Sindh Institute of Teacher Education
Advancing Equitable, High-Quality Public Education in Pakistan
Faculty research at SITE is anchored in rigorous inquiry, collaborative partnerships, and a strong commitment to improving educational practice and policy. Faculty members lead and contribute to research that addresses critical issues in teacher and school education, language policy, curriculum and pedagogy, and assessment, with a particular focus on school–teacher education linkages in Pakistan.
Faculty members are involved in nationally and internationally funded research, including competitive grants supported by global institutions. Faculty research is disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, policy briefs, and academic networks, ensuring both scholarly impact and practical relevance.
The institution also actively supports early-career researchers, encouraging small-scale and practice-based studies that allow faculty to investigate classroom realities, mentoring processes, and teacher development pathways.
The project investigates how the gap between home and school languages shapes learners’ experiences, academic outcomes, and identity formation in multilingual settings across Pakistan. The ultimate goal is to reduce language barriers for low-income and marginalised learners/communities and to generate evidence-based recommendations that improve learning, social mobility, and long-term economic participation.
The project is led by Dr Fauzia Shamim, the Chief Academic Officer at Durbeen, with Dr Aliya Khalid, Senior Departmental Lecturer at the University of Oxford as co-lead. It is funded by the United Kingdom’s Data and Research in Education — Research Consortium (DARE-RC) and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
Pakistan’s classrooms are linguistically diverse. Many children speak a language at home that differs from the medium of instruction used in school. This mismatch often leads to confusion, weak comprehension, and widening inequities. By closely examining language-in -education policies historically and investigating how the current language-in-education policies are experienced by learners, teachers, and families, this project aims to ground policy in classroom realities so that it becomes more responsive, inclusive, and effective.
The study is divided into two phases: In phase I, education language-in-education policies are analyzed historically in relation to language activism. In phase II, the study explores stakeholders’ experiences and perceptions of the school-home language gap and its impact on learning and identity among multilingual learners. It asks how teachers and communities interpret and enact language-in-education policies, how these interpretations influence classroom practice and access to learning, and how policy can be refined to better serve marginalised children. Finally, findings from the desk research and field research are combined to derive actionable policy recommendations.
This is a qualitative study conducted in two districts—Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Hala in Sindh. The research design is intentionally flexible so that sampling decisions and modes of engagement can be shaped by field realities and participant input. Data collection is carried out by early-career researchers, who receive structured support and training through workshops led by team members from Durbeen and the University of Oxford.
The project follows a collaborative, decentralised model with regional knowledge hubs at the Institute of Education and Research (IER) in Peshawar and Ziauddin University (ZU) in Karachi. Regional leads guide the research teams, ensuring that local knowledge drives inquiry and that capacity building is embedded throughout the work. The collaboration reflects a shared commitment to locally led, globally informed approaches that can strengthen both policy and practice.
The study draws on Lant Pritchett’s stakeholder accountability model (2015) to examine how teachers, communities, and policymakers interact in the development and implementation of multilingual education. Teachers are positioned as the bridge between policy and practice, while parent and community perspectives illuminate what matters most to families and learners. Connecting these voices to policy discussions is central to designing solutions that are practical and sustainable.
Findings will inform evidence-based policy recommendations aimed at removing language barriers, improving classroom practice, and enhancing learning outcomes for marginalised children. Beyond policy influence, the project also builds research capacity within Pakistan by training and supporting early-career researchers and strengthening institutional partnerships.
Fauzia Shamim
Principal Investigator; Chief Academic Officer, Durbeen Pakistan
Aliya Khalid
Co-Principal Investigator; Senior Departmental Lecturer, Comparative and International Education, University of Oxford
Hafiz Inamullah
Regional Head for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Director Institute for Education and Research, University of Peshawar, Pakistan
Rana Hussain
Regional Lead for Sindh; Principal, Ziauddin College of Education, Karachi, Pakistan.
Salma Ahmed Alam
CEO, Durbeen Pakistan
Saira Mahmood
Project Manager; Senior Lecturer, Durbeen, Pakistan.
This research was carried out under the DARE-RC project. DARE-RC is funded with UK International Development from the UK government. Its implementation is led by Oxford Policy Management in partnership with its consortium partners.
This is modestly budgeted project aimed at developing high-quality graded vocabulary corpora for Urdu and Sindhi for grades 1–5. These resources will play a critical role in strengthening foundational literacy in public-sector schools across Pakistan by equipping educators, publishers, writers, NGOs, and policymakers with structured, practical tools to guide curriculum design, learning materials, and instruction.
Salma A. Ahmed, CEO, Durbeen
Nighat Shaheen. Senior lecturer, GECE
KE award for education
The following is a list of published research studies (or in review) from 2023–2026: