Every province has an institutional body responsible for the management of the in-service training program; however, there remains no structured professional in-service program in most provinces. This may be due to either the lack of a strategic plan or a vision for continuous professional development of practicing teachers. PRP will undertake a situation analysis of the concerned provincial/regional apex institutions to assess their needs and also identify challenges faced while planning CPD in a province. Based on the situation analysis, PRP will provide technical assistance to each province to support the apex institution develop a strategic plan in which it: (1) identifies PRP in-service or other CPD approaches it is willing to adopt; and/or (2) identifies other intervention areas supportive of CPD (i.e. teacher motivational framework) that are feasible, cost-effective, and could be introduced directly into their system. Areas of focus that have proven to be effective in other countries include making engagement in CPD part of the teacher’s job description with appropriate compensation, developing a career ladder structure to recognize teacher leaders, and raising the professionalism of the teaching force. PRP will help the apex institutions seek approval from the PSCs for these strategies and associated implementation action plans.  

Incentive/Motivational Framework
 
The time teachers need to spend on their professional development over the course of the two-year PRP intervention cycle is considerable. While the project offers stipends for travel expenses and miscellaneous expenses to the subset of teachers who travel long distances, this alone is likely to be insufficient to motivate teachers to invest the significant time and effort requested of them by the rigorous PRP professional development program. PRP is working with apex education officials to assess various options to recognize and compensate teachers who participate in such CPD programs, especially those who become leaders among their peers, such as TIG facilitators, mentors, and head teachers, including:

• Pre-service credit for in-service CPD
• Teacher career ladder & CPD support system
• Professional recognition
• Award ceremonies for teachers in each province
• Exploring other options like allotting time for paid professional development, offering stipends, holding policy discussions, etc.