore, 80,000 teachers were trained on using English as a medium of instruction in schools. This takes priority because often it is the understanding of the language of instruction that challenges learning in all other subjects.

Differences in abilities among children make teaching an extremely demanding job. Especially when dealing with children with learning difficulties such as dyslexia. Growing up with this condition makes the child a silent victim. Its invisible and children suffering from this disability lose their self-confidence. Training of teachers on how to identify dyslexic students, single out their needs and establish a teaching plan based on effective techniques for dyslexic patients is very important. We have launched a program for teachers to be equipped to first identify then teach such children with special needs.

A training program for teachers to help an estimated 178,972 dyslexic children in the province is in progress. It is designed to train teachers on multisensory teaching techniques. This program consists of a seven-day long training workshop followed by 50 hours of interaction with dyslexic students over a period of five weeks.

As we understand more of how knowledge, skills and competencies are evolving in a digital world, there is a need to train teachers about the latest developed teaching methods and processes. Helping them stay at the top of the technological advancement curve is the only way to close gaps in literacy skills and reduce inequalities. We have to realise that the definition of literacy transforms with changing technology and evolving society. We believe that teachers being the most important actor in the education system, they must have access to trainings, workshops and capacity building exercises.

When capacity building of teachers respond to the needs identified based on the formal curriculum and results of the assessment, it can greatly help identify parameters to improve learning outcomes. Teacher effectiveness can be improved by helping them get clarity about their proper role in the classrooms.

The KP government particularly owes it to their children to provide them with knowledgeable and caring teachers. Thus, they should leave no stone unturned to help teachers gain high quality professional development experiences.

The writer has over a decade of experience being a development consultant. She is currently working as an advisor in the education sector in KP. She tweets @AishaFSarwari

Published in Daily Times, November 16^th 2017.