Steps for education: USAID-funded building to open in Sindh University

The state-of-the-art building will accommodate two new programmes.

HYDERABAD: The ground breaking ceremony for a new education faculty building, being funded by the USAID, at the Sindh University, Hyderabad was held on Wednesday.

“The building is part of the $40 million project to establish 14 new faculties of education across Pakistan over the next two years,” informed the US consul-general, Michael Dodman, who was the chief guest at the ceremony. Two other education faculty buildings are being constructed at the University of Karachi and the Shah Abdul Latif University, he added.



The new faculty will accommodate two new teaching programmes including the two-year associate degree in education and the four-year Bachelors of education. “These courses have been designed in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC). The USAID is working with 110 universities and teacher training colleges in Pakistan to initiate these programmes.”

The new building, to be completed by June 2014 at the cost of Rs23 million, will have 18 classrooms, computer labs, a wi-fi system, a library, an auditorium and a media library. Its eco-friendly structure will be an additional feature.

The three-storey structure is being built over an area of 20,000 square feet, adjacent to the heritage building of the old campus. “We will offer classes in the morning and evening shifts in order to accommodate as many students as possible,” said the education faculty’s dean, Dr Parveen Munshi.

USAID mission director Grogory Gottlieb said that around 2,500 students and 200 teachers will acquire education from the 14 new faculties every year. Over the last four years, he added, the USAID has rehabilitated around 600 schools, sponsored 10,000 university scholarships and provided training to 12,000 teachers in Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2013.