Speakers at a concluding ceremony of two-day workshop titled "Teaching as a Profession" have said that skilled teachers are needed to achieve the objective of quality education. They called for consolidated efforts to motivate educators to perform their duties with care and sensitivity.
They were speaking at a certificate distribution ceremony of a 2-day training workshop for teachers belonging to faculty of social sciences held under the auspices of Higher Education Commission (HEC) Islamabad and Department of Psychology, SU here at Nelson Mandela Hall, University of Sindh, Jamshoro on Thursday. Dean Faculty of Social Sciences Professor Dr Parvaiz Ahmed Pathan was chief guest in the event while among others Pro Vice Chancellor SU Bhit Shah Campus Professor Dr Aslam Parvaiz Memon and Professor Nageena Parveen Soomro also participated in the ceremony.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Parvaiz Ahmed Pathan said that there was a strong co-relation among education, knowledge and development, which was a process that should focus on bringing about a positive change among learners. Referring to the importance of teachers' training, he said that the area required serious attention of their educational managers. "Though we tend to invest a great deal in brick and mortar, we ignore the development and training of our teachers," Dr Pathan said.
"Merely transfer of knowledge or skill should not be the ultimate objective and if that is so, it will be a failure of the education process. Instead education should develop constructive behaviour to promote a peaceful, friendly and healthy living environment for all." Dr Aslam Parvaiz Memon said that more than fifty per cent of teachers across the country have 'half-baked' knowledge and lack in basic skills of teaching. "People opting for teaching should have the required knowledge along with enthusiasm for the profession. They should not move to the field due to lack of job opportunities in other sectors," he added.
Dr Memon further said that teachers should foster service mindedness and work towards the overall development of the students. "Every learning process in the world begins from teachers. Besides imparting knowledge and answering the questions in an understandable manner, teachers should also show love and affection towards the students," he maintained. Stressing on the need for eliminating the notion of 'zero development' in the teaching field, he called upon the teaching fraternity to do away with such misconceptions.
He also urged the teachers not to shrug away from their responsibilities and carry on with discipline and hard work. Dr Muhammad Khan Sangi, Director Institute of English language & Literature, said that HEC's teacher training would help fulfil the demand for qualified teachers in the universities of the country including that of Sindh Varsity. He stressed that similar activities for teaching techniques and skill development of the faculty of higher education should continue across the country.
He suggested making the course available online, in hybrid, distanced and contact sessions. "This would go a long way in enhancing teaching competencies of university professors and lecturers while not being too time consuming." A college professor of English Imtiaz Ali Bughio said that the programme covered various aspects of professional competency development. It offered an opportunity for a pool of experienced and resource persons to collect and share ideas at the same time.
Professor Nageena Parveen urged the participants to carry the spirit of professional learning into their classrooms. She asked the participants to actively take part in similar professional development programmes to keep themselves at par with modern needs of their profession. In the end, the certificates were distributed among the participant teachers who got training.
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