The Academy Professional Development Centre - 2017 PLES Graduation Ceremony
The Professional Development Centre (PDC) of the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad celebrated its first graduation ceremony in Telangana for 32 government school teachers as part of an official MoU with the Telangana State School Education Department. Course participants completed Tiers 1, 2 and 3 of PLES (Professional Learning for Educators Series), a competency based professional development programme. PLES is designed to build teacher capacity in English classroom delivery; update teachers in current pedagogy and methodology; develop interactive learning techniques and student-centred teaching methodologies.
The PLES programme was originally conceived as a joint intervention between the Aga Khan Academies network, the Government of Madagascar, and the World Bank whereby the latter would provide funding to the government to develop and deliver a training programme for Teachers of English in collaboration with the Academies. The need for such training was perceived to be acute as the government wanted to see an increase in the use of English in schools.
The Academy PDC mandate is to support the Telangana state government by developing competence in teacher education and training and “is about creating a new national asset for the whole of this country - and for its broad educational community…through an ambitious programme of professional teacher development, attracting talented candidates, sharing best practices, developing curricular innovations, and engaging in the most current training at the Academy’s Professional Development Centre.” (His Highness the Aga Khan, Stone Laying Ceremony, Dhaka, 2008).
The graduation ceremony was attended by government dignitaries, civil society representatives, Academy senior leadership and the press. The chief guest was Mr. G. Ashok Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary, Telangana Backward Classes Welfare and Residential Educational Institutions Society. “The Government of Telangana has realised the importance of the profession of teaching, which is demonstrated through the massive increase in funding in the education sector,” he said, while urging graduates to be proud of their profession and act as agents of change in moulding the next generation.
Dr. Geoffrey Fisher, Head of the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad, spoke about the PDC and its programmes as part of a larger mission to develop and support our local environment as a school and as an institution. “You are now pioneers as the first graduates of the PLES programme, but you are also alumni of the Academy,” he remarked. Course participants Ms. G. Hema Latha & Mr. M.V Nagendra shared a few words about their experiences which they found to be rewarding and enriching. Certificate presentations took place in the Academy Building basement between 11am – 1pm, followed by a celebratory lunch.
PLES was designed to address the identified need for India’s government schools to become better equipped for providing more effective means of English language teaching and learning. Improvements in English language provision at the school level, will help to enable new generations to participate within the international community at large.
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