A Study On The Implementation And The Effectiveness Of Distance Teacher Education Program In Pakistan: Stakeholders' Perceptions

This work sets to explore the implementation and the effectiveness of a distance teacher education program(B.Ed-1.5 years),offered by Allama Iqbal Open University(AIOU)in Pakistan.It was conducted at District Okara,Punjab province and samples were recent graduates of AIOU teacher education program,tutors of AIOU,dropouts and school heads.According to the National Accreditation Council for Teacher Education(NACTE,2015),the Allama Iqbal Open University(AIOU)is the largest teacher training institution and producing more than half of the teachers as compared to all formal institutions in the whole country.As teacher education programs of Allama Iqbal Open University(AIOU)are offered at large scale,so the question arises what is the quality of these programs,either it is fulfilling the quality measures of teacher education?(Sultana,Ambreen & Afzal,2016).The study revealed how the stakeholders perceived the implementation and the effectiveness of distance teacher education program and ways of improving the program.The study was guided by the evaluation model CIPP(Context,Input,Process,and Product)initially developed by Stufflebeam in 1971 and most recently updated in 2002.This model was chosen for two main reasons,1)the model emphasizes guiding planning,programming,and implementation efforts,and 2)the model emphasizes that the essential purpose for evaluation is an improvement.The study employed a sequential explanatory design to study the implementation and the effectiveness of distance teacher education program in Pakistan.A self-developed questionnaire was administered to 301 recently graduates of B.Ed 1.5 years program from Allama Iqbal Open University(AIOU).This was followed by 25 interviews with school heads,distance tutors,and dropouts.The findings revealed several gaps between the implementation and the effectiveness.University has redesigned the course work,duration,methods of practicum,and other segments of the face to face learning.The quality of delivery was not up to the mark;the university has not provided the professional training to tutors to teach postgraduate level distance learners.University extended the practice teaching time,but there was no direct monitoring of students during their practicum.The admission policy was flexible,so some learners admitted were not committed;this is also a cause of the unsatisfactory learning outcome.According to the views of the stakeholders,assessment should be initiated for the program;without evaluation,there is no judgment from the students and other stakeholders.Without assessment,the program may not be linked to the needs of customers and stakeholders,and their satisfaction cannot be guaranteed.The results of this research suggest that distance education can be beneficial with considerable investment in time and planning.Essential areas of administration,admission quality,course production,learning support,classroom monitoring,proper media selection,assessments,and its end products,student success needs proper investment in resources and planning.For these reasons,it is needed to develop a sense of professionalism and sustainability in the field of teacher education and to strengthen the system of education;new reforms should be introduced.It also needs to support further improvements and continuous research work to make teacher education programs more effective and according to the demand of time and to produce effects.Thus,distance education institutions need to have the frequent assessments of their offerings about the implementation and the effectiveness.This piece of research work will provide the understanding about the different aspects of teacher education programs such as its effectiveness,implementation,and precision of Stufflebeam's' CIPP model as a well experienced universal advancement towards the evaluation of educational programs.Pakistan does not have a proper arrangement to provide incessant supports by research grounds for policy developers and policy reformers.Moreover,policymakers should take into consideration the students' and teachers' voices in their mind to form new policies and reforms to replace the old plans.Initiation of new teacher education roadmap is an appropriate development;however,still no specific policy has been developed for the distance education in the country and this negligence suffer from a serious confronts in expansion and sustainability of distance teacher education programs in the country.