Effectiveness of Teacher Training Programs of the University of Education, Punjab

Author(s)        Harcharan Pardhan and Muhammad Memon (AKU-IED)
                     Fareeha Zafar & Abbas Rashid (SAHE)    

Date              March 2004

Abstract  

The University of Education, Punjab sponsored this study to evaluate its audacious teacher training programmes. The assessment carried out by SAHE in collaboration with the Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) critiques the effectiveness of these training programmes. Through various interviews of trainees and classroom evaluations, the study shows that teachers demonstrated little or no improvement in their teaching skills, and their teaching ability remained lacklustre throughout Punjab. The use of unimaginative training techniques, refusal to heed to the demands of the trainees, inadequate monitoring of the programme, ineptitude of the trainers, and the short training time failed to impart proper pedagogical skills to the trainees and significantly contributed to the ineffectiveness of the programme. In view of these shortcomings, the study provides such long-term and short-term policy recommendations as the professional development of the teaching workforce, construction of institutions at the district level to facilitate training, and use of high quality instructional material for teachers, to promote healthier training programmes and encourage the sustainable development of education at the pedagogical level.