Mahmood, M: Teacher Professional Development

Education plays a vital role in human capital formation in a knowledge economy. The situation of education sector in Pakistan has not been encouraging due to multiple reasons. High skilled workforce has become a basic need to meet the challenges of contemporary era of competitiveness and efficiency. National Education Policies have realization that teachers have to play a pivotal role in delivering quality education at all levels. Quality and effectiveness of school education depend on quality of properly trained teachers. Pre and in-service training of secondary level teachers in formal and/or non-formal systems are keys to equip students with necessary knowledge before entering to higher grades. This book presents a comparative analysis of formal and non-formal streams and findings of survey study of teachers, tutors, student, staff and experts engaged in teacher training programs in both systems. It concludes that both systems are equally good, interdependent and complimentary if implemented and are availed in letter and spirit. Trained and professional teachers can lead to create a vibrant generation of high skilled work force in Pakistan.