KARACHI, Oct 9: The AKU-IED celebrated the “International Teachers Day” under the theme “Teachers making a difference”, which was attended by a large number of teachers and teacher educators.

Dr Sadaruddin Pardhan, Director Outreach, AKU-IED, gave the welcome address and highlighted the importance of teachers in transforming societies and creating an impact on their students by setting examples for them.

Education has become an integral part of a country’s socioeconomic development, hence teacher’s role need to be understood in this context, he said.

Later, an interactive session was held through two important activities. The first activity involved writing one anecdote from their own teaching or learning experiences, highlighting how a teacher can have an important impact on the life of his or her students.

The second activity involved groups of participants designing a poster, expressing an important message about gender equality.

The winning poster stated that “it’s time for men to learn to respect women’s voice and opinion”.

The audience included male and female teachers from rural and urban areas and belonging to various socioeconomic backgrounds and different religions and nationalities.

Despite all these differences the key message was equally valued by all the teachers to make a difference in the life of their students and have an important role in promoting gender equality.

The celebrations ended with a vote of thanks by Dr Bernadette Dean, Associate professor, AKU-IED and chair of the Gender Responsive Team.—PPI