• ECE-CP 2010 – 2011

April 2011 brought Term 2 to an end, and after a one week term break, the beginning of Term 3 as well. Both students and faculty were eagerly looking forward to the accelerated classes of Term 3 in June, which would bring all their hard work to closure. The full day classes are scheduled specially to give teachers a month’s break in July, before they go back to school.

It was a busy time for all … students working on group projects, self study modules and final assignments, bustling about in the hallway, having discussions with faculty and each other, doing their research in the library and of course in the cafeteria, which was usually filled with happy voices and laughter during lunch and tea breaks. On the last day, June 28, 2011, parting was difficult … for many this was not the end, but the beginning of the journey of professional development.

• TRC-IECE and Bradford University Institutional Linkage

On May 14, 2011 we received the long awaited news and we quote from an email from Nadira Mirza, Dean, School of Lifelong Education and Development, Bradford University, who has been our link and contact person since 2008. “I am really pleased to inform you that the CART (course assessment & review team) committee today recommended the approval of the ECE  certificate to be a validated programme of  the  University. There is some further information the committee requires about the certificate but this is a minor issue and I will send you a note about this in the next few days. The external examiner was extremely impressed by the course, in terms of academic rigour, content, quality and high expectation of the students.”
From Friday May 27- 29, 2011, we had two visitors from Bradford University, Nadira Mirza, and a colleague, Val Rowlands. During their stay, we discussed the long-awaited validation and remaining issues. The TRC-IECE Board of Governors had an informal meeting with the visitors over a cup of coffee. They also sat in on a class and talked to our students about their ECE-CP experiences and learning.

To formalize the institutional linkage, the terms of the final contract have to be drawn up and discussed, for which a visit to Bradford is scheduled to take place in the first week of August.

• Launching the ECE-CP in Urdu

In September 2011, we plan to offer the ECE-CP in Urdu. We plan to launch with a small number of students; a combination of public and private sector teachers have already registered. Our Training and Development Team are totally immersed in translating and adapting course outlines and teaching and learning resources for all ten courses of the programme.