In – service teacher training should be mandatory : Prof Nizamuddin

Lahore: Speakers at the concluding ceremony of five-day faculty training at the Government College University Lahore (GCU) on Friday said In – service teacher training should be mandatory for all those who take up teaching as a profession.

“Teaching is not an ordinary job as it is generally considered. It is the most sensitive and specialized field today, said Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairman Prof. Dr. Muhammad Nizamuddin, lamenting that there is serious deficiency in our educational system that the there is no compulsory training for teachers at any level.

The five-day training was organized by the university’s Quality Enhancement Cell (GCU QEC) by funding from PHEC to build the capacity of young teachers in andragogy and communication skills.

Talking to the participants, Prof. Nizam revealed that PHEC was going to establish three teachers’ academies in Punjab on the pattern of civil services academy where extensive training would be provided to the university and college teachers. He said that these academies would also have residential facilities, so that teachers from different areas and cities could also interact during trainings and learn from sharing good practices.

Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah said Andragogy (Adult Learning) had become highly advanced, so teachers were needed to be trained to move from conventional to contemporary instructional strategies. He hoped that the participants would endeavour to apply what they had gained from the training.

“For a better society, we need to have good teachers, so the training and capacity building of teachers is supposed to be the top priority,” Prof Shah said.

The Vice Chancellor lauded the initiatives of PHEC especially its plans for capacity building of the university teachers and funding for research in Social Sciences. He advised the teachers that, before applying for funding to attend any conference, they must check the credibility and ranking of institution or university organizing it.

Giving details of training, GCU QEC Director Ms. Iram Sohail said that the topics they touched, included teaching perspectives in higher education, andragogy as an alternative vision to traditional concept of pedagogy, curriculum development and assessment techniques, communication skills, strategies for effective oral and presentation skills, academic writing, micro teaching etc. She said that the success of an institution is highly dependent on process and product and students’ achievement is one of the most rewarding aspects of teaching profession.