Recognising the correlation between the quality of teacher education and socio-economic growth in the developi...

AKDN / Zahur Ramji

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Through the Strengthening Teachers' Education Project, AKU has mentored teachers in 110 primary and elementary schools in rural Balochistan and Sindh, upgrading their basic skills and impacting the quality of education for 27,000 students.

AKDN / Gary Otte

Pakistan


In Pakistan, the Institute serves as a national resource, and its impact on policy and practice has been significant and widely acknowledged.


An independent, external review of the Institute’s first 15 years found that “IED represents a unique, effective, sustainable and dynamic contribution to education reform for developing countries”. The review’s authors also stated that teaching, research and service “have never, in our experience in the developing world, been so strategically developed and extensive as at IED”. To date, the Institute has awarded more than 1,500 degrees and diplomas. Fifty-two percent of graduates are women.


IED has repeatedly partnered with the federal and provincial governments to improve teaching and learning in public schools and support policy development. A significant number of IED alumni serve at senior levels in government institutions, NGOs and school systems.


IED has:



  • conducted large-scale interventions to improve teaching and learning in government schools in underprivileged and remote areas of Sindh and Gilgit- Baltistan with the support of UNESCO, the Aga Khan Foundation and the development agencies of Canada, Australia and Korea;

  • helped develop Sindh’s curriculum for children ages three-five and trained 1,600 teachers to deliver it;

  • actively engaged in writing Sindh’s non-formal basic education policy;

  • worked extensively with the government in Gilgit Baltistan to develop its educational policy; and

  • won the competitive bid to review Pakistan’s first-ever single national curriculum and develop its teacher education modules.


Over 1,600 working teachers have completed IED East Africa's Certificate in Education programme and become part of the effort to improve teacher quality and student learning across the region.

AKDN / Gary Otte

East Africa


In a short time, IED in East Africa has established itself as a leader in teacher education in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. To date, it has awarded more than 600 master’s degrees and trained more than 3,000 educators through its certificate programmes, short courses and workshops.


In 2014, the Institute trained more than 800 secondary school head teachers in Uganda under a grant from the World Bank. Alongside other AKDN agencies, it recently completed a five-year project funded by the Canadian government and the Aga Khan Foundation, Strengthening Education Systems in East Africa. The project helped to improve education at the pre-primary and primary levels in marginalised areas of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.