Writeup taken from : Lums School of Education
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Pakistan is experiencing a tremendous boom in education, making the education sector the most robust  engine of growth for the Pakistani economy. However, this boom is at the risk of dissipating because of  a lack of strategic leadership. The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) is looking to make  a strategic intervention in this sector that will harness this energy and move it to a sustainable growth path.

The LUMS School of Education (SOE) will aim to:

• Direct the public discourse and set the agenda for education reform at the nexus of research,  policy and practice;   
• Reimagine the education school of tomorrow by embedding within its model extensive field  engagement as a part of the curriculum for undergraduate, graduate and professional education  programs; and   
• Produce a new class of educational leaders that is ready to provide strategic direction and steer  a burgeoning education ecosystem, relying on a robust network of partnerships in the public,  private, nonprofit and donor spheres of education in the South Asian region.   

The LUMS SOE proposes to deliver:  

• A Partnership and Engagement Program, which will create new types of market demand and  supply with innovative mechanisms for student recruitment, residency, and graduate placement  in the education sector; 
• An Education Research Center, supporting high‐level connections with international faculty,  universities, and regional and local practitioners in education; and  
• A Professional Education Institute for Policy and Practice to engage actively and provide training  in new ways of thinking to various departments, organizations and initiatives for education  reform in the country.

The network of partners that the LUMS SOE is developing is central not only to its policy and social  impact but also contributes to establishing a strong national footprint and a globally connected position.  As an example, the LUMS SOE established regional partnerships through its Education Roundtable at  LUMS, in March 2016. The Roundtable convened academics, practitioners, policy experts and state  representatives with the aim of understanding the challenges faced in the landscape of reform. LUMS  SOE has also had substantial engagement with the District of Bhakkar and the province of KPK, exploring  the possibility of seeding partnerships which could create competitive research opportunities for faculty  and ensure field immersion residencies and placement for LUMS students.  

Similarly, through its Education Roundtable at Harvard, in May 2016, the LUMS SOE seeded partnerships  internationally with top faculty members from universities such as Harvard, Stanford, University of  Pennsylvania, MIT, NYU, Columbia, Northwestern and McGill University. The LUMS SOE team also  attended the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) conference, in

March 2017, in  Atlanta, USA. The team presented the LUMS SOE model to participants and attendees, seeding linkages  with faculty from leading institutions. At the Research on Improving Systems in Education (RISE)  conference at Oxford University, in March 2017, the team met with top international faculty to finalize  new members of the SOE Advisory Board. LUMS SOE also participated in the Global Education and Skills

Forum (GESF) conference, in March 2017, in Dubai, UAE, where LUMS SOE secured its membership in  the Alliance for Alternative Models for Universities. This network will be vital to piloting collaborative  endeavors with international experts. Most recently, LUMS SOE organized a second Roundtable on  Education at Harvard University, in May 2017, where the team met with top faculty to design an  educational leadership module for LUMS SOE in close consultation with Harvard University. LUMS SOE  also organized a Roundtable on Education at Cambridge University in collaboration with the Research  for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre, in June 2017, where the objectives were to outline the  ethos and objectives of the SOE; discuss its curriculum and programming; and identify potential  collaboration strategies for establishing institutional partnerships both at home and abroad.

Reference : Lums School of Education
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