The Cabinet of Sindh province on Thursday approved a teaching license policy which, if implemented seriously and responsibly, will help in raising the quality of education in the province. The aim of the said reform policy is to attract qualified and trained youth to the teaching profession and to raise the status of this sector. It was clarified that by implementing reform measures, the teaching profession will be able to have the same quality and respect as other skilled fields including medicine, accounting, law and engineering.

Under the policy, new entrants to the teaching sector will not only be required to undergo professional training before taking up jobs but will also be given incentives to encourage them to do so. Under the licensing system, teachers have to continuously improve their qualifications and teaching ability because the teaching license will be for five years and not for a lifetime and it will be renewed every five years.

There will be three types of teaching licenses. These types include primary, elementary and secondary. New teachers will be given a license after taking the test. As a first step, the Sindh government has released 700 new teacher vacancies in the elementary schools of the province. Those teachers who are qualified to teach from Grades I to VIII will be given jobs on a scale of 16. Earlier Junior Elementary School Teacher was appointed in BPS 14 and this post required graduation qualification in any discipline.

Now for the above-mentioned 700 posts, graduation with a B.Ed degree program and success in the licensure exam will be required. The preparation of the said policy could be completed after a year of research and consultation with stakeholders under the guidance of Aga Khan University’s Education Promotion Institute.

In the countries where the teaching license system has been tested so far, the quality of education has increased significantly. It is to be expected that this experiment started in the province of Sindh will eventually give proud results in the whole of Pakistan.

KHALIDA KHALID,

Turbat.