Given the importance of teachers within the education landscape, the Voice of Teachers aims to bring to the fore teacher perceptions regarding the education universe they inhabit. Through the use of survey tools and in-depth qualitative interviews the study helps better understand the challenges teacher face, the support they require and their own assessment of issues within the teaching profession. The report is based on an extensive nation-wide survey of over 1,250 teachers and head teachers in more than 600 primary, elementary and high schools across the country four provinces, covering government and private schools in urban and rural areas.
The report finds that though teachers share a responsibility in poor learning outcomes, systemic failures produce a lack of support that teachers are in need of. Failures such as excessive non-teaching duties, multi-grade classrooms, lack of adequate facilities and centralized bureaucracies where teaching and learning is not given significant attention all add to poor learning outcomes. Furthermore, teacher capacity remains a real issue that undermines educational results. The report concludes by highlighting that the failure to deliver high quality education does not solely lie upon the teachers alone. In fact, the reality is that the challenges teachers face are equally due to their capacities and the policies and procedures in place. The report advises on improving recruitment polices, strengthening pre-service teacher education, using teacher time effectively, decentralizing authority to the school level and including teachers in the decision-making process as means for addressing these challenges.
Author(s): Muhammad Azhar, Abdus Sami Khan, Saman Naz, Firuza Pastakia, Abbas Rashid and Syed Asghar Shah
Sponsor(s): Alif Ailaan