The University of Massachusetts’ College of Education is preparing to train higher education administrators and government officials from Pakistan on the workings of the American community college system.
The project, with $750,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of State, will consist of two six-week programs conducted over the next two years. Participants include 20 educational leaders and four government officials from Pakistan. The project is in partnership with the Institute for Training and Holyoke Community College.
“Each of the 20 leaders will get a mentor here or at Holyoke Community College,” said Joseph Berger, associate dean for Research and Engagement in the College of Education.
Berger added that mentors will follow up with participants to see how their newly learned knowledge of American community colleges will be implemented across Pakistan.
The Pakistani leaders will also be responsible for the development of an action plan, with the assistance of their mentors, which will allow them to directly accomplish their goals of developing community college institutions when they return home.
Berger, along with associate professor Benita Barnes and lecturer Shane Hammond, is responsible for the development of the program.
“There are big higher education and workforce development needs to help build economies, and community colleges are a particularly effective and efficient way to do that,” he said. “I think the biggest impact will come from the ways in which community colleges provide a strong academic education that is directly linked to workforce development and employment needs.”
Berger added that community colleges are a pretty new concept in Pakistan. Typically colleges and universities in the country are either very academic and theoretical or specifically focused in technical fields to prepare students for higher-level positions.
“The idea here would be to develop a few really good programs that could be models for others on how to link academic rigor and workforce readiness at the same time,” he said. Berger emphasized that the two-year degrees offered by community colleges would allow students to directly enter the workforce.
While Berger recognizes community colleges as a “uniquely American institution,” he also said that the program “really values and recognizes the local expertise” of Pakistani administrators.
The College of Education has run similar programs in the past, helping to facilitate the development of community colleges in nations with ravaged educational institutions such as Afghanistan and Palestine.
“You always get to learn more when working with a different country and culture,” Berger said. “I’m a big believer that one of the values for doing cross-cultural work is that everyone learns and benefits.”
As of now, it is too early to tell exactly how this program will influence the development of community colleges in Pakistan. But Berger said he is optimistic that it will allow greater training and economic preparation.
“I think it’ll have a big impact,” he said. “Everyone we talked to is very excited about this.”
Stuart Foster can be reached at [email protected].
