Islamabad, The concluding ceremony of the 12th Batch of Master Trainers Faculty Professional Development Programme (MT FPDP) was organized by the Learning Innovation Division, Higher Education Commission at HEC Secretariat.

Twenty eight faculty members from 21 public and HEC approved private sector universities across Pakistan participated in the two-month Programme, which is an in-service orientation training designed to equip the higher education teaching faculty with the latest pedagogical and research skills required for effective teaching and research. So far, 329 Master Trainers have been trained in 11 successful batches of MT FPDP. Mr Ghulam Farid Kathia, Minister of State for Education was the chief guest on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister highlighted the significance of teachers’ continuous professional development. He said the New Education Policy has given due importance to teacher training at all levels, especially higher education. He said the quality education depends on the quality of teachers.

“For producing qualified teachers, pre-service and continuous in-service training is necessary. Unfortunately, for higher education faculty, no mandatory pre-service training mechanism has been introduced so far,” he said.

The Minister appreciated HEC’s Learning Innovation Division for playing a commendable role by organizing a regular in-service Master Trainers Faculty Professional Development Programme, to develop and enhance the requisite pedagogical and administrative skills of the existing faculty.

The Programme comprised eleven core modules along with some additional components. Participants took keen interest in “Teaching as a Profession” module in which they gained insight about their profession. In “Microteaching” module they got chance to demonstrate and improve their teaching skills. “Assessment and Evaluation”, “Communication Skills” and “Research Methods and Skills” modules were also conducted to enhance the teaching capabilities of the participants. Other than core modules, special sessions were arranged in which eminent scholars shared their views with the participants on different topics.