KARACHI, July 12: The inaugural meeting of the Board of Directors of the Aga Khan University Education Board (AKU-EB) was held on Tuesday to review the board’s progress since its establishment in 2003. The AKU-EB Board of Directors comprises eminent citizens, experts on examination systems, including those from public examination boards, and educationists from Pakistan and overseas.
Speaking to the meeting, Federal Education Minister Lt-Gen Javed Ashraf Qazi said that over 168 schools from all four provinces had applied for affiliation of which 107 had qualified. Preparations were on schedule to conduct the SSC Part I examinations in 2006.
He said the government was committed to raising the standard of education, and viewed the Aga Khan University Education Board AKU-EB as ‘a national resource and a trendsetter’ for other boards in the country.
The minister commended the AKU-EB’s steps towards improvement of education in Pakistan, and added that it would promote improved methods of teaching national curriculum.
He underscored the importance of problem-based learning that focused on understanding and application of knowledge, and placed special emphasis on its teacher training initiatives.
Shamsh Kassim Lakha, president Aga Khan University and chairman, AKU-EB Board of Directors, said the board’s purpose was to improve the quality of education by making exams of reputable standard more accessible to Pakistani students.
The AKU-EB, he said, was the first board in the country to translate national curriculum from English into Urdu, so it could better guide teaching in Urdu-medium schools.
Mr Lakha said the AKU-EB would be examining the national curriculum.
Through a distinctive style of examination, the board would encourage students to develop higher order intellectual skills of knowledge, understanding and application instead of rote learning prevalent in many schools.
One of its two foreigner members, Dato Termizi Abdul Aziz, who is Chief Executive Officer of the Training Division at the Malaysian Teachers Foundation, said the AKU-EB was moving in the right direction of conducting exams on the basis of interaction.
Another member, Senator Roshan Bharucha, chairperson Senate’s Standing Committee on Health, said it was the need of the time to have more boards so that there could be greater competition.
Member Saeed Ahmed, former secretary general, Ministry of Finance, said members were delighted that a diverse category of institutions had affiliated themselves with the board.
He said these institutions had confirmed that fees charged by the AKU-EB were reasonable and in line with those of the public examination boards. Their main reason to seek affiliation was to upgrade the quality of education, he added.
Other members on Board include Brig Mushtaq Alizai, Chairman Inter-Board Committee of Chairmen (of school examination boards in Pakistan); Dr Thomas Christie, Director, AKU-EB; Dr Bernadette Dean, Head of Academic and Student Affairs, AKU-Institute for Educational Development; Dr Parveen Hassan, Resident Technical Adviser, NEAS Project, Ministry of Education; Almas Nadeem, Principal, Higher Secondary School for Girls, Karimabad, Hunza Northern Area; Dr Sohail Naqvi, Executive Director, Higher Education Commission; Dr David Taylor, Acting Provost and Chief Academic Officer, AKU; Prof Jeff Thompson, Director of Research, International Baccalaureate Organization, Geneva; and Dr Camer Vellani, Distinguished University Professor, AKU.
At a dinner in the honour of the board of directors, Dr Hamida Khuhro, the Sindh Education Minister hoped the AKU-EB would prove a valuable competitor for the government examination boards.—PPI