PELI members in Washington D.C.

Thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Aairs, PSU’s innovative Pakistani Educational Leadership Institute (PELI) can continue its vital work of training educators and administrators from Pakistan.

Pakistan has one of the world’s lowest literacy rates, and spending on education is less than two percent of the country’s gross national product. Since its inception in 2004, PELI has focused on exposing Pakistani educators to best practices in education and on exemplary models in professional development and pedagogy, with the goal of improving the quality of teaching and education in Pakistan. PSU works closely with Pakistan partner Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi, a non-profit organization that promotes educational and social reform, to ensure that the curriculum meets the objectives of Pakistan’s educational initiatives. Following intense summer training sessions at PSU, participants return to their homeland as master trainers, sharing what they have learned with fellow educators. Over the past four years, PELI’s 80 graduates have trained over 10,000 educators in Pakistan. According to PELI Director Blake Allen, the $320,000 grant award “celebrates the essence of the collaboration that provides the foundation for the University’s Pakistani projects.”

The curriculum for the 2008 PELI will explore models that effectively integrate policy, environmental stewardship, cultural heritage preservation, and community-based educational initiatives.

For more information on PELI, as well as images and videos from the 2007 program, visit pelinstitute.org. More information on Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi is available at itacec.org.

The 2007 Pakistani Educational Leadership Institute culminated with a graduation ceremony with full academic regalia. John Anderson photo.