The United States Department of State funded Pakistani Educational Leadership Project annually welcomes Pakistani educators to a summer institute hosted by Plymouth State University. Recognized for their leadership capabilities, the educators represent the secondary level public and public/private sectors and teacher training institutions. While participating in institute workshops, they learn about American innoventions in education for adaptation in Pakistan. After the institute, the educators return to Pakistan to implement their training in professional development initiatives.
Thanks to funding since 2003 from the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the project has worked with 200 educators from throughout Pakistan, including Baluchistan, Sindh, Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Islamabad Capital Territory, and Azad Jammu Kashmir. Forty more educators participated in our seventh institute this July. With a shared goal of excellence in education, the project and its summer institutes embody a dynamic collaboration that crosses boundaries and connects learning communities in the United States and Pakistan.
The project works closely with Pakistan service provider Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA), stakeholders, alumni, and the U.S. Department of State to ensure that the curriculum meets the objectives of Pakistan’s educational reform initiatives. It focuses on best practices in education and on exemplary models in professional development and pedagogy. The institute experience also provides opportunities for citizen exchanges that are the essence of life in a democratic society.
According to statistics compiled by ITA, the project alumni who act as master trainers in Pakistan have shared their institute knowlege with over 100,000 of their colleagues. As Headmistress Nasreen Bano of Islamabad commented about the project, “It sends out a thousand points of light.” As the points of light continue to multiply, your continued support will allow this project to affect positive change for thousands of educators, and ultimately students, in Pakistan.
Please visit the newly created facebook group for the project where participants share their stories and pictures, and keep us updated on their work in Pakistan.
For more information please contact:
Blake Allen
Director, Pakistani Educational Leadership Project at Plymouth State University
ballen@plymouth.edu
(603) 535-2615
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