ISLAMABAD, Jan 7: The federal government in collaboration with the provincial governments is working on a comprehensive strategy to reasonably enhance the salaries of the school teachers, Education Minister Ms Zubaida Jalal said on Wednesday.

She was speaking to the mediapersons after handing over travel documents to the first batch of 52 principals/administrators departing for the US for training as master trainers on January 12 and 15 in two groups.

"We know that at present the teachers are dismally low-paid employees in the government sector, reason being people join this profession as a last option. Therefore, the government is seriously working on a plan whereby salaries of teachers would be increased with promotion in their grades comparing with other public sector organizations," she said.

Speaking to the departing teachers, she said: "You have been given an additional responsibility in the nation building and I hope when you will come back, you will play an active role in this regard."

Overall, a batch of 250 teachers from different schools and colleges all over the country will be trained in the US in advance teachers training in this year alone, she said.

"The government has fulfilled its promise and commitment by sending these teachers for further state-of-the-art teachers training," Ms Jalal said. She explained that the objective of the scheme was to increase the teachers skill by building the capacity of the teacher training institutions, especially the government elementary colleges.

The minister said, in the first phase, more than 250 teachers would be trained for four months for various certificate courses in science, mathematics and English at the University of Montana, George Mason University, University of Fairfax and the University of Virginia.

These teachers have been selected from all over the country following a transparent selection procedure and no discrimination has been made in this regard, she said. She said even the teachers from FATA, AJK and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) will benefit from the training.

Under this capacity building project, the teacher educators would receive training in the above universities in teaching, pedagogy, planning, leadership communication and computer skills.

They will also have an opportunity to visit the US schooling system and other teacher training facilities during the training. Speaking on the occasion, Nancy Powell, the US ambassador to Pakistan, urged the departing teachers to make full use of this opportunity and keenly observe the US schooling system during their stay.