August 14, 2008	Thursday	Sha'aban 11, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Aug 13: Educationists at a seminar here on Wednesday stressed the need to adopt student-centred tutorial techniques in classrooms to make schools a happy experience for children.

They were speaking at the concluding session of a three-day teachers development conference organised by the Roots National Institute of Teacher Training and Education. The theme of the conference was ‘Every Child Matters - Change for Children’. The conference aimed at training teachers on teaching methodology and tools of global educational dimensions to facilitate the dotcom generation.

Elaborating the theme, the educationists said, the concept that every child mattered provided the basis for all new tutorial techniques which needed to be adopted in educational institutions.

The student-centred teaching techniques make learning interesting for children, the techniques not only boost the self-confidence of individuals but also enabled children to work collectively.

However the traditional tutorial techniques did not allow such freedom to children, they added. Teachers were told to make a flexible change within the parameters followed by the schools if shifting the learning paradigm from traditional to modern was to be achieved. The speakers also stressed the need to adopt future-specific policies for which they suggested teachers to invigorate classroom teaching with new ideas, texts and techniques based on their personal experiences with children at school. They shared with the participants practical ways based on their own experiences with children for making every student centre of attention. Over 600 teachers, including leading academics and scholars, from within the country and abroad, turned up at the conference.

Those who participated in the conference included Shireen Naqvi, CEO School of Leadership; Wali Zahid, trustee, School of Leadership Foundation; Abbas Hussain, director Teacher Development Centre; Dr Cusrow J. Dubash, vice-rector of Chartered University; Naveed Hussain, vice-principal, Slough Grammar School, United Kingdom; Asma Mustafa, learning and globalisation specialist; and Dr Shahid Siddiqi, HOD Lahore School of Economics.