The importance of the English language in Pakistan cannot be denied and its teaching is essential for the development of the country. This was the message conveyed by the speakers in the opening session of Hornby Summer School Pakistan - 2005 on Tuesday at a local hotel.
The speakers outlined the importance of the summer school, arranged by the British Council, Karachi, which will be held from July 12 to 29, 2005. The theme of the summer school is "Higher Education: Issues and Challenges". The school will bring together practitioners in English language teaching from higher education institutes in both the government and the private sectors in the South and Central Asian regions.
The programme developed in collaboration with the local partner, Aga Khan University Centre for English Language and the Society of English Language Teaching.
It offers a unique opportunity for participants to form a strong network across the South and Central Asian regions and work together on research proposals to be taken forward over the next two years. At least 27 participants have come from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
The programme will help the participants to use their experience of the course in making creative improvement in the teaching and learning process in their institutes. The course is open to English language teachers, and teachers of other disciplines providing English language support, in all higher education contexts.
Tom Craig-Cameron, director, British Council, Pakistan, welcomed the participants of the summer school. He informed the audience that British Council was striving for improving the English language and academic skills of the people of Pakistan.
"We are trying to form partnerships between Pakistani and British higher education institutions, and 50 such partnerships have been materialised", he said.
The main feature of the programme is to have interaction among the students of the two countries to increase the competency in the language, he said, adding that videos, e-mails, and other forms of communication are used for such purpose.
"The Hornby Summer School programme will enable the teachers to widen their academic horizon and interact with the students in a better way. It will bestow new and better values of life to the teachers and ultimately to the students", he said.
Charlie Walker of the British Council, Karachi highlighted the services of the British Council in promoting English language teaching. Its aim is to improve the usage of English Language for Higher Education. A teachers teaching programme is created. It is called Teaching English for Academic Purpose (EAP)."It is the third summer school in Pakistan, first two were held in Islamabad and Lahore", he disclosed.
Fiona English, senior lecturer of humanities in London Metropolitan University discussed in some details the courses offered in her faculty. She informed the participants that the university had multi-ethnic diversity and students from third world countries were aptly represented.
The Chief Guest of the opening session was Anita Ghulamali, the eminent educationist and a former Sindh Education Minister. She expressed her profound grief and horror at the London bombings and condemned it as a barbarous act from misguided people. She requested the audience for one-minute silence in their honour.