Promoting Lifelong Learning systems in Pakistan

“Lifelong Learning systems not only equip students with valuable tools for personal development, but also represent a holistic approach that affects educators, parents and entire communities,” said Dr Shehzad Jeeva, Director Aga Khan University Examination Board introducing the theme for this year’s Principals' Conference held in Karachi. The annual conference is organized by the AKU-EB in partnership with the Oxford University Press (OUP).

“Our students face an increasingly globalised world, which places a heavy emphasis on a knowledge-based economy and multidisciplinary skills,” said Dr Jeeva. “The challenge for educational institutions in Pakistan, therefore, is to inculcate a sense of intellectual curiosity and a passion for learning that goes beyond formal academic years within their students. And it is not only students that need to evolve into lifelong learners - this is a pertinent need for all of us and therefore requires system level change in education for teachers, parents, principals’ and communities to develop into enduring pupils.”

Former chair of the European Council of International Schools English as a Second Language & Mother-tongue Committee, Eithine Gallagher delivered the keynote address titled “‘Is Inspirational Pedagogy the Key to Preparing Children for Lifelong Learning?” She noted the importance of maintaining a balance between mediums of instruction and mother languages, saying “You can’t turn off what you already know, and children will learn a lot more if they are not forced to turn-off their home tongues. When we tell children to think only in English or Urdu, it doesn’t make any sense because we think in all languages.” Ms Gallagher underscored the need for allowing students to become “translingual”, thus maintaining the ability to move from one language to another. She said that schools should strategize about how to encourage this among students, bringing them and their parents into the decisionmaking process. In this model, academic tasks could take place in a language such as English, but social talk and conversations could still take place in local languages.

The conference​​, attended by over 360 principals from all over Pakistan, is the only event of its kind in the country that brings together a diverse group of school leaders on a single platform and showcases original classroom research. Thirty one abstracts were presented on issues such as formative assessment in primary schools, case studies of educational institutions serving impoverished communities and the role of inquiry as a dynamic teaching learning approach. Capt (Retd) Muhammad Zahoor, principal of the Korangi Academy school in his case study presentation discussed his school’s unique mission of serving impoverished and undereducated communities. The challenge for them is to not only educate students but to contribute effectively to their overall growth. The school has had to do that by going out of the classroom and into the community. They arrange home visits to check on why children might be missing classes, mother awareness programmes for families, and involve the entire family of enrolled students in helping support their participation in school activities. In this manner, the entire community becomes involved in the future education and wellbeing of children.

Short, inspiring, TED-style talks titled “Educators as Change Agents” were delivered by Aamna Pasha, Associate Director of Teacher Development at AKU-EB; Karachi Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship founder, Afaque Riaz Ahmed and Kiran Foundation director, Sabina Khatri. 

​Ms Khatri noted, “Mental and emotional health practices in the world of education are probably the most underlooked and yet the most integral components in transforming our society.” She spoke about the need to introduce a sense of empathy and compassion among students, who often bring the problems that they face at home into the schools they attend. Tying this directly to the experiences of impoverished communities, she urged audiences to consider the amount of shame, shyness, guilt and feelings of invisibility that can plague students from broken communities.

Ms Pasha’s talk focused on the importance of studying humanities for societal development. “Problems are never one-dimensional - they are always multifaceted. They require academicians from multiple disciplines to come together to address them, and this is exactly what Pakistan needs,” she said. She also spoke of the need to bring education back to its interdisciplinary approach, as compartmentalisation had given students scopes that were too narrow. The key, she said, was to design courses in a manner that emphasise the flexible nature of problem solving.

The “Education for all - Vision 2030” panel saw leaders in Pakistani education like Baela Raza Jamil, Abbas Rashid and Irfan Muzaffar came together to discuss methods for inclusivity, quality education and lifelong learning in a local context. The role of the private sector, the pros and cons of technology as a cost effective means to expand access to quality education, and the role of language in education, particularly English as a medium of instruction came under discussion.

Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, Oxford University Press Pakistan presented the closing note, and stated: “The quantum and quality of education affects all aspects of human life – employment possibilities, economic performance, quality of life, social relationships, quality of thought, even the value of leisure. It is central to the single most important sector of societal activity, on which so much else hinges. The AKU-EB’s contribution to education in Pakistan thus makes it significant as it affects every part of society in Pakistan.”

Principals' Conference 2017 - Photographs ​

Principals' Conference 2017 - Media Coverage ​