KARACHI: George, a government school teacher in Tando Allahyar, used to teach English in other languages — usually the mother tongue of his students. It was only after he went through the English for Teaching: Teaching for English (ETTE) programme, that he switched to the language itself.
On Sunday, the British Council honoured government school English language teachers who finished the ETTE programme in Sindh. Their graduation ceremony was held at the Hotel Regent Plaza and certificates were distributed to 32 participants, who shared their experiences and plans of action for their districts.
The programme was started in 2008 as the British Council’s first project with the Pakistan government to train specifically selected public school teachers in light of the Sindh education policy draft that made teaching English language compulsory from class I, explained Nabeel Alvi, head of programmes in Sindh and Balochistan at the British Council.
ETTE is designed to train teachers living in remote areas in the Central and South Asian regions.
Teachers attending the ceremony were called Super ETTEs as they had participated in a number of continuous professional development workshops and had trained several English language teachers in their districts. The Super ETTEs are now able to develop their skills further through self-learning techniques they were acquainted with and can also provide teachers in their areas constant mentoring and peer support.
Sharing his experience, George, who teaches at the Government Middle School Kamaro Sharif, said that the programme changed his ‘chalk and talk’ approach in the classroom. “When I first started teaching and explaining the subject in English, my children were shocked and could not understand, but with time they began to respond.”
“Now I enjoy teaching them,” he said, sharing his vision of transforming English education in his district. “I have devised a plan to teach 300 teachers in one year using the methodology I learnt here so that each in turn forwards it to hundreds of his or her own schoolchildren.”
Speaking about the importance of teaching English starting at the basic level, the education minister, Pir Mazharul Haq, asked how children will be able to understand science and mathematics in English from class III when they do not know the language itself.
With the 18th Amendment or devolution, a huge responsibility will fall on the shoulders of the provincial government, for which pre- and in-service training of teachers and administrative staff is going to play an important role. Haq made the hall burst into applause and laughter when he imitated the English accent of Sindhi-speaking teachers and told them not to feel inferior because of it. “I have seen worse pronouncers of English across the world in Europe and the Middle East, who do not have certain English alphabets in their native languages,” he said.
In his welcome address, Syed Mashhood Rizvi, the British Council director, shared the council’s vision to play a role in the country’s language policy. He called the 18th Amendment a huge opportunity for every province to implement its own strategy and curriculum.
Jean Wilson, the consultant for ETTE, congratulated the participants.
Given the shocking results of its ongoing research on the role of language in the early development of a child in Pakistan, the British Council is planning to launch a new programme, ‘English for Impact’, revealed Alvi. The programme has three components: English Interface, English Connect and Engaging with Teachers. It is designed keeping in mind the requirements of the Pakistani population, with TV, radio, newspaper, mobile and web applications as well as face-to-face courses for learners, Alvi added.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2011.
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