Kashmir Education Foundation (KEF) has planned to impart professional teaching training to the underprivileged female teachers of the far-flung areas.
KEF is an international trust working in rural areas of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to provide purely English medium education to both the teachers and students of the rural areas.
On the occasion of 10th annual parents day of Pearl Valley Public School, a project of KEF in Rawalakot, Major General Muhammad Rahim Khan (Retd), the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, said that the KEF had been set up to provide standard education to the poor students in remote areas.
He said that the foundation has established Institute of Teacher Education (ITE) at Pakhowal, Rawalpindi, with foreign educationists faculty. He further said that the first course was started in October last year with an intake of 28 graduate trainees from AJK, Rawalpindi and Mianwali.
In the next phase, the chairman said, the foundation would expand the capacity of training institute by allowing more females from remote parts of the country to undertake the course.
General Rahim said that the board of trustee has also decided to expand the scope of institute from primary level to secondary and higher secondary level by enhancing enrolment of 75 to 200 trainees besides hostel facility to the additional 100 students. He said that the trust charges Rs 500 from each teacher trainee out of total expenditure on boarding, lodging and tuition fee.
Muhammad Habib Khan, the founder member of the trust, said that KEF would also set up schools in the earthquake-affected areas of AJK and rural areas of Chakwal for which funds would be provided by a UK-based philanthropist and Akram Khan Cheema's family.
Besides education sector, he said, the trust had also actively participated in relief and rehabilitation activities by setting up 2,500 winterised homes and other services in the earthquake affected-areas. Joan Atkinson, Director, ITE emphasised the need of standard education by producing quality teachers to bring the national education standard at par with international level. She opined that Pakistani students have a significant potential, which needs to be brushed up through structurally changing the teaching methodology.