Islamabad - Federal Secretary for Education and Training, Mohammad Humayun has stressed the need for holding trainings and refresher courses for teachers so that they could meet the challenges of fast changing demands in education sector and impart quality training to the youth.

He expressed these views while addressing the inaugural session of the 5-day capacity building workshop for master trainers (teachers) on Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) started at Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) yesterday.

The training programme organized by PSF in collaboration with Economic Cooperation Organization Science Foundation (ECOSF), is being attended by over 57 master trainers from all over the country. Experts from France and Turkey are conducting this workshop.

The federal secretary said that the country was facing dearth of able teachers to impart quality education not only at school level but also at the level of higher educational institutions. He hoped that the capacity-building workshop for master trainers will help produce quality teachers.

He said, “For producing good students we need good teachers and this training will be very fruitful to change the situation.” He congratulated the organisers for the initiative much needed to break the shackles of status quo prevailing in education system. Humayun also highlighted some of the important initiatives of the government regarding new education policy which is likely to be in place by end of this year.

PSF Chairman Prof Dr Muhammad Ashraf spoke at length about the Foundation’s new programmes for strengthening base of science students in the country right from primary education level. He said that under the Science Talent Farming Scheme PSF is transforming its Science Caravans into state-of-the-art mobile science labs and the first one has been fabricated.

He said that in this lab 10 students will be able to conduct experiments at a time and these labs will travel to remote area schools to facilitate them in science education.

Dr Ashraf said that the workshop was aimed at creating awareness about the philosophy and 10 principles of IBSE, experiencing the process of inquiry-based science teaching and learning through various IBSE lesson examples and activities.

He said that science is imperative for sustainable development, as it lays a strong foundation for originating new approaches, solutions and technologies to identify and tackle global challenges. A strong foundation of science students serves as the base for science literacy, better understanding of the national and the world problems as well as preparation for future development and cope with emerging socio-economic issues, he said. He added that critical thinking that comes through science education is vital to the young minds for understanding the world, making choices and solving problems.

The concept of “inquiry” fosters the understanding of technological innovations, which needs to be inculcated among children at primary & secondary school levels, he maintained.

ECOSF President Prof Dr Manzoor H Soomro said that IBSE approach is used for teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects at schools with the objective to instil the willingness of children for exploring new ideas through observation, evidence and logic.

In his presentation while introducing the ECOSF he said this specialized regional organization was working for coordination and funding for R&D research projects in 10 member states. He highlighted the importance of science, technology and innovation in sustainable development through the power of IBSE at grass root level.

He also highlighted the role of science education in sustainable development and strengthening of science education through teachers training. He stressed that the scientists are essential for new pedagogy to develop new educational strategies in primary and middle schools.  

Olivier Huynh-Van, Cooperation Attache, Embassy of France, said that LAMAP (Inquiry Based Science Education) is a very important programme in France. He said that LAMAP is very important not only to develop science but also research. He invited Pakistani scientists to participate in climate change programme of France. PSF Member Science Dr Akram Sheikh thanked ministry of science and technology, ECOSF, embassy of France, Academy of Sciences France and others for cooperation in organizing this workshop.