Daily Times

LAHORE: Punjab Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr Nizamud Din has said that teachers of higher education in Punjab are lacking in latest training techniques and therefore, a Teachers Training Academy or institution is required if we are to compete with the modern world.

In his exclusive interview to Daily Times on Friday at PHEC office, Dr Nizam was of the view that if newly hired police officials, civil servants, doctors and paramedics can get training on modern lines, then why not the teachers. PHEC, in this regard, has decided to establish a Teachers Training Academy similar to Civil Services Academy where teachers would have to spend at least one to two months before being deputed to the colleges, Nizam added.

He said this training academy should be residential, where teachers would spend full days as bureaucrats do in the Civil Services Academy. “Training doesn’t mean attending workshops only, it includes providing proper environment and facilities to train a person,” he added.

He revealed that the academy, which would be a breakthrough in Pakistan’s education system, should include a hostel, library, mess, Internet café and sports facilities. “Keeping in the front the example of Scotland, where you cannot be a teacher without passing an exam, we can also set a parameter for selection of teachers in Pakistan,” he said.

Nizam criticised the system of education in government institutes and said that despite 50 percent of students enrolled in government colleges, the teachers of these colleges are much behind in technology, teaching methods and pedagogy as compared to the teachers of private colleges. “Even the students of private institutes are more technology equipped than the teachers of government institutes,” he lamented.

The PHEC chief expressed that the government colleges in Punjab have been ignored, therefore they are facing problems of inappropriate infrastructure and lack of staff. In this regard, he added, PHEC would introduce community colleges, which would introduce new subjects and study programmes.

In reply to a query, Nizam said that there are several hurdles in shifting of management of colleges from Higher Education Department (HED) to PHEC. Differentiating between a regular and community college, he said that PHEC have several new ideas, as the commission intends to start a two-year graduation programme in several new subjects, which are being ignored at the regular graduation level.