KARACHI – 27 June 2026: In a major step towards improving education quality in public schools, the British Council and Sindh’s School Education and Literacy Department (SELD) have announced a landmark partnership aimed at transforming the way English is taught across the province.
The two sides signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) on Thursday, setting the stage for a broader Operational Alliance Agreement. The new collaboration will focus on the professional development of 30,000 newly recruited Primary School Teachers (PSTs) and Early Childhood Teachers (ECTs), using the British Council’s “English as a Subject for Teachers and Educators (EaSTE)” programme.
The initiative promises to equip educators with modern, inclusive, and multilingual teaching methods — designed to reflect the linguistic and cultural diversity found in Sindh’s classrooms. Ultimately, it aims to improve learning outcomes for nearly 2 million children across the province.
“This agreement marks not just the continuation, but the expansion of our partnership with the Government of Sindh,” said James Hampson, Country Director of the British Council Pakistan. “Our shared goal of reaching 30,000 teachers and impacting 2 million children is both ambitious and deeply meaningful. We are excited to move forward together.”
Education Minister Sardar Ali Shah echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the importance of teacher development in raising the standard of education. “Access is only one part of the challenge — the real focus is on quality,” he said. “This programme ensures our teachers are equipped not only to teach English more effectively, but to do so in a way that reflects the real-world needs of our classrooms.”
A key feature of the initiative is the introduction of a scalable digital Learning Management System (LMS), which will allow for continuous, flexible learning. In addition, 1,000 in-service public school teachers will be trained as mentors, offering peer-to-peer support and on-ground guidance as the programme rolls out.
The partnership builds on the British Council’s longstanding legacy in Pakistan, where it has worked for decades to support teacher training and educational reform. The EaSTE programme has already shown success in Punjab, having benefited over 140,000 educators there.
This new phase in Sindh reflects a growing recognition that sustained investment in teacher training is essential to improving student outcomes — especially in regions where resources are stretched, and linguistic diversity adds layers of complexity to classroom instruction.
By combining international expertise with local knowledge, the British Council and SELD are aiming to deliver long-term, meaningful change for both teachers and the students they serve.
