A group of 15 Pakistani educators returned home after they completed a three-week summer course at the Plymouth State University, New Hampshire in the United States. Funded by the State Department, the summer institute is a joint venture between the university and the Lahore-based non-government organisation (NGO), Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi.
About the programme, NGO's Saima Hasrat said people-to-people interaction was significant in removing misconceptions about one another while Assistant Professor Mubasher Nadeem, from Lahore's University of Education, said the programme broadened his vision.
The programme began in 2004 and 80 educators, including senior subject specialists at secondary level, have participated in it. The categories covered are English, mathematics, science and school leadership.
Pakistani alumni have trained 10,000 educators in their role as master-trainers. The participants selected for the Pakistan Educational Leadership Institute represented the following institutions: Departments of Education in Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir; Sindh Education Foundation; Allama Iqbal Open University; University of Education; Directorate of Staff Development; University of Punjab; Federal College of Education; Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust; and Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi