CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT IN PAKISTAN

The
structure of teacher education in Pakistan

Keywords; The
Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.); Elementary and Secondary Education; Curriculum Wing; of
Education (M.Ed.); M.A. Education;
Teacher Education PGCTE; B.Ed. (hons) 4
year; ADE: Associate degree in Education.

In September 1996 the Ministry of Education Curriculum Wing under the
Teacher Training Project (TTP) designed a detailed scheme of curricula and
courses for the whole range of teacher education. This proposed network of
teacher education program comprised:

The Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) covering both Elementary
and Secondary either (12+3) or (14+1);The Master of Education (M.Ed.) (15+1);The Master of Arts in
Education  M.A. (Ed.) – (14+2).

Postgraduate Certificates, such as the Post Graduate
Certificate in Teacher Education PGCTE; the Post Graduate
Certificate in Educational TechnologyPGCET; the Post Graduate Certificate in
Educational Management PGCEM; and postgraduate
diplomas;Higher degrees in education, such as M.Phil. and Ph.D.

A number of University and
Colleges of Education in KPK offer the B.Ed. (hons) 4 year programme which will
replace B.Ed. one Year program after 2016 as per HEC order.

ADE: Associate degree in Education, 2
years program after F.A and FSC.

The courses currently offered by various
Institutions are shown in the table below:

Implication/
suggestion for the structure of teacher education

Strengthen linkages between teacher
education institutions

There is a need to
establish linkages between the provincial teacher education institutions

particularly between RITE,
PITEs and Universities. By establishing interface between these institutes,
especially at the provincial level, the overlapping of functions and
duplication of work and effort can be avoided. There is also the need for
closer academic collaboration between these institutions to improve both
pre-service and in-service teacher education. Strengthen and support PITEs as
apex institutions for innovation and research in teacher education.

·        
Set up a
separate cadre of teacher education

·        
The diversity in structure of teacher
education faculty also needs to be made uniform and

separate cadre of
teacher educators needs to be maintained and protected. Ensure teacher

educators are retained
by avoiding unnecessary transfers.

Duration of courses

The duration of teacher
education courses is short. The duration of certificate and degreecourses need
to be increased so that curricula are implemented in true spirit and
curricularobjectives are fully met.

Improve the physical and
resource environment of the classrooms that encourage group work and activity
based learning.

Introduction of institutional
performance evaluation and staff appraisal

Institutional Performance Evaluation and Staff
Appraisal system needs to be introduced atthe institutional level to ensure
regular monitoring of the activities during the academic year and the
assessment of the institution’s performance against institutional objectives
and budgetary allocations. Moreover, a comprehensive staff appraisal system
needs to be introduced which ensures the participation of all the relevant
staff.

Provision of quality text books and resource
material

There is an acute shortage
of textbooks and reading and teaching learning references and supplementary
material. National level educationists need to be involved in producing course
relevant quality textbooks and reference material. There are no regular
budgetary allocations for physical facilities such as labs, libraries,
teaching-learning material and IT facilities. Such facilities need regular
budgetary allocations. Labs and Libraries need to be modernized. More time
should be devoted to Practicum and learning assignments in all subjects, so
that labs and library study become a necessary part of the training.

Improvement of educational institutions
infrastructure

Most of the training colleges are in miserable
condition. A concerted effort on the part of the government is required to
improve the physical environment of the training colleges. There should be
budgetary allocations for physical facilities such as lab, libraries, teaching
and learning material andIT facilities.

Revision of admission policy

Enrolment exceeds the capacity to
accommodatestudents in the training colleges. This results in a decline of the
quality of training.Admission policy needs to be revised to ensure that over
enrolment does not ruin the quality of training.

Recommendations

Incorporate state of the art content knowledge and
pedagogy skills in teacher education courses relevant to the needs of the
curriculum and based on groundrealities.

Considering existing condition of college buildings
there is a need to repair/renovate all the college buildings that require
immediate facelift.

Introduce a regular appraisal system to assess the
performance of teacher educators and introduce a system of Institutional
Performance Evaluation.

Improve the physical and resource environment of the
classrooms that encourage group work and activity based learning.

Linkages between the provincial teacher education
institutions particularly between the Rites, PITEs and universities needed to
be established. Strengthen and support PITEs as apex institutions for
innovation and research in teacher education.

Preparation
for changing situation and Recent Innovations in Teacher Training

Rather
than bringing the teacher to the training center, taking the training to the
school is a

daring
new strategy in in-service teacher training. The Teachers Resource Centers
(TRCs)

and
the Teaching Outposts (TOs) were visualized to perform this role.

Internship or a Teaching House - Job

The University of Education Lahore requires the
B.Ed. examinees to do teaching in government schools for six months. The
trainee is eligible for the award of a degree only after successful completion
of the internship, certified by the school head. It is an attempt at creating a
licensing procedure for adoption of the teaching profession. Properlyorganized,
it can be utilized as a feedback mechanism for evaluating the quality of
thetrainee and the training.

Institutional Performance Evaluation

The IER Departments of Universities send the team of
expert teacher educators and teacher education managers who evaluate the
institutional performance in their province through;

Assessment of Pupil Achievement

A
new initiative in evaluation of student achievement is the establishment of the
National

Educational
Assessment System valuation.

Training of Teaching Faculty

Modern curricula and methods in teacher education,
particularly the activity and constructivist approach in teacher training. The
teacher-educators shouldlearn to use these approaches in their own classrooms
for teaching their own subjects.e.g.

·        
Educational psychology: recent
research findings on how children learn.

·        
Measurement and evaluation of student
achievement.

·        
Curriculum Development and Evaluation.

·        
Use of technology in education:
Computers, Internet, Multimedia, etc.

·        
Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI).

·        
Assessment in Teacher Education.

·        
Action Research ?the teacher as a
researcher.

ESL:

·        
Modern technology of Teaching English as
a second language.

·        
Use of technology in language learning:
Cassette recorders-players,

·        
Television, Video Cassettes, Computers.

·        
CAI in teaching ESL

·        
Assessment in ESL

Science:

·        
Implementing the Activity/Discovery
Approach in the Teacher Training Classrooms.

·        
Organizing practical work.

·        
Using environment as resource in
teaching science.

·        
Teaching the Processes.

·        
Testing for understanding, application
and problem solving.

·        
Use of CAI in teaching Science.

Mathematics:

·        
Discovery approach in Mathematics.

·        
Use of materials in teaching
mathematics.

·        
Testing for understanding, application
and problem solving.

·        
Use of CAI in teaching Mathematics.

Physical Facilities and Equipment

·        
Some buildings need repairs and
renovation.

·        
The classroom furniture in all training
institutions and practice schools is of traditional design. Light movable
furniture is required for practicing activity approach and group-work.

·        
Science labs need curriculum relevant
equipment and workshop tools for devising low-cost teaching materials.

·        
Lab attendants need training as lab
technicians.

·        
Teaching material of daily classroom use
such as charts, maps, globes, models are in short supply in most institutions.

·        
Computer teacher posts need to be
created for teaching computer applications.

·        
Internet connections need to be
provided.

·        
Audio-Video and projection equipment is
inadequate.

·        
Libraries need to be refurbished with
recent publications in education, teaching ESL and teaching
of Science and Mathematics. Educational magazines need to be made available.