PESHAWAR, (APP): The Elementary and Secondary Education Department (ESED) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and British Council Pakistan here Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve teaching quality of all primary school teachers in the province.
The MoU was signed by Dr Shahzad Bangash, Secretary ESED and Jim Booth, Country Director British Council Pakistan. Minister Education Muhammad Atif Khan, Rafique Khattak Director and Qaisar Alam Special Secretary were in attendance. From British Council, Arzu Daniel Director English Pakistan and Bilal Ahmad Head of English Pakistan attended the ceremony.
Under the initiative, the British Council will assist ESED in training and development of nearly 83,000 teachers of KP primary schools with special focus on four subjects English as medium of instruction, mathematics, science and general knowledge.
The three year program will be implemented in all the districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In the first phase, ESED will provide a list of 1500 teachers. British Council will conduct assessment and transparent selection criteria to select 480 teachers as master trainers. The selected master trainers will be tested after the training and will be graded and certified by the British Council. This is Rs 568 million program, of which, the government will bear 70 per cent of the cost, while remaining 30 per cent would be contributed by the British Council.
Education Minister Muhammad Atif Khan reiterated that these trainings should be highly professional and teachers should receive certification. "This program will bring value addition to the teaching skills of the teachers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. We hope that British Council will continue such projects in the future as well," the Minister added.