A Bachelors degree, preferably with a B.Ed., shall be the requirement for teaching at the elementary level. A Masters level for the secondary and higher secondary, with a B.Ed., shall be ensured by 2018. PTC and CT shall be phased out through encouraging the present set of teachers to improve their qualifications, while new hiring shall be based on the advanced criteria.
Teacher training arrangements,accreditation and certification procedures shall be standardised and institutionalised.
Teacher education curriculum shall be adjusted to theneeds of the school curriculum and scheme of studies. The curriculum shall include training for student- centred teaching, cross-curricular competencies, and an on-site component.
A separate cadre of specialised teacher trainers shall be developed
Governments shall take steps to ensure that teacher recruitment, professional development, promotions and postings are based on merit alone.
All teachers shall have opportunities for professional development through a programme organised on a three-year cyclic basis. Progress in career shall be linked to such professional development.
Recruitment of Teachers and running of Teachers Training Programmes shall be done at the District level, so as to reduce the problem of absentee teachers and the negligence of schools in remote areas
Teacher allocation plans, likewise, shall be based on schools needs and qualifications of teachers. Over the course of next two years, Governments shall develop a rationalised and need-based school allocation of teachers, which should be reviewed and modified annually.
To control absenteeism and multiple job-holding, Provincial and Area Administrations shall develop EMIS data on teacher deployment.
Institutionalised and standardised in-service teacher training regime shall be established in those provinces where it has not already been done.
In-service training shall cover a wide range of areas: pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge; subject content knowledge; testing and assessment practices; multi-grade teaching, monitoring and evaluation; and programmes to cater to emerging needs like trainings in languages and ICT.
Training needs shall be assessed on the basis of research and training programmes.
Governments shall take steps to improve social status and morale of teachers. These include: Upgrading of teacher. salaries as part of establishing a separate teaching cadre and teaching career; teachers' professional development, and a reward system based on performance measures.
The teaching workforce shall be managed on a truly professional basis, organised as a specialised function.
The voice of teachers associations shall be given due consideration in decisions on collective issues affecting teachers.
Governments shall aim to draw upon resources from the private sector through public-private partnerships, especially in the areas of teacher education and professional development programmes.
International Development Partners' resources shall be harnessed within a broad national programme of teacher improvement for the country as, a whole through inter-tier collaboration.
6. CURRICULUM REFORM
Policy Actions:
Curriculum development shall be objective driven and outcome based. It shall focus on learning outcomes rather than content. It shall closely reflect important social issues; provide more room for developing the capacity for self-directed learning, the spirit of inquiry critical thinking, problem-solving and team-work local contextual material.
The curriculum development and review process shall be standardised and institutionalised within the frame work of the Federal Supervision of Curricula, Textbook Maintenance of Standards of Education Act, 1979.
Curriculur shall emphasize the fundamental Rights guaranteed to the citizens of Pakistan, so that each individual shall develop within himself/herself and the society at large, a civic culture strong enough to withstand any extra constitutional interference when threatened chose rights.
Environmental education shall be made an integral part of early education
Curriculum shall include health education. This education will. among other things help in (i) Awareness of fatal diseases such as HIV/AIDS and prevention of harmful practises (ii) Detection and prevention of child abuse in many cases.
7. QUALITY IN TEXTBOOKS AND LEARNING MATERIALS
Policy Actions:
As part of the review and approval process, Textbook Boards shall seek a no objection certificate from Federal Ministry of Education, Curriculum Wing.
Federal and Provincial / Area Governments shall increase investments in school libraries and supplementary reading, teacher guides, teachers' training and learning materials.
An "Inter-Provincial Standing Committee on Textbook Policy" shall be established to regulate operational and procedural issues, and monitor and coordinate further implementation process. Curriculum Wing of Federal Ministry of Education shall be the secretariat for the Committee and shall be strengthened for the expanded tasks.
Implementation of the new system of regulated competitive publishing of textbooks and learning materials shall start with the introduction of revised National Curricula.
Special textbooks shall be prepared to cater to multi- grade environments. Alternately supplementary reading material that helps self learning must be developed for such environments
8. IMPROVING STUDENT ASSESSMENT
Policy Actions:
Education system needs to be internationally competitive and Pakistan shall make efforts to offer itself for international level academic assessments by 2012.
Student performance shall be based on assessing competence in a specialised area that requires a given skill set. There shall be periodic reviews of the assessment system.
Multiple assessment tools in addition to traditional examinations shall be explored, to ensure the right balance between the uses of formative assessment approaches combined with the summative approach of high-stakes examinations.
National standards shall be developed to reduce the differences in quality across regions. Assessment processes shall be standardised and become uniform across the Boards over time so that students appearing in examinations under different Boards can expect to receive the same grades.
A centralised assessment system through gradual reduction of the number of boards shall be achieved within the next five years.
The Education Boards shall be responsible for capacity building of paper setters and examiners.
A comprehensive plan shall be prepared to eliminate cheating from examinations and shall address social attitudes towards the issue.
A quality cycle management shall link the various systems of assessment and institutions involved in assessment (examinations, NEAS/PEAC, continuous assessment) to provide feedback to curriculum development, textbooks development and teacher education and professional development
9. ATTAINING STANDARDS IN THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Policy Actions:
A framework setting out the basic standards for school facilities and teaching aid materials shall be established by 2012 and shall form the basis for allocation of funds.
All schools shall establish a school mission that assists students in achieving their learning potential and personality development as the key goals. Pursuant to this, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities shall be made a mandatory part of the entire learning process.
A concept of service to the society shall be introduced
Student-teacher ratios shall be standardized and enforced at school level
An awareness campaign against corporal punishment shall be initiated and teachers shall be held accountable for violations.
A study for analyzing the impact of modern media on children with a view to realize its potential to help in attaining the objectives of the education system shall be undertaken. This must encapsulate the negative impacts and the possible ways to mitigate them.
A code of conduct shall be established which shall enable student unions to participate in healthy activities without affecting the environment of the educational institutions.
10. TECHNICAL, VOCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
Policy Actions:
A National Qualifications Framework (NQF) shall be established along with a changed program structure that encompasses all qualifications in the country, both academic and vocational/technical. The NQF shall be competency based and provide entry points and progression routes throughout the structure of qualifications. In particular, it shall provide the possibilities of two-way crossover between the academic and the applied streams, with clearly mapped out recognition of credit points for each competency level.
The business sector, in particular, shall be included in advising on the course and programme content, and in providing training positions and job shadowing opportunities for students in the applied streams. The business sector could also help teachers by giving specialised lectures and short training programmes.
All administrative jurisdictions and stakeholders shall be involved in a consultative process to develop the NQF programme. Expertise shall be sought from countries that have applied the NQF approach in recent years.
To address the problem of fragmented governance structure, a coordination mechanism between higher education, school education and technical, vocational education shall be developed.
Government shall develop a suitable framework for technical and scientific education and training with close involvement of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
There shall be a:- i.vocational training centre for every Tehsil; ii. polytechnic institute for every District (Agency in FATA) iii.colleges of technology in each Province/Area on a needs basis.
11. HIGHER EDUCATION
Policy Actions:
Steps shall be taken to raise enrolment in higher education sector from existing 3.7% to 10% by 2015 & 15% by 2020 through different modes of education i.e. main stream education, distance education and virtual education
Investment shall be increased to 18% of the education budget on the assumption that the total education budget grows to 5% of GDP by 2010 and 7% by 2015.
For promoting greater specialisation in research, a two-fold strategy for its R&D function shall be pursued: basic research in the universities and research institutions shall focus on building the capacity to conduct and absorb cutting edge research. The purpose would be to position the research endeavour to participate in the cutting research when research resources permit. The second strand shall be a focus on knowledge mobilisation that is, transmission of research knowledge through various forms of university industry partnerships and incubator programmes and science parks to the business sector. This commercialisation strategy aims at assist the innovation process of the economy.
Research grants and scholarships shall be awarded to deserving and poor students for continuing their studies in universities/institutes of higher education.
For promoting quality in its teaching function, universities shall collaborate to be selective in specialising in particular areas rather than each university attempting to cover the whole range of programmes.
Universities shall consider introducing four-year Bachelor degree programme. The PhD degrees shall have a minimum of four years. Universities shall develop quality assurance programmes, which include peer evaluation including foreign expertise.
Ranking system of the universities shall be made more broad-based including parameters that directly point to the quality of learning.
Recognising the importance of social sciences in developing better social understanding, transmission of civic and cultural values and the potential to reduce conflict, universities shall pay greater attention to this area in their research function.