Peshawar: Thirty-two students from the Peshawar Regional Institute for Teacher Education (RITE Male) received Associate's Degrees in Education (ADE), a modern teacher education program developed with U.S. support. At the same time, 252 talented students enrolled in the ADE and Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA received U.S.-funded merit-based scholarships worth 5.14 million rupees. The ceremony took place today at the University of Peshawar.

The ADE program is one of the two teacher education programs that were recently developed and introduced countrywide with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). These two programs - the two-year ADE program and the four-year B.Ed. program - provide future teachers with an opportunity to learn modern teaching methods. More than 2,600 students are currently enrolled in the two programs. Almost 1,000 of these students are recipients of USAID scholarships designed to support these programs.

USAID works with the federal and provincial governments, the Higher Education Commission, provincial departments of education, 15 universities, and 75 teacher colleges to help upgrade the education of future teachers as well as support ongoing training for specialists already working at schools.

"On behalf of the U.S. government and the American people, I would like to thank the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Higher Education Commission, and all our other partners for working so tirelessly to ensure that teachers in Pakistan have the very best training and qualifications," said USAID education specialist Fazal Rabbi addressing participants of the ceremony. Mr. Qazi Asad, Minister of the Higher Education of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, thanked USAID for helping Pakistani colleges and universities adopt the ADE and B.Ed. programs. "Teachers play a central role in education, and the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has taken many bold steps to make progress in education in general and teacher education in particular," he said.

Minister Asad, along with Minister Sardar Hussain Babak, Minister of Education for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Professor Dr. Qibla Ayaz, Vice-Chancellor, University of Peshawar, also attended and awarded degrees to graduating students and scholarships to current students.

Support for modern teacher education programs is just one of the many U.S.-funded initiatives that help millions of Pakistani children unlock their full potential. The United States is also building new applied research centers at Pakistani universities that focus on energy, water, and agriculture. More than 10,600 low-income students attend college in Pakistan with U.S.-funded scholarships. To learn more, see: http://goo.gl/auHXF