Plymouth State University

PLYMOUTH, NH — For the fourth consecutive year, thanks to funding from the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Plymouth State University through the Pakistani Educational Leadership Institute will host and engage Pakistani educators and administrators by giving them more skills to lead educational initiatives and affect change in Pakistan. This year’s Institute will host 15 honored guests from Pakistan from July 4 through July 26.

“Plymouth State University’s Pakistani Educational Leadership Institutes, designed as training for educational leaders from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s public and public/private sectors in partnership with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi, represent the essence of citizen exchanges,” said PELI Director Blake Allen. “The summer institutes have linked a growing number of people, communities and institutions in New Hampshire and Pakistan due to a shared passion for excellence in education.”

Allen and two PELI participants were featured on the New Hampshire Public Radio news/talk program “The Exchange” on Tuesday, July 10. More information is available online at:
pelinstitute.org/archives/97.

To date, Plymouth State University’s 65 Pakistani alumni have trained over 9,600 educators in American innovations in education as the linkages continue to strengthen and grow.

This year’s list of participants includes educational leaders–directors, professors, and managers–that represent the Pakistani Department of Education, state universities, and private education-based organizations.According to Dr. Munawar Mirza, Vice Chancellor, University Education Lahore, expectations for this group of Pakistani educators are high.

“It is a pleasure to be here today with the PSU nominees… this is an excellent effort,” Mirza told the group as they prepared to leave for the United States. “The initiatives’ greatness lies in the fact that it involves the public sector which caters to majority of the population. It is an excellent idea to send people abroad to learn. This year’s program is slightly different. Previously people have been receiving trainings to teach whereas this time, the focus area is very different and significant. Very little is known in Pakistan through systematic research. This group should learn how classroom teachers research and how can educators use research in their teachings.”

This year the PEL Institute will focus on the following goals.

The three-week PEL Institute creates an atmosphere where Pakistani educators can come and immerse themselves in an inspiring and creative learning environment and work to:

• Enhance leadership capabilities to affect positive change in the educational environments and systems in their communities.
• Employ entrepreneurial educational skills by using “the world is our classroom” theme.
• Create a truly collaborative effort that crosses communities, regions, and countries by connecting people through their common goal — excellence in education.
• Develop an instrument to assess the skills and evaluate the programs developed by the 65 previous master trainers, measuring their impact on the organizations and communities that they represent.
• Empower master trainers to adapt American student centered and interactive learning strategies to public education initiatives in Pakistan.
• Continue expanding the collaboration with Pakistan partner ITA that is an integral component of this effort.
• Celebrate a citizens exchange that focuses on sharing ideas and experiences

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For more information contact Christopher M. Williams at cwilliams@plymouth.edu or at (603) 535-2476.