Plans are afoot to introduce a 4-year Bachelors in education programme which will be phased in by 2011. This was stated by Dr Javaid R Laghari, Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) while addressing the inaugural ceremony of a three-day workshop organised by Pre Service Teacher Education Programme in Pakistan in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission, Ministry of Education and USAID.
Chairman HEC said that there is dire need for relevant research data before policy decisions are made. Research in education will make teaching more effective and herald a new beginning for education, Laghari added. He stressed the need to strengthen teaching staff for achieving international credibility. He said that focus on research is one of the surest ways to improve teachers' education and standards of instruction.
He lauded Pre-Step's provision of 60 scholarships for PhD studies in the United States for teachers of 15 partner public sector universities. This will work towards strengthening the capacity of teachers in Pakistan, he added. The event was also addressed by Aurangzeb Rahman, Joint Education Adviser, Ministry of Education, Phillip Butterfield, Acting Chief of Party Pre-STEP Pakistan and Dr Jack Schwille.
The workshop is an effort to gather education policy-makers, education practitioners and teacher educators from both the public and private sectors and identify education research capacity gaps for developing a road map that would guide the institutionalisation of educational research in universities as well as in higher departments of education.
Aurangzeb Rahman said that during three-day workshop the participants would gain insight into the context within which educational research could help uniform policy and decision making, especially in areas that are related to improving teacher education.
He further said that the Pre-STEP programme would provide research grants and other research capacity support to university professors, students and relevant government officials related to teacher education in Pakistan.