The Need of Continuing Professional Development of Secondary-Level Teachers in Karachi

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the need or continuing professional development (CPD) among secondary-level schoolteachers in Karachi. The education budgets of developing countries may not allow for the implementation of a continuous professional development system. The researcher proposed that schools hire a team of educational experts to work on the training of a small number of master trainers who will provide on-the-job training to untrained teachers in their respective schools. This concept of continual professional development fits well within the Karachi schools, which have limited financial resources. In this qualitative research, data were gathered from interviews with male and female teaching faculty members from 6 different private and 3 different public sector secondary-level schools in Karachi. The interviewed teachers agreed that CPD should be compulsory for teachers and schools and should motivate their staff to continue profession development; additionally, they must have a mechanism for doing so. To encourage teachers to seek professional development opportunities, schools should attract/motivate teachers to engage in CPD through rewords, especially cash rewards such as salary increases. Schools also have proper mechanisms for checking the CPDs of their staff, and promotions/appraisals should be associated with CPD programs.