LONDON/OXFORD: The University of Oxford has partnered with the Malala Fund to assist the Pakistani NGO Durbeen in training teacher-educators, marking the first initiative of its kind in South Asia, according to education reform advocate Shehzad Roy.
Roy thanked Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai for facilitating the collaboration.
The programme aims to create a curriculum for an MS programme that will train faculty for the BEd programme in Pakistan’s teacher training institutions.
Key figures in this partnership include Roy, Salma Alam (CEO of Durbeen), and university representatives Dr. Ann Childs, Dr. Aliya Khalid, and Dr. Ian Thompson.
The MS programme will offer five specializations—Language, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, and Educational Psychology—designed to prepare teacher-educators for corresponding BEd courses. This initiative aims to improve teacher education quality and produce well-trained school teachers.
Thompson highlighted insights gained from visiting Pakistan, while Roy stressed that inadequate teacher training negatively affects students’ critical thinking skills.
Alam noted that this initiative is a significant milestone for Pakistan, focusing on teacher-educators as a distinct group and ultimately aiming to position the country as a hub of educational innovation.