KARACHI: A seminar was held under the aegis of the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development’s (AKU-IED) to mark the opening of the National Research Symposium on the status of teachers, at the Aga Khan unit Karimabad.
Experts stressed that teachers were faced with a critical situation as they were largely being ignored by society, which, in turn, was affecting the state of education in the country in an adverse manner. The two-day symposium mainly aims at taking into account issues pertaining to the status of teachers and the teaching profession in the country, identifying a set of questions and issues for further research and deliberations, and putting forward policy recommendations.
At the opening session, Dr Muhammad Memon, Director, AKU-IED, highlighted that priority has been given to teachers’ professional development but very little effort was made to research into their status and its implications for policy. He further added that merely recognising teaching as a profession will not help in improving the status of teachers. There was a need for governments, teachers, educators, civil society, and professional organisations to recognise their collective responsibility to develop a framework for enhancing their status.
Firoz Rasul, AKU President, and the chief guest on the occasion, said that civil society and the government need to recognise the role of teachers from broader social and economic perspectives, which will enhance teachers’ self-esteem and sense of professionalism.
Ismailimail 