The LUMS Open day was held on Sunday, November 17, 2019. Aspiring students and their parents visited the LUMS campus where they attended information sessions on undergraduate and graduate programmes, toured the campus and met with LUMS faculty, administration and students. In addition to the information sessions, booths were also set-up to provide information to the guests about the programmes offered at LUMS, the admission process, LUMS co-curricular societies, and financial aid.
The information session for the Syed Ahsan Ali and Syed Maratib Ali School of Education (SOE) saw an amazing turnout, as people from diverse backgrounds and different cities attended the Open day to get more information about the MPhil Education Leadership and Management (ELM) programme.
The information session consisted of a panel with Dr. Tahir Andrabi, Dean SOE, Dr. Mariam Chughtai, Associate Dean SOE, Dr. Faisal Bari, Director Academics SOE, Javeria Riaz, Deputy Manager Office of Financial Aid, Fatima Farooq, Deputy Manager Office of Admissions, and Afreen Kamran and Adil Sattar, SOE MPhil students.
The session emphasised the need for responsible individuals to contribute towards the education sector of Pakistan. Guests were given information on how the MPhil programme prepares its students for bringing reform in the education sector. A comprehensive presentation on curriculum, admission process, selection criteria, student life and career prospects, was followed by a Question and Answer session, where the panel answered each question in detail.
Participants belonging to different age brackets, academic backgrounds, geographical regions and diverse experiences attended the information session, united by a common goal to bring change in the educational landscape of the country.
The information session resulted in many insightful and productive exchanges. The panel explained that the aim of the ELM programme was to nurture and cultivate future leaders in the education sector, and thus the best facilities and resources have been invested in the programme to achieve that objective. They also talked about the significance of diversity in the MPhil ELM programme, and how it is one of the strongest features of the programme, as the students not only learn from the teacher but also from their peer’s experience.
While talking about the innovative pedagogy of the programme, Dr. Tahir informed the audience member about the focus of the MPhil ELM programme on theoretical perspectives and observing schools, for an insightful learning experience.
Dr. Faisal Bari focused on the need for skilled and motivated people at leadership positions in the education sector, and shared how SOE wants to create future leaders to bring reforms. Dr. Mariam Chughtai talked about the lack of skilled expertise in the education sector and how it was important that more people joined the sector, as there is a huge demand for it.
Adil Sattar, a student of the MPhil ELM batch of 2020, shared his own experience of the programme. He said that the ELM programme not only endowed him with theoretical knowledge but also experiential learning, embedded in the local context.
The event ended on a positive note with a lot of questions from the guests. At the end, the candidates interacted one on one with the panel members and the SOE Admissions department for detailed discussions and queries.
