Improved teaching methods sought at Pakistani schools

Education experts from the Pakistan Professionals Wing (PPW) Dubai are pushing for an accurate assessment of teaching methods employed in schools offering the Pakistani curriculum in the UAE, in an effort to ensure that students clearly understand core concepts while learning. Munir Mahmoud, PPW chairman, said research shows that while children today respond to rote-based questions relatively well, they fail to answer unfamiliar or application-based questions due to unclear core concepts. "We at the PPW do realise that we have a mammoth task ahead of us that we need to start dealing with in small but right and effective steps," Mahmoud said. He stressed that the PPW will assist schools carry out self-evaluations and work towards the continuous improvement of each section as recommended by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). The PPW has started a series of free workshops and has held open discussions on how to improve the quality of teaching and the standard of education offered by schools offering the Pakistani syllabus in the UAE. After witnessing the positive outcomes of two open discussion workshops, which were held for the first time in the UAE between principals of Pakistani-syllabus schools, teachers and members of the PPW, the PPW last week held another workshop to improve the skills of Pakistan school teachers. The workshop, whose theme was the ‘Use of Technology to Improve Teaching Skills' and was held on May 21, sought to help teachers use the internet and technology to improve their teaching skills. The day-long workshop was conducted by Amir Anzur, a ‘web-preneur' with over a decade's experience in the online world and Dean of Webpreneur University. Some 50 teachers and principals of Pakistani schools in the UAE attended the free workshop. Anzur highlighted that several free teaching resources were available on different websites and emphasised that teachers should benefit from these resources. Irfan W. Malek, leader of the PPW Education Committee, said that the committee held a comprehensive and open discussion on KHDA's report on the performance of Pakistani schools in the UAE. Principals and teachers from different schools, quality assurance advisers, educationists, social development experts and senior executives of the PPW participated in the discussion. The discussion focused on the problems and issues raised in the KHDA report, possible solutions to improve on the shortcomings and strategies for meeting the objective of attaining an ‘acceptable' level. Iqbal Maladwala, executive member, stressed that teachers must use technology during their classes and improve their skills in the area of pedagogy and pastoral care. Each principal was asked to prepare a comprehensive school self-improvement plan that includes targets, people responsible for achieving the targets, how the targets can be achieved, resources and deadlines. They were also asked to look at a central database of pupil's grades and also consider in-house and inter-school training and sharing of experience. From / Gulf News