MUZAFFARABAD, June 18: The United States Embassy in Islamabad in collaboration with Azad Jammu and Kashmir University (UAJK) Muzaffarabad has launched a comprehensive training program titled “Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) to build the capacity of the teachers in public sector universities, colleges and schools in AJK.
The inaugural ceremony of the program was held here at Chella Campus UAJK with Minister for Higher Education Zafar Iqbal Malik as the chief guest while Vice-Chancellor UAJK Prof. Dr. Muhammad Kaleem Abbasi chaired the event.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, AJK Minister for Higher Education Zafar Iqbal Malik thanked the US Embassy officials and Azad Jammu and Kashmir University Muzaffarabad for establishing the Pak-TESOL Azad Kashmir chapter for the training of English language teachers in the State.
He said the English language has become the biggest medium of international communication and language of technology. “The TESOL program has brought an opportunity to the teachers’ community to polish their skills to deliver the best in the classrooms.
Zafar Malik assured the organizers of the program that the AJK government, particularly Higher Education Ministry would extend full cooperation for this vital project.
Addressing the function, the Vice-Chancellor of UAJK Muzaffarabad Prof. Dr. Muhammad Kaleem Abbasi expressed his deep gratitude to the officials of the Public Diplomacy Department of the US Embassy and Regional English Language network for launching the Pak-TESOL Azad Kashmir Chapter for the promotion of English language.
He hoped that this program will play an important role in the professional training of English language teachers in the state and will be very useful for acquiring the skills to teach the English language with modern trends and methods.
The Vice-Chancellor added that UAJK is paying special attention to the training of teachers and equipping them with modern teaching skills and hoped that this program of the US Embassy will help in achieving the goal of faculty development of the university.
He also expressed the hope that besides the faculty members of the university, teachers of different colleges and schools would also get the full benefit from the program.
Giving a detailed briefing on the objectives of Pak-TESOL, Project Director Dr. Muhammad Kamal Khan said that the main objective of the program is to promote scientific thinking in English language teachers and to introduce them through education, research, and professional media. He added that this includes introducing modern teaching methods to the teachers of public and private sector educational institutions and establishing links between them at the national and international levels.
US Embassy Officer and Country Project Director Syed Rashid Hussain Naqvi in his address said that he belongs to AJK and has been working in the education sector since 2006. He said that he is confident about learning new educational trends in Azad Kashmir and According to these trends, there is potential to promote education.
