Teachers declared agents of change

CHITRAL, July 14: Teachers are the agents of change in any society as they bring about social transformation or revolution in a positive way, according to Professional Development Centre (PDC) of the Aga Khan University in Chitral director Dr Mir Afzal Tajik. He was speaking at the concluding ceremony of a six-month training course for teachers of public and private sector schools here on Saturday. Dr Tajik said training was imparted to teachers by adopting innovative approach with a special emphasis on practice instead of theory so that they could be able to see and experience local issues in their real perspective. He asked trainees to take all stakeholders along to achieve the goal of quality education and use their skills to concentrate and unify their efforts without which no tangible change was possible. Executive district officer of education Siraj Mohammad, who was the chief guest on the occasion, regretted passive response of the heads of government schools towards improvement of the quality of education in their educational institutions. “A principal of private sector school drawing Rs15,000 per month excels far better than the one heading a government school whose monthly salary runs into six digits,” he said. Mr Siraj shed light on the efforts taken by his department during the last one and a half years for the promotion of education and said it was an uphill task for him to reform the system and put government schools on right track. He said more than 75,000 students were enrolled in public sector schools and it was his utmost duty to ensure a bright future for them. The EDO claimed that the blatant use of unfair means in examinations had been controlled to a large extent. Regional programme manager of Hashoo Foundation of the Aga Khan Foundation Sultan Mehmud Khan, who was also in attendance, said it was quality education which alone could the nation to progress and prosperity and the holding of workshops on innovative ways of teaching was a step towards it. He lauded the role of the Aga Khan University in imparting modern training to teachers in Chitral. Later, certificates were distributed to trainees, who included 16 female and 22 male teachers. They were selected for courses in education leadership and management, and primary education.–Zahiruddin]]>