RIYADH, 20 August 2006 — More than 200 teachers, mainly those teaching in Pakistani schools across the Kingdom, will attend a major training workshop, which was inaugurated by Fareed Farukh, deputy head of Pakistani mission, here yesterday.
“This 11-day training event is the first of its kind organized by a foreign school,” said Mohammed Yousaf Ghouri, principal of the Pakistan International School, Riyadh (PISR).
“Eight Pakistani schools licensed by the Saudi Ministry of Education, operating in Saudi Arabia, will participate in this training workshop from Aug. 19 to 30 (PISR) under the supervision of Pakistani Ambassador Shahid Karimullah,” said Ghouri.
He pointed out that the objective behind holding this high-profile training session for teachers was to prepare them to cope with the changes brought about by the new Pakistani education system.
The teachers after their formal training will be entrusted with the task of moderating and changing the syllabus and examination rules as per the new system. The move to train teachers will help an estimated 50,000 Pakistani students currently on the rolls of the embassy-run schools in Saudi Arabia. PISR, which has a poor infrastructure operating from a cluster of old buildings, is the largest Pakistani school with over 8,000 students and 400 teachers.
At the moment, the PISR has been using a number of portable cabins as classrooms.
He said that more than 200 teachers drawn from the schools of Riyadh, Alkhobar, Qassim, Hail and Jubail would benefit from this training program.
“We have also invited some teachers from private schools of Riyadh, namely Afra Bint Obaid School and Jawahir Al-Riyadh to participate in the event,” he said.
“The pattern of examination for higher classes, from standard nine to standard XII, would undergo changes from next academic session and hence this training was essential to equip them with the ideas and tools to deal with the changes,” said Ghouri.
He said that there would be substantial changes in the teaching methodologies from the next academic session with added stress new learning procedure with analysis and logic.
Asked about the faculty of the workshop, Ghouri said that “two experts — Waseem Ahmed and Mohammad Ashraf from Pakistan Federal Board — would explain to the participants the new syllabus and methods of examination.” This is in addition to a few local experts. The training workshop at the auditorium of the Saudi-German Hospital here will have two sessions daily — first from 8.30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and second 10.30 to 12 noon. All participants will be given certificates at a closing ceremony, to be addressed by Ambassador Karimullah.