The poor educational learning outcomes of students have become a matter of great concern for parents, public and private sector managers of education. The deficient human capital in education sector has a major constraining influence on the quest for achievement of excellence in the field of quality education.

The lack of qualified manpower in teaching profession at primary, secondary, higher secondary and tertiary level has impeded the national strategies aimed at optimal service delivery mechanism for quality education and the umpteen desires of the stakeholders to have quality premier institutions in public and private sector, essentially remained unfulfilled, barring a few honorable exceptions.

At the moment, approximately, 40% educational institutions in urban areas and more than 30% in rural areas in the Province of Punjab are being run and managed in the private sector. The private educational institutions have a vast and varied range, starting from the elite school systems, to average schools and low-cost private educational institutions. The low-cost educational institutions not only lack proper physical infrastructure but are also deficient in human capital in the shape of qualified teachers.

The process of human development is time consuming, slow and gradual. The processes essentially demand patience, dedication, political will and investments. It always takes an extra mile at the national level in terms of policy-making theatrics, to build the social capital with assimilated didactic resource base and the right capacity to exercise the analogical deductions from the knowledge base. If an organization or institution is unable to generate the requisite social capital to implement the policies and programs and give them the confidence through continuous capacity building, then in the final analysis it tantamount to both policy and institutional failure.

In case of educational institutions and quality teachers, the teachers and teachers alone are the agents of change: the real hope for the future of communities and the repositories of knowledge, expertise, traditions and values. The investment in professional development of teachers is therefore the right investment for the formation of human capital and decidedly the most accurate investment in future.

Under the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) Act-2004, the organization has been re-structured as an autonomous and independent institution with the clear mandate for the promotion of education specifically encouraging and supporting the efforts of the private sector in providing education to the poor and under privileged masses.

The vision of the foundation is, ‘Promote quality education through Public-Private Partnership, encourage and support the efforts of private sector through technical and financial assistance, innovate and develop new instruments and enable the private educational institutions to champion the wider educational opportunities at affordable cost to the poor’. The Board of Directors of PEF is fully cognizant of the view that the objective of Cluster Based Training (CBT) in the Province can best be achieved in Public Private Partnership.

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The Board of Directors of the Punjab Education Foundation has emphasized on the quality of instruction in schools/private educational institutions catering to less privileged households in urban and rural areas and impact the learning outcomes of the students. The fact remains that the teachers of schools are generally untrained and paid marginal salaries that would be un-attractive for quality teachers of Mathematics, Sciences and English.

The core functions of the Punjab Education Foundation include the training of the teachers and promotion of public-private partnership (PPP) in the field of education. Capacity building of the teaching staff of the less affluent, underprivileged and marginalized schools and forging public-private partnerships for the provision of quality education is the cherished aim of the Strategy Committee constituted by the Board.

To actualize the above cited objective, PEF has established an Academic Development Unit (ADU). It is headed by a Project Officer, has a core team of 5 subject specialists and couple of support staff. As per guidance of Board of Directors, 5 subject Specialists (i.e., English, Mathematics, Biology, Physics and Chemistry) have also been recruited.

At least 5 years post Master’s level teaching experience in the relevant discipline.

To extract quality outcome from the ADU team, each subject specialist is given an intensive briefing on their roles and responsibilities, with the detailed terms of reference. To strengthen their training skills, an in house TOT was conducted through University of Management and Technology (UMT). This 6 days extensive training mainly focused the concepts like pedagogy, andragogy, Learning theories, Bloom's Taxonomy, construction of specific objectives, lesson planning, direct instructions, effective communications skills (verbal and non verbal) classroom management, Piaget's theory of cognitive development, time management and Assessment of training needs in context of CBT environment. In future short intensive orientation program may also be launched.

It is envisaged that the Subject Specialists will play a key role in supporting, guiding and teaching in the private educational institutions. They will identify the training needs of the cluster schools by carrying out the Training Need Analysis (TNA) for core content subject knowledge of the teachers/students and recognize these needs for consideration and to redress such needs accordingly.

They will ensure that there is a sustained improvement in the subject knowledge, understanding and pedagogical skills in relation to the prior level of attainment before the PEF intervention. The PEF pre-launching entry test of the class will serve as a bench mark to assess the contribution of the Subject Specialists. The Subject Specialists will contribute to the maintenance of enabling, conducive and purposeful congenial learning and knowledge dissemination environment.

In short, the Subject Specialists have the following broad terms of reference:-

	Be a part of the Academic Development Unit (ADU).
	Teach in the cluster of schools in core content subject knowledge i.e. Mathematics, English, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
	Design tests for the assessment and examination of the Foundation assisted schools under PEF-FAS.
	Carry out tours to ensure the accuracy of information in terms of enrollment in the Foundation assisted schools under PEF-FAS.
	Be a part of assessment and examination teams constituted by the Punjab Education Foundation.
	Liaise with the other leading experts engaged in teachers training and professional development in public and private sector and share experiences for the promotion of education in private sector.
	Develop a resource base for pedagogy, andragogy and subject knowledge in PEF for the benefit of teachers of the private educational institutions.
	Teach in the cluster of schools in less affluent and marginalized urban and rural areas. In addition to classroom teaching, they will be interacting with peers and associates for improving their didactic resource base and content knowledge.

According to PEF, "Cluster" may be termed as "selection of a venue for conducting training, and inviting the teachers of 7-10 private school falling in close proximity (walking/transportable distance), thus making a group of 35-50 participants having similar training needs, though diversified educational background".

The CBT is being conducted mainly on the content knowledge of Mathematics, English, Science, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The primary thrust is in urban, semi-urban and rural areas of the province. In addition few sessions are also held to meet the training needs related to classroom management, teaching slow learners, lesson planning, group work, use of AV aids, joyful and activity based teaching etc.

The rationale and basic objectives of CBTs' is to:
a)	Create a richer learning environment.
b)	To introduce newer educational methods and offer teachers in these schools a chance to share the most innovative ideas and concepts being explored today. To make their teaching/training methodology more effective.
c)	To provide more shareable resources for the cluster schools in outlying areas where the schools heads and teachers should meet together to share ideas, training and resources since it is understandable that these activities cannot be provided easily in their own schools. Overcoming isolation and making training accessible to more teachers at one focal point is advantageous. The value of working together and sharing the feedback builds support network.

It is expected that as a result of CBT the:
a)	Teachers will feel more confident in using materials and as a result their teaching/ training methodology would improve, making lessons and learning more effective.
b)	Teachers will develop pedagogical skills through participation in the program in school.
c)	Indirect beneficiaries would be peers and families of those who have participated in the program.

Following is the selection criteria for the schools:
a)	Fee structure of the institution, less than Rs.400/-.
b)	Willingness of the institution for collaboration and partnership.
c)	The level of education i.e. Primary, Elementary or Secondary.
d)	Geographical contiguity of the institution in the cluster, with private and government institutions.

Following are some of the salient features of CBT:
a)	Payments to Resource persons- in the form of cross-cheque, fee range is Rs. 2000/- (enhanced in case of outstations).
b)	The participant teachers attending the workshop receive a financial incentive of Rs.100 per day as an incentive.
c)	Participants coming from other schools make their own arrangements for transportation.
d)	Reasonable refreshment at the concluding of the daily session by PEF in collaboration with the school where the workshop will be held. Total payment made on the concluding day in the form of crossed cheque.
e)	PEF Course Completion Certificates awarded to the participant teachers upon successful completion of the cluster training.
f)	Infrastructure facilities for training being provided by the host school.

The trainees, in CBT, are invited according to 3 categories:
a)	Teaching from 1-5 i.e., primary level.
b)	Teaching from 6-8 i.e., elementary level.
c)	Teaching from 9-10 i.e., secondary level.

It has been learnt that though the teachers are categorized according to the above mentioned level, majority of the primary level teachers are usually teaching subjects of elementary and secondary level, too. For example, the teachers teaching at elementary level may also be teaching at secondary level. It was observed in Kasur that secondary class teachers were also teaching at higher secondary level. Similarly majority of the teachers were teaching more than 2 subjects.

Based upon all these observations it is tried to conduct training at primary level by mixing 2-3 subjects i.e., English, Mathematics and Science. While for higher level the effort is to mix only 2 subjects per 6 days training session.

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Learning from its experience of initial workshops, PEF now has standardized its schedule in terms of at least 4 hrs. per day and at least 6 days for 1 CBT.

Before the start of CBT, the leading entrepreneurs and the managers of the private educational institutions were consulted to explore the possibility of teachers training by the PEF in Public Private Partnership and the consequent quantifiable impact assessment in terms of quality education on the learning outcomes of the students, being the ultimate beneficiaries. The gist of observations and crux of the field survey has been very encouraging for forging Public Private Partnership:-

	A majority of the private educational institutions are enthusiastic for the teachers training and capacity development of the staff in Public Private Partnership.
	The private educational institutions are willing to share their available resources in terms of infrastructure, laboratories, teaching and ancillary staff etc. for the Cluster Based Training (CBT) and professional development.
	The private education institutions are willing to enter into Public Private Partnership with the Punjab Education Foundation and constitute a cluster of private educational institutions for CBT.
	The management of the educational institutions is willing to send their teachers for training in the clusters established by the Punjab Education Foundation.
	Most of the private educational institutions insist on issuance of a certificate at the completion of the training workshops/CBT.

The history of PEF's experience to conduct trainings for the teachers of private educational institutions can be divided in 3 phases;

4.1  Short Term Measures/Fast Track Initiative:

PEF started its venture by nominating the teachers of the private educational institutions in leading teachers training institutes. 67 teachers of 10 private schools were trained at Ali Institute of Education (AIE). AIE imparted training in communication skills and pedagogy upto elementary level. This however was learnt that the institution did not have any specific module for the core content subject knowledge for secondary level.

4.2 Medium Term Measures/Engaging Mentors and Resource Persons:

PEF also experimented through engaging professionals of impeccable integrity and eminence to serve as mentors and resource persons for cluster based training workshops. The selection of these mentors and resource persons was made by a panel of experts. After the recommendation of the experts, PEF engaged them as visiting faculty in 2 cluster based training workshops, both held in Lahore. 105 teachers of 7 institutes benefited from these two trainings. The following resource persons/mentors were engaged for these trainings; 1 Prof. Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal 2 Mr. Sajid Masood Ch. 3 Mr. Muhammad Sharif 4 Miss Sadaf 5 Mr. Muhammad Shaffi 6 Prof. Anjum Ara 7 Prof. Naseer Ahmad 8 Mrs. Tabinda Cheema 9 Prof. Mahtab Ali Khan

4.3 Long Term Measures:

4.3.1 Partnership with Organizations/Institutions The initiative of public private partnership with the organizations and institutions to implement the program at larger scale and enhance the outreach of the Foundation and ensure the monitoring and evaluation of the beneficiaries of the cluster based training in partnership with the organizations and institutions, took concrete shape through an advertisement which was made in the esteemed national dailies, ‘The Jang’ and ‘The News’ appeared on September 27th, 2005. Organizations having demonstrable expertise and experience in teacher training or those planning to develop this capability and indicating geographical preference of areas in which they would wish to operate, were encouraged to apply for partnerships. In response to this advertisement 54 parties responded and submitted their expression of interest. After careful scrutiny and against set indicators (under the guidance of chairperson) 24 organizations have been short listed. PEF has already engaged 6 private training organizations like Laurel Institute for Modern Education (LIME, Lahore based), Association For Academic Quality (AFAQ, Lahore based), Learning Zone (LZ, Sialkot based), Rawadari Taraqiati Tanzeem (RTT, Multan based), Social Council for Promoting Education (SCOPE, Lahore based) and Socio-Engineering Consultants (SEC, Rawalpindi based) in CBTs. With the technical input of these partners 23 CBTs have been conducted and 1196 teachers of 239 private schools have benefited. So far PEF has reached 16 districts/Tehsils of Punjab (i.e., Chichawatni, Sahiwal, Kamoke, Mianwali, Daska, Quaidabad, Layyah, Faisalabad, Multan, Sialkot, Alipur Chattha, Mandi Bahauddin, Lahore, Lodhran, Kasur and Sheikhupur). . Negotiations are underway to sign more agreements with few more partner organizations. All these trainings are mainly focusing CBTs at primary level. See linked document for the updated figure: 4.3.2 Engagement of Subject Specialists All subject specialists are being given extensive exposure of observing CBTs and each one is actively engaged in coordination procedures. Couple of SSs' have already delivered some sessions and it is expected that in due course of time and after gradual training in session planning, module and manual development, these people would be conducting CBTs individually, too. The start has already been made and the ADU team is working on developing subject related training sessions.

See linked document for the average cost per participant:

Monitoring of CBTs is an integral part of the system for continuous evaluation of the inputs and the integration of the results of assessment for consistent up gradation and improvement. ADU adopts following strategy to ensure proper monitoring and subsequent evaluation:

As a result of training >1200 teachers of >239 institutions, PEF has gone through an evaluative scrutiny. The remedial measures on lessons learnt are regularly being integrated and incorporated in the future training workshops, to ensure sustenance of quality output (for detail see workshop reports):

The key to unlock the potential of the students in the school lies in the expertise of the quality teachers. The available research and inspection evidence sufficiently demonstrates the close correlation between the quality of teaching and the achievement of student. On the basis of the results achieved, in terms of learning outcomes, an analytical evaluation of the intervention of the Punjab Education Foundation will be carried out for publication and also its replication at the provincial level. Before replication of model, the following inputs in terms of policy consideration by Board of Directors will be of significant importance.