Perspectives of Public School Head Teachers about a Foreign Funded Capacity Development Program in Northern Pakistan

Very limited research focusing on the implementation processes of foreign funded educational interventions has emerged from Pakistan. Therefore, the present study examined a foreign funded capacity development program of government head teachers in Pakistan. While integrating the perspectives of head teachers and project staff, the study exclusively focused on five factors: the role of implementing agencies; the training need assessment processes; the knowledge level of resource personnel; and the content of training. The study noted that due to the weak institutional capacities of the implementing agencies and the absence of monitoring and evaluation on behalf of the donor agency, the productivity of the intervention was questionable. Trainees were explicit while expressing their reservations about the quality and standard of this project. Although the program was initiated to enable the head teachers to bring changes in the teaching and learning processes of their schools, the content, teaching methodologies, and knowledge level of resource persons were not instrumental in developing these competencies. It seemed that the program was initiated without proper planning and designing. This study recommends that both the aid agencies and recipient countries need to explore new actors and entities in order to make such interventions productive. Additionally, a comprehensive professional development program focusing on the instructional dimension of school leadership needs to be introduced through the application of intensive empirical research.