SEF's IT and Admin undertake comprehensive data profiling activity

SEF’s Information Technology and Administration teams conducting a schools profiling activity in order to collect schools and children’s data from schools being supported under the Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP) and Rural Based Community Schools (RBCS). The purpose will serve in shape of having a comprehensive, validated set of data of schools and enrollment.
Under the guidance and supervision of Mr. Abdullah Abbasi (Director, Administration and IT, SEF), the SEF’s efficient IT and Administration Department team has been travelling across Sindh giving presentations on SEF’s Education Management Information System (EMIS) and data profiling forms as well as briefing the school operators and regional teams on how to fill out the data in a clean manner. Prior to implementation of the activity, as per guidelines laid out by Mr. Abbasi, the IT team drafted new data profiling forms along with data/picture profiling guidelines and protocols, and were shared with program teams based in Karachi and regions for their understanding and feedback.
Subsequently, form templates were circulated to the SEF’s regional offices dotted around in Sindh, who, then, disseminated to the same forms to schools operators – Individuals as well as organizations – for comprehensive data collection.
The team visited Sukkur, Khairpur, Dadu, Shewan, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, and Shaheed Benazirabad and participated in the orientation sessions organized by the respective Regional Heads, supervised data entry activity, provided timely rectification and guidelines to issues pertaining to the data entry. Certificates were also distributed among the participants on successful completion of the session. Vital part of the success of this activity was the effective, timely facilitation of the administration department in arranging for the required resources both in shape of equipment and manpower.

As a result of collaboration of the SEF’s IT and Administration Departments, the data has been successfully collected, entered by the regional teams and shared with respective program heads for verification and validation. This data would ultimately be made part of the SEF’s EMIS.

SEF signs Contracts for Establishment of Schools under IELP

Sindh Education Foundation, Govt. of Sindh signed contracts in the Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP) under the domain of SEF Assisted Schools on December 21, 2015 with the successful school operators.
The school operators, who hailed from Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Shaheed Benazirabad, Larkana, Sukkur, and Dadu, have been selected after following a transparent, merit-based, stringent process in which the operators as well as proposed school site were assessed against set standards and criteria.
Ms. Naheed S. Durrani (Managing Director, SEF) headed the contract signing event held on December 21, 2015 at the SEF Head Office in which Mr. Aziz Kabani (Deputy Managing Director, SEF), Mr. Rafique Mustafa Shaikh (Director, Programs), Mr. Mushtaque Ahmed Soomro (Assistant Director, IELP), Mr. Rustam Ali Samejo (Deputy Director, Regions Coordination-South, SEF), Mr. Dilshad Pirzaro (Acting Deputy Director, Regions Coordination-North), Ms. Naheed Abbasi (Assistant Director, Larkana Region, SEF) participated along with 40 school operators. An introductory presentation was given at the outset of the activity to acquaint the school operators with the SEF’s philosophy, vision, and mode of operations, and with the outputs which SEF expects in return of the per-child subsidy, teachers’ training and other resources it expends on schools development.

Ms. Durrani related the SEF’s mission as focusing on enrolling the out-of-school children who cannot attend any school after completing their primary education. “We are trying to reach out to every child even in the remotest parts of Sindh and provide them free quality education today, so that we have learned Sindhi youth tomorrow. You (the school operators) are also required to work hard by our side and make school environment as attractive for teachers as for students to convince them to attend school willingly. We also need to reach out to parents and convince them to send their children, especially girls, to schools for a brighter future for them and for their children.” Important conditions set out as part of the school contracts were also explained to the school operators to ensure they understand the conditions and consequences in case of violation of any of them. The school operators agreed to conditions and expressed great vigor towards running the schools with commitment and dedication, which would surely result in a prosperous Sindh.

Visit to Fazal Future Developer Middle School

A surprise visit was arranged to the Fazal Future Developer Middle School on December 15, 2015 which is being operated under the umbrella of IELP. The aim of the visit was to facilitate school operator in terms of infrastructure development, classroom setup and curriculum development. Suggestions on infusing health and hygiene habits in children through various reinforcement was also given and school operator was also asked to hold periodic parent- teacher meeting as an act of community involvement.

SEF pays tribute to the APS martyrs

Sindh Education Foundation paid tribute to the martyrs of Army Public School at a small ceremony organized today at SEF head office. Prayers were held to pay homage to the innocent children who lost their lives in the brutal act, a year ago.
May God bless their families and give them strength to bear the irreparable loss.

Girls from SEF Assisted Schools Shine in Board Exam

"It's a feeling of satisfaction to see the first batch of our schools to complete high school with distinction," says Ms. Nadira Magsi, a school teacher from Shah Habib Fellowship School Bhit Shah (District Matiari). "I feel joy and satisfaction over the girls' performance and would attribute this success to the commitment of our teachers, students, operating committee and the SEF towards provision of quality education."
Girls from SEF Assisted schools have clinched the top positions in the secondary school certificate examination results announced by the Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad's Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education.
Girl students from schools supported under SEF’s Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP) have proved their commitment and hard work by securing top grades in the Secondary School examination by outshining the other private and elite schools who are charging hefty fees against the education they provide. 07 students have grabbed A-1 Grade, 14 students A Grade, and 03 students secured B Grade in the mentioned exams.

Husna d/o Imtiaz Ali, Mehtab d/o Najaf Ali, Uroosa d/o Ghulam Nabi, Dua d/o Ghulam Muhammad, Mutahira Zainab d/o Aftab Ahmed, and Saiqa Naz d/o Bhag-e-Ali of Shah Habib Fellowship School (Bhitshah, District Matiari) secured A-1 Grade; Asma Batool d/o Rafiq Ahmed, Andaleeb d/o Muharam Ali, Tehmeena d/o Abdul Rahim, Sobia d/o Hamza Ali, Anila d/o Sudheer Ahmed, Nazish d/o Gul Bahar, Pireh d/o Muhammad Juman secured A Grade.
Shahnaz d/o Mir Azam Khan, Fazila d/o Ali Dino, Lareb d/o Syed Budhal Shah, Kiran d/o Nawaz Ali Shah, Nazia d/o Shaman Ali, Shabina d/o Muhammad Rafiq, and Sajida d/o Sher Muhammad from Latif Fellowship School (Bhitshah, District Matiari) secured A Grade ; whereas, from HDF Elementary and Secondary School, Anwar d/o Shafiq Ahmed secured A Grade, and Rahila Anam d/o Muhammad Rafiq, Abida d/o Muhammad Umar, and Benazir d/o Muhammad Urs secured B Grade.
SEF’s resources dedicated and utmost commitment of the school operators towards providing quality education to the children from rural areas is also evident from the results. They express great satisfaction over the results and accredited it to the students’ willingness to excel in the field of education.
It would have not been possible without the technical and financial support from the Sindh Education Foundation, Govt. of Sindh, which has been providing assistance to the schools consistently for over a decade now. SEF’s technical teams are directly involved in teachers’ professional development, assessment of teachers and schools, and field support visits which are made to ensure the quality of education in schools and whether teachers are conducting lessons in classrooms as per the standards.
SEF is proud of these students and envisions a Sindh where the number of out-of-school children is minimized to naught and where quality education is available to children from the remote, underserved areas at their doorsteps.

SEF signs contracts with Organizations and Individuals under SEF Assisted Schools Portfolio (IELP)

Sindh Education Foundation, Govt. of Sindh plans to enroll around 70,000 out-of-school children in schools supported under its SEF Assisted Schools (SAS) portfolio (earlier, Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP)).
SEF's Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP) aims at establishing public-private partnerships for increasing access to and improving the quality of education (Primary and Elementary) services for children throughout the province. Current portfolio of the program stands at around 400 schools of which 253 are Primary Schools and 147 are post primary including 132 Elementary; 15 Middle and Secondary Schools. The total enrolment in these Schools is around 98,000.
According to SEF spokesperson "Though this new portfolio; SEF aims to enroll greater number of out of school children and further also reach out to those 300 or so schools which recently went non-functional due to non-renewal of contracts owing to substandard quality of educational facilities and underperformance of the school operators".

"SEF is signing partnership contracts with selected 18 organizations and more than 50 individuals experienced in the field of education to provide quality education in 300 SEF Assisted Schools dotted around Sindh", he added.

In the first phase, Child Development Organization (CDO), HAPE Development Welfare Organization, Marvi Rural Development Organization (MRD), Tehzeeb Development Foundation (TDF), and Association for Water Applied Education and Renewable Energy (AWARE) were awarded contracts on December 08, 2015; however, the coming phases will create partnership with the NGOs including The Citizen Foundation (TCF), Green Crescent Trust, Osar Foundation, Indus Resource Center (IRC), Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi (ITA),Transformation and Reflection for Rural Development (TRD),Rasheed Education and Welfare Association (REWA), Al-Rashid Cooperative Society (ARS),BRAC Pakistan, Dharti Development Foundation (DDF), Indus Education Foundation (IEF) and Arfa Karim Institute of IT and Technical Training. Contracts are being signed in phases and remaining successful organizations and individuals would be invited to sign the contracts subsequently. The process of selecting new partners has continued for weeks and involved shortlisting of applicants for establishment of new schools. Stringent evaluation of proposals was adopted by the selection committees to make the process transparent and merit-based. In order to induce credibility into the selection process, a committee comprising of 07 members from within SEF and a representative from, each, the Education and Literacy Department (Govt. of Sindh) and Finance Department (Govt. of Sindh) was formulated who selected the applications according to their weightage in qualification criteria.

Proposals submitted by the organizations and individuals were evaluated in detail whereby different factors were considered including submission of necessary documents, scope and strength of school development plan and prior experience in the education sector, and applicants were interviewed by the committee members to evaluate the their personal and professional capacity and clarity of vision for the proposed schools.

Recent contracts are signed under the conditions laid out in the contract as per the new vision for the SEF Assisted Schools which lay stress on quality of educational facility, school infrastructure and environment, quality of teachers supplemented by professional training provided by SEF, and drinking water and toilet facility for students and staff. Special emphasis was also laid on the genuine need of the schools depending upon the number of out-of-school children and density of population in target area. As final step of selection process, physical verification of the proposed sites for schools was conducted by the SEF team.

Contracts Signed for Establishment of New Schools under IELP

Sindh Education Foundation signed contracts on November 08, 2015 at SEF Head Office with selected 05 organizations to establish SEF Assisted Schools (IELP) in 05 districts of Sindh.
The organizations which signed the partnership contracts included Child Development Organization (CDO), HAPE Development Welfare Organization, Marvi Rural Development Organization (MRD), Tehzeeb Development Foundation (TDF), and Association for Water Applied Education and Renewable Energy (AWARE).
Document screening and orientation on the different clauses of the contract preceded the signing of contracts in order to place the partners in a better position to know about what SEF expects from them as partners under the IELP domain.
Contracts are being signed in phases and remaining successful organizations and individuals would be invited to sign the contracts subsequently. As many as 18 organizations and more than 50 individuals have been selected in this phase for partnership for establishment of SEF-assisted Schools (IELP).
The process has continued for weeks and involved shortlisting of applicants to approval of proposals for establishment of new schools. Stringent evaluation of proposals was adopted by the selection committees.
Proposals submitted by the organizations and individuals were evaluated in detail whereby different factors are being considered including submission of necessary documents, scope and strength of school development plan and prior experience in the education sector, and applicants were interviewed by the committee members to evaluate the their personal and professional capacity and clarity of vision for the proposed schools.

SEF Starts Scrutiny of PPRS Phase- VI Proposals

Selected teams of Sindh Education Foundation have started the process of scrutiny of proposals on November 19, 2015 for opening new schools under Phase VI of the Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) Program.
On publishing the advertisement in various renowned newspapers, SEF has received many applications from almost every district of Sindh. Currently, the SEF team is sorting out the applications and recording primary information about the applicants -- individuals as well as organizations -- and the proposed school locations into a database.
The information will be submitted to the selection committee which would then finalize shortlisting of the proposed school locations; last stage being the awarding of school contracts to successful applicants.

Subject-specific Teachers’ Training for PPRS Schools

A 21-day long training for teachers from schools supported under Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) Program is in progress at 15 venues in selected 10 districts of Sindh.

A team of 30 trainers from Sindh Education Foundation’s Learning Support Unit (LSU) is imparting subject-specific teaching skills to teachers from 199 schools from Phase I and II.
More than 1,300 teachers are receiving comprehensive training on teaching of subjects including English (including English Competency), Maths, of Grades I to V, and Early Childhood Education (ECE) to ensure imparting of quality education in the schools. Well-conceived and carefully drafted useful, detailed manuals for all the subjects would be handed over to the teachers to help conduct lessons in the classrooms in a more effective manner as per the modern standards of teaching.

PPRS Program is a key program of SEF and has been providing access to quality education in the remote areas of Sindh since 2009. Keeping in view the programmatic objectives and requirements of PPRS, the LSU designed a subject-specific training and prepared corresponding guides, manuals and handouts to be given during the training which stretches out to 21 days, ending on November 23, 2015.

Assessment Unit to Evaluate Competencies of IELP Teachers

SEF’s Assessment Unit will evaluate the competencies of IELP teachers in all districts of Sindh on November 08, 2015. It will be a type of diagnostic assessment during which the teachers would be evaluated on the subjects of English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Approximately 1,600 teachers will be assessed including 1,186 teachers from Grades 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the rest from Grades 6, 7 and 8.

During assessment, the teachers will be given papers in booklet form comprising of various evaluation tools including picture comprehension, MCQs, short responses, sentence making, problem solving and creative writing.
Through the assessment, IELP will be able to gauge the teachers’ abilities and skills which would enable them to develop future plans accordingly.

Screening Committee discusses adoption of schools

Adopt-A-School Screening Committee Meeting was held on 16th November 2015 at the Head Office of Sindh Education Foundation. The purpose of organizing this meeting is to ensure that the prospective adopter / applicant is properly screened and scrutinized. During this meeting prospective adopters share their plans about the applied schools and committee members probe the facts about their experience, work and improvement plan for the applied schools. This is an activity where prospective adopters get initial approval to be finalized by Steering Committee of Adopt-A-School Program (final approval).

The composition of the Screening Committee (AASP) is as follows:

• Ms. Naheed Shah Durrani (Chairperson / Managing Director, SEF)
• Ms. Alia Shahid (Co-Chairperson/Special Secretary Education & Literacy, Government of Sindh)
• 03 Civil Society Members:
  • Lt. Gen. (R) Moin-uddin Haider
  • Ms. Sadiqa Salahuddin
  • Ms. Sayeeda Laghari
• Mubashir Mirza (Coordinator / Assistant Director, AASP-SEF)

The Screening Committee Meeting was chaired by Ms. Naheed Durrani, Managing Director, SEF and the Co-Chairperson was Ms. Alia Shahid, Special Secretary Education & Literacy, Government of Sindh. Lt Gen (R) Moinuddin Haider, Ms. Sadiqa Salahuddin and Ms. Sayeeda Laghari were also present in meeting as Civil Society Members.

Thirteen adoption cases were lined up for Screening against 66 schools in 8 different districts of Sindh. On the day of the meeting, 12 adopters (both organizations and individuals) came for screening. All adoption cases were presented in the Meeting by the Assistant Director, AASP-SEF and each and every school’s condition and status was discussed in detail. At the conclusion of the meeting, the committee had approved 11 applicants for around 57 schools which will be put up for further processing in the Steering Committee Meeting.

Mock Training for PPRS Phase I & II Schools

SEF’s Learning Support Unit (LSU), responsible for conducting trainings and preparing manuals and guidelines for teachers, has started a 5-day mock training activity from October 27, 2015 to help prepare its trainers for the upcoming 21-day training of teachers from PPRS Phase I and II schools.

Focus will be more on the syllabi of English, Maths, Science, and Social Studies of Grades I-V in this simulation activity which is to last till November 01, 2015.

The LSU team members have prepared useful, detailed manuals for all the subjects which would be handed over to the teachers to help them conduct lessons in the classrooms in a more effective manner. The subsequent teachers’ training is scheduled to start from November 03, 2015 onward at the headquarters of 10 districts of Sindh.

School Contracts Signed with Partners under IELP

On September 22 and 23, 2015, contracts were signed under the Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP) with partners to pledge commitment with SEF for providing quality education in the marginalized areas of Sindh.
Prior to signing of the contracts, school operators were given briefing about the various clauses of the contract.
In the first phase, contracts have been awarded to the operators of 193 schools; however, contracts with 114 schools were signed in the month of October which marked the end of the second phase of the activity.

Mock Training for PPRS Phase I & II Schools

SEF’s Learning Support Unit (LSU), responsible for conducting trainings and preparing manuals and guidelines for teachers, has started a 5-day mock training activity from October 27, 2015 to help prepare its trainers for the upcoming 21-day training of teachers from PPRS Phase I and II schools.

Focus will be more on the syllabi of English, Maths, Science, and Social Studies of Grades I-V in this simulation activity which is to last till November 01, 2015.

The LSU team members have prepared useful, detailed manuals for all the subjects which would be handed over to the teachers to help them conduct lessons in the classrooms in a more effective manner.
The subsequent teachers’ training is scheduled to start from November 03, 2015 onward at the headquarters of 10 districts of Sindh.

Support Visits to 150 Schools under RBCS Program

The Rural-based Community Schools (RBCS) Program team carried out school support visits from October 12 to October 20, 2015 to 151 schools falling under its domain.
The aim of the visits was to ensure and record the progress and proper functioning of schools and implementation of SEF’s new vision for its programs.

Data collected during the visits included the schools’ GPS coordinates, and headcount of students and teachers. Facilitative discussion was also held by the team with the operating organization to ensure syncing of efforts by them and the SEF.
Additionally, the issues pertaining to schools management, and community development and awareness were also discussed.

International Literacy Day 2015 Celebrated by SEF

Sindh Education Foundation, Govt. of Sindh arranged awareness walks and held seminar simultaneously at its regional offices at Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhkas, Larkana, Benazirabad and Dadu to celebrate the International Literacy Day 2015.

Interpreting the theme of the day, ‘Literacy and Sustainable Societies’, the activities would pertain to the issues related to literacy as a key driver of sustainable development and as a prerequisite for learning of a broader set of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values required for creating sustainable societies.

At Hyderabad, the SEF regional office team along with its partners and stakeholders including schools’ operators, government officials, NGOs, teachers, students, parents, and civil society members celebrated the day by organizing an educational discourse and discussion on the pivotal role of education in society’s development and progress. An awareness walk from Sindh University (Old Campus) to the press club was also arranged where students and civil society members displayed cards and banners carrying slogans of making education a state priority. Different educationists, intellectuals, media persons, and social development sector professionals participated and spoke at the event.

Schools operators/partners were also communicated to celebrate the day at their schools with local communities. It was highlighted that along with message of the day, SEF would tirelessly carry out its mission of free quality education aimed under its new vision. In this connection, SEF Sukkur Region has also organized a literacy walk and seminar in collaboration with the District Administration and Education Department (Khairpur). The awareness walk started from Chatri Chowk to the Press Club Khairpur in which SEF team, representatives of local district administration, NGO personnel and scores of students and teachers along with civil society members participated.

A rally in the same view was organized by the SEF’s Dadu regional office in collaboration with the Education and Literacy Department, Dadu. Along with the hundreds of students and teachers from SEF-supported and independent primary and government schools participated in the rally from SEF’s Dadu office to the press club, the DEO (Primary Schools), DEO (Secondary Schools), representatives from different NGOs, civil society organizations and social workers were also present. The participants speaking at the occasion highlighted the importance of the education and literacy in nation’s progress and development in this age of reason and technology.

A Literacy Day walk was also arranged in Larkana where representatives from the Education Department, school operators, teachers and students marched from Pilot School Larkana to the Press Club where speakers addressed the gathering. Participants were carrying banners and placards where slogans of literacy and education were displayed to raise awareness among the masses.

The events across Sindh helped raise awareness about how important education and literacy are in our development and progress as a nation. Statistics reveal that average per capita income in countries with a literacy rate less than 55 percent averages to approximately $600; average per capita income in countries with a literacy rate between 55 and 84 percent is approximately $2,400; average per capita income in countries with a literacy rate between 85 and 95 percent is approximately $3,700; and, average per capita income in countries with a literacy rate above 96 percent is approximately $12,600.

Connecting with the theme of the day, Literacy and Sustainable Societies, Sindh Education Foundation reasserted its commitment with progress of Sindh through various education-based schemes under the public-private partnership and with the vision of free quality education for all.

SEF Representatives take part in MSA-organized cleanliness drive in Baba Bhit Island

Representatives from the Sindh Education Foundation’s Rural-based Community Schools (RBCS) program, Ashfaq Meerani and Humera Naz Fayyaz, participated in the one-day cleanliness drive organized on special directives of Director General Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Jameel Akhtar (Hilal-e-Imtiaz) in Baba Bhit Island.

More than 300 students of Government Urdu Boys and Girls Primary School Haji Peer Mohammad, besides the local elders took part in the drive.
On the occasion, school children competed in the fields of tableaus, paintings and other extra-curricular activities. They also sang the national songs.
Commander Kashif Azam, representatives of Sindh Education Foundation Ashfaq Mirani and Humera Naz Fayyaz, representative of Indus Research Centre Nasir Ahmed, Native Island Fishermen Association representative Asif Bhatti and others participated in the event. Addressing on the occasion, Commander Kashif said the defence of the country would be ensured at all costs. He said the aspirations of the 1965 War are still present in today’s youths.

Ashfaq Mirani said it is praiseworthy that students of Karachi islands are keen to get education. He also praised the activity and said that the move would strengthen the concept of importance of cleanliness for a healthy society.
Nisar Ahmed said we could make our country on the path of progress and prosperity by spread education. Asif Bhatti said they are thankful to the Pakistani Maritimes Security Agency for resolving the civic issues of the islands.
However, the local residents were jubilant on successful holding of the cleanliness drive in their area.

Evaluation of Proposals for New Schools under IELP

SEF-constituted committees are evaluating applications for opening schools under SEF's Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP), which were under sorting and scrutiny since last two weeks.

Applications are being evaluated against the criteria mentioned in the Request for Proposals (RFPs) which the shortlisted candidates were given to submit their proposals.

At this stage, proposals submitted by the organizations and individuals are being evaluated in detail whereby different factors are being considered including submission of necessary documents, scope and strength of school development plan and prior experience in the education sector -- where necessary, the applicants are also being interviewed by the committee members via telephone or in person, as required by the respective case.

Scrutiny of Proposals for Schools under IELP Starts

Selected teams at Sindh Education Foundation have started the process of evaluating the proposals for opening new schools under the Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP).

SEF has received a large number of proposals nominating schools locations across Sindh in response to its press advertisements published in the previous months.

In order to induce credibility into the selection process, a committee comprising of 07 members from within SEF and a representative from, each, the Education and Literacy Department (Govt. of Sindh) and Finance Department (Govt. of Sindh) has been formulated who would select the applications according to their weightage in qualification criteria.

Currently, the SEF team is sorting out the applications and recording primary information about the applicants -- individuals as well as organizations -- and the proposed school locations into a database.

The information will be submitted to the selection committee which would then finalize shortlisting of the proposed school locations; last stage being the awarding of school contracts to successful applicants.

SEF pays tribute to Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali

On the occasion of death anniversary of Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali, founder and former Managing Director SEF, a learning session had been organized on “Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali: Quintessential Leader, Mentor and a Teacher”, on August 08, 2015.

The session oriented the SEF staff about the various traits of a true leader along with the various aspects of leadership and also provided the platform to pay tribute to Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali. Speakers consisted of the prominent personalities including Ms. Sadiqa Salahuddin (Director Programs, Indus Resource Centre), Mr. Muhammad Memon (Chairman Secondary and Intermediate Board), Ms. Laila Haroon Sarfaraz (President, APWA) and Mr. Karamat Ali (Executive Director, PILER). Ms. Baela Raza (Director Prgrams, ITA) was the moderator of the session.

During the session guest speakers saluted the efforts of Prof. Ali for promoting the cause of education altruistically and courageously and also admired her dedication and enthusiasm for her passion. They also cite anecdotes and memorabilia from her life which made them nostalgic about the times that were spent with the great mentor and a friend.

According to one of the guest speakers she was one those persons whose actions aspire to dream more, learn more, do more and become more which actually manifests how a leader and mentor looks like.

Introducing Information and Communications Technology in SEF-supported Schools

A consultative meeting between SEF management and Sukkur IBA representative was held at SEF’s Head Office on August 05, 2015 to discuss introducing of information and communication technology as teaching aid in SEF supported schools in the marginalized areas of Sindh.

The meeting was attended by senior management of the SEF including Ms. Naheed Shah Durrani (Managing Director, SEF), Mr. Aziz Kabani(Deputy Managing Director, SEF), Mr. Muhammad Abdullah Abbasi (Director, Administration, Human Resource and IT), Ms. Shahpara Rizvi (Director, Technical), and Mr. Adnan Mobin (Acting Director, Programs and Planning) with representatives from SEF’s technical units and programs. Prof. Nisar Ahmed Siddiqui (Director, Sukkur IBA) and his team represented IBA at the meeting.

Part of a series of consultative sessions, the purpose of this meeting was to explore the viabilities of SEF's Introducing Smart Teaching and Learning (INSTAL) initiative to use information and communications technology (ICT) for teaching and learning in SEF-supported schools in marginalized areas of Sindh by discussing potential challenges and opportunities in deployment of teachers and capacity building in such initiatives.

The possible future tie-up between SEF and IBA also came under discussion with regard to hiring and subsequent trainings of potential HR. The participants provided their feedback, shared their relevant experiences, and suggested changes and improvements in the preliminary concept of the initiative.

The valuable suggestions and feedback of the participants would be made part of the INSTAL’s final proposal.

SEF's Studies and Researches

Sindh Education Foundation’s Research Secretariat has been engaged in analysis and reporting of 03 studies, viz. (1) Effectiveness and Impact of Oxford University Press Textbooks in PPRS Schools, (2) Entrepreneur’s Study, and (3) Study on Student Absenteeism.

The Unit has also successfully completed the study of the Non-formal Basic Education Project (NFBE-SAHE). All the finance related tasks have been completed and remuneration disbursed to SAHE enumerators.

MD SEF met VC, Sindh University

Managing Director of SEF, Ms. Naheed Shah Durrani meets with the Vice Chancellor of University of Sindh, Dr. Abida Tahirani at latter’s residence at Jamshoro. Prospects of the SEF's new scheme for middle and secondary schools were discussed.

MD SEF meets with IELP School Operators

In the first week of May 2015, Ms. Naheed Shah Durrani, Managing Director, SEF met with the IELP school operators to discuss issues pertaining to school infrastructure, teaching methodology, curriculum, on-site headcounts and reported multi-grading in some IELP schools.

The 75 school operators shared the progress of their respective schools in the meeting sessions in which SEF regional heads and field coordinators also participated to represent their respective regions.

A comprehensive discussion on weaknesses and strengths of schools as reported by the SEF’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and assessment teams. Ms. Durrani expressed her disapproval over the fact that, where many schools were performing quite well, there were schools which have problems in their basic structure including school infrastructure, multi-grading in classrooms, and teaching methodology. She also suggested solutions on how to improve on the weaknesses identified during the discussion

She also announced that a certain number of schools will be selected where computer labs and library will be developed in the next fiscal year. Once successful, the model will be replicated in all IELP schools across Sindh in future.

Meeting of Sindh Education Foundation’s BoG

A meeting of the board of governors of Sindh Education Foundation was held at the Sindh Chief Minister’s house on May 20, 2015. The Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah presided over the meeting in which Senior Minister for Education Nisar Khuhro, Sindh Chief Secretary Muhammad Siddique Memon, Additional Chief Secretary Muhammad Wasim, Education Secretary Fazul Pechuho, Secretary on Universities and Boards Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah, and Finance Secretary Sohail Rajput participated in the meeting.

The SEF officials who attended the meeting included SEF Managing Director Naheed Shah Durrani, Deputy Managing Director Aziz Kabani, Director Administration, Human Resources & IT Abdullah Abbasi, Director Programs (Acting) Adnan Mobin, and Deputy Director Programs (Acting) Mukhtiar Chandio attended the meeting and participated in the deliberation.

The participants lauded the performance of the SEF and supported its future programme.
Besides, Qaim Ali Shah also approved its three education-promoting schemes.
The chief minister also directed the SEF to enhance its existing enrolment from 262,000 to 412,000 students and also ensure standard quality of education at its facilities. He laid stress on bringing out-of-school children into the educational net and the standard of education must be raised. He said that the track record of the SEF was impressive. Shah added that he was optimistic that it the SEF would keep performing well in the future as well.

On the proposal presented by SEF managing director Naheed Shah, the chief minister announced an increase in the foundation’s annual budget from Rs2.2 billion to Rs3.2 billion. Besides, he approved the endowment fund of Rs5 billion and also directed the finance department to release the pending amount to the SEF.

He also approved the raising of per-child subsidy from Rs350 to Rs450 for the primary section, from Rs450 to Rs600 for the elementary section and from Rs550 to Rs700 for the secondary education.

The chief minister allowed of hiring 300 internees to increase the quality of teaching mathematics, English and science at the SEF-run schools and supporting audio-video and IT methods.

The chief minister approved the scheme of using existing government schools for starting evening shift by the SEF in collaboration with the educators in the private sector on subsidy.

She said major share of the existing budget was spent on children’s subsidy alone; the remaining amount, she added, was spent on the salaries of teachers and the administrative staff, assessments and training activities, and marketing operations.

Educating the Working Children

Karachi June 26 : Government officials, policy makers, educationists and NGOs on Tuesday congregated at a hotel to discuss the issue of child labor and find the means to alleviate the problem and provide the children a chance to a safer, higher quality of life.

The Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) held the event 'Treasuring Childhood': Dialogue on addressing Child Labor in Pakistan under its continuing Child Labor Education Program (CLEP) aimed to work towards the self development of the working children.

Over 150 participants attended the event and discussed issues faced by the working children in the manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail trade which includes harsh and hazardous work environments, physical abuse, poor health and nutrition and inaccessibility to educational facilities.

Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali, Managing Director, SEF, said that millions of children in Pakistan are deprived of the opportunity to engage in educational and recreational activities and this is largely attributable to the general lack of educational facilities that are accessible to working and street children.

She said that to help alleviate the current scenario, the Sindh Education Foundation provides free of cost and flexibly timed educational, recreational and health services to working children through its Child Labor Education Program. She said that the children who will receive the benefit of education will be a boon to the society.

Ms. Ambreena Ahmed, Senior Manager, SEF discussed the foundation's interventions undertaken in the educational sector over the last two decades, extending support to public, private and community schooling sectors with the aid of the Sindh Government as well as national and international institutions.

Ms. Ahmed stated that the Child Development Center (CDC), established under CLEP at Sher Shah Karachi, aims to provide learning and self-development opportu

nities to working children and restore dignity of labor. The Center is open from 9 in the morning to 8 in the night, offering flexible timings to the children who work for their family's livelihood. Over 1300 children have enrolled at the Center in which 150 have completed primary education, 97 completed elementary, 29 children have completed matriculation and 2 are in intermediate she added.

Ghaffar Khan, Manager Public Private Partnership Unit, explained that before the initiation of the program a feasibility study was carried out on the child labor situation in the country. It was decided that instead of taking children out from work and worsening the financial condition of their families, efforts would be made to improve the working and living conditions of the community.

He said that initiatives were taken on a community scale especially when raising awareness on health by engaging the women from the families and educating them on the subject matter. He said that parents and the employers of the children have been very supportive of the initiative and gave the children extra time for the purpose of education.

Adnan Mobeen, Senior Manager SEF, discussed what the term 'child labor' exactly means and the reasons for why children end up working. He said in the context of Pakistan, given our economic and political situation, eliminating child labor is no mean feat but we can try and do what we can to help improve the situation, as is the vision of Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali.

Karamat Ali, Director Piler, said that child labor could be eradicated from Pakistan if we endeavored to do so. He said it should be mandatory under the law for all children to attend school and he has also discussed the matter with the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

He said that more funds are allocated to the defence budget instead of education, which does not aid in the progress of the country. He stated that a system of social security should be worked upon to be instilled in Pakistan as it has been done in the countries abroad which would result in the eradication of child labor.

Dr. Habiba Hassan, paediatrician and human rights activitist, stated that the impoverished children faced many health issues due to poverty and the working conditions at the place of their employment. She explained that the children who work in industrial areas are faced with toxic fumes and other hazards which can be a cause for health related problems.

She said that better care and safety precautions should be taken to help reduce these problems. She added that a complete package of women empowerment, adult education program, birth control in addition to initiatives geared towards children is required to help the current situation.

Zubieda Mustafa, senior journalist, said that the media can play a very important role in the reduction of child labor. She said that media, especially electronic media, has a vast reach and can help raise awareness towards the issue amongst the masses.

Ms. Mustafa said that the issues of population planning, education, women empowerment and child labor are all intertwined to each other and all need to be looked after to better the prospects of the nation. She added it was the people who will bring the change and that the media plays a crucial role in making them aware of the situation and mobilizing them to act.

Salam Dharejo, Country Coordinator Terre Des Hommes, said 70 percent of child labor works in the agricultural sector and not a single law has been made to deal with the rights of these children. He emphasized that it is essential for these laws to be made so that abuse towards children working today can be stopped. Legislation should be enacted and children rights when it comes to working should be upheld he added.

Wajida Musharaf, Principal CDC, further elaborated on the community engagement and academic interventions undertaken by the Center for the children which included diversified and culturally-compatible learning with well-trained facilitators, recreational activities and an emphasis on health and safety for the community.

A documentary on the working children of Sher Shah and the impact of the CDC on their lives was also shown at the event.

Strengthening public schools new avenues in public private partnership

KARACHI, June 19: Educationists, industrialists, policy makers, government officials and representatives of business groups on Tuesday gathered at a hotel to share their views about the public-sector education system and find out ways to make quality education facilities accessible to the marginalised children and communities of Sindh.

The interactive session, strengthening public schools new avenues in public-private partnership, was held under the auspices of the Sindh Education Foundation in connection with its ongoing project of 'Adopt a School Programme'.

More than 150 participants, including government officials, adopters and prospective groups from the private sector aspiring to adopt schools, discussed past achievements and future challenges in the implementation of the programme.

Speaking at the session, Director of the British Council for Sindh and Balochistan Mashood Rizvi said that private educational institutions were responsible for widening the rich-poor divide. Societal issues came about whenever or wherever private educational institutions started functioning, he added.

Mr Rizvi called for enlarging the scope of adopted schools to urban as well as rural areas. There were 44,000 government schools in Sindh but only 200 schools of them had been adopted so far. More efforts were therefore needed to expand this programme, he added.

Former governor of Sindh retired general Moinuddin Haider, who along with his wife had adopted four schools some 12 years back, said the task of improving accessibility and quality of education in the province was difficult indeed and commended the efforts made by the Sindh Education Foundation, particularly its managing director Prof Anita Ghulam Ali, in improving the quality and expanding outreach of educational facilities in Sindh. He lauded the role the Adopt a School Programme had played in furthering the cause of education in Sindh and stated that he looked forward to its continuing success in the future.

Agha Shahid, who had adopted two schools in Akhtar Colony three backs back, said the schools had no water facility for the past many years and were facing sanitation problems.

Adnan, another adopter, highlighted the importance of motivating teachers. If the teachers would extend cooperation, there would be no problem in improving the standard of schools and education, he said.

Abdul Wahid Uqaily, a government officer and adopter of some schools in Thatta under Uqaily Family & Friends Association, called for legal protection to the adopters so that they could work independently without the interference of officers like Executive District Officers of Education.

According to him, the donors do not want to work with people having no discipline. He also sought adopters' role in utilisation of funds of school management committee and posting of headmaster of school.

Describing the Adopt a School Programme as one of SEF flagship initiatives that mobilised and facilitated private-sector support for public school reform, Prof Anita Ghulam Ali stated that to date more than 300 successful adoptions had been made and benefited thousands of children belonging to marginalised areas.

She reaffirmed the foundation's commitment in providing educational facilities conducive to learning, at the places where the practice of knowledge sharing could continue unhindered for the betterment of the nation.

Earlier, SEF Director Aziz Kabani stated that the Adopt a School Programme was a highly inclusive approach to revitalize government schools by involving in its campaign diverse segments of society, including social sector agencies, citizens concerned, multi-national companies, private sector and educationists. He said that the adopters contributed by donating time, resources and privileges to give the marginalised children the seemingly simple privilege of quality education. Mr Kabani also commended the efforts of the school adopters and the foundation in furthering the cause of education in Sindh.

SEF Senior Manager Ambreena Ahmed provided an overview of the foundation introducing the interventions undertaken in the public, private and community schooling sectors and the support the Sindh government as well as some national and international institutions provided to it during the past two decades.

During the programme, a panel of experts comprising Mr Haider, Mr Rizvi, IED Director Mohammad Memon, DO (Education) Farahnaz Riaz, Mr Shahid and Mr Uquaily answered the queries of potential adopters, including representatives of Rozgar Microfinance Bank, Naya Jeevan, HERA, Mahvesh and Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation, PSO, Shell and Synergies.

On the occasion, the adopters were also given shields as a token of appreciation for their hard work and commitment.

Sindh Education Foundation participates in Educational Conference in Dadu

The Sindh Education Foundation, Govt. of Sindh arranged an advocacy stall at the Educational Conference in the Dadu District on the 26th of May 2012. Publications and advocacy materials as well as multiple teaching/ learning resources comprising learning kits and low & no-cost materials were displayed at the stall.

During the course of the Conference, the stall was visited by educationists, civil society members, advocates, students, journalists, NGOs personnel & government officials. Noted personalities including the Hon'ble Senior Minister for Education (Government of Sindh) Pir Mazhar-ul-Haque, Hon'ble Federal Minister for Law, Farooq H. Naik and Minister for Prisons (Government of Sindh) Ayaz Soomro also visited the SEF stall and were provided an orientation on the latest initiatives of the Foundation. Moreover senior education officials, divisional personnel, Deputy Commissioner Dadu and British Council's Director for Sindh & Balouchistan, Mr. Mashood Rizvi, also graced the SEF stall with their presence. All visitors were provided with the latest publications.

The latest initiatives, outreach and achievements of the Foundation were displayed at the stall through posters and banners. Amongst these were posters of various schools rehabilitated by the SEF in the katcho area. These schools were originally established in 1972 at Kachi & Kacho which are known to be very remote and isolated areas in the Sindh province. These schools were closed due to lack of proper monitoring and governance along with other political reasons and only recently reopened by the SEF with the support of the Government of Sindh. Mr. Farooq H. Naik and other participants were also briefed on the state of the schools at Kachi and Kacho. SEF's efforts were highlighted as well in reviving the schools through reacquiring the building from persons of local influence, renovating the said buildings and mobilizing the local community towards education. Due to SEF's unwavering commitment and dedication, the previously closed schools have now opened their doors for the children of the community.

Director, Programs, Operations & Research, SEF, Mr. Aziz Kabani, Manager, Advocacy & Publications, Mr. Nisar Banbhan and Executive Officer Dadu, Mr. Fatha Jokhio, represented the Foundation and briefed audience on the work of the Foundation. Various presentations were relayed continuously through multi-media and informational materials were disseminated to all the visitors at the stall.

Workshop on Effective Ways of Teaching

The student centric approach is the most conducive towards the creation of effective learning environment in the classroom. This approach was highlighted in the recent teachers training aimed to provide necessary competencies to 46 primary, secondary and elementary teachers from 23 partner schools of the Adopt a School Programme (AASP). AASP is a flagship initiative of SEF to encourage improvement of government schooling through public private partnership.

The two day training was organized in collaboration with the Citizens Archive Pakistan, an organization led by the Oscar award winner Ms. Sharmeen Obaid Chinnoy. The workshop was held at the Sindh Education Foundation Head Office from 15 to 16 May, 2012. The sessions encouraged teachers to draw from their experiences and explore how different elements can be used to support effective learning. These elements included curriculum design, assessment, teaching approaches, learning resources, motivation, relevance and relationship development. The session explored how these elements can be brought together to achieve cohesive strategies in teaching practices.

The overall agenda of the training was directed towards creating an understanding of students' learning practices, strategies to maintain student-teacher learning relationships and approaches to transfer knowledge from peer to peer to enrich teaching experiences. The workshop emphasized on the benefits of deep and constructive learning compared to that of surface learning. Moreover, it also led to the self analysis of learning challenges in the classroom and how personality traits of teachers can be used to address these. The training equipped the teachers with valuable pedagogic approaches to create an effective learning environment in the public schools.

Sessions on School Development Planning

The Adopt a School Programme, a public private initiative by SEF, is an innovative way of revitalizing government schools through adoption by the private sector (concerned citizens/individuals, social agencies, multi-nationals, private sector and educationists). The private sector fosters these facilities into model schools through the voluntary donation of time, resources and privileges.

SEF facilitates the process of adoption and also provides specialized training to assist the adopters in effective school management and administration. A session on 'School Development Planning' was held recently at a local hotel in Karachi on the 29th and 30th of May, 2012 and attended by over 100 school adopters, school heads and government officials.

The primary objective of the session was to bring all the adopters together, discuss the different ways in which they run and manage their schools and mutually identify adopted schools strengths and weakness. The activity also facilitated in discovering solutions to shared problems faced by adopters, and helped chart a plan for interactive discussion regarding the future of their schools through the School Development Plan. The School Development Planning session opens doors to strengthening relations with the adopters, and providing them with a skill set to achieve their targets in developing their school curriculum and improving on student's educational outcomes.

The highly interactive 2 day sessions were implemented with the aid of group activities and discussions, case studies and the usage of analytical tools such as SWOT analysis. The training resulted in participants gaining understanding of the entire step by step process of school development, its planning process and evaluations through which educational improvements can be envisioned and implemented in the future.

300 SEF Employees attend Capacity Building Session

The Sindh Education Foundation believes that capacity building has to be an ongoing process and promotes an environment of continuous learning to foster elements of innovation and creativity in the employees. Seminars, advocacy events and capacity development opportunities created through discourses and trainings for the benefit of staff members are regularly organized by the Foundation. These avenues seek to generate lifelong learning environments that value diversity in inherent processes and channels of education and development.

SEF's Critical Discourse sessions have been organized successfully since 2011. The forum has presented speakers from different backgrounds to give interesting and diversified perspectives on varied topics to enhance the personal and professional capacity of the SEF staff.

The recently organized discourse forum on March 1, 2012 was attended by 300 SEF employees from all regions across Sindh. The session was conducted in two phases. The first phase initiated with talks from two renowned experts speakers, Dr. Arfa Syeda Zehra and Dr. Al-Kareem Datoo, who shared their experiences and words of wisdom. The second phase of the proceedings provided an opportunity to SEF regional teams to share experiences and learnings from the field with all their colleagues.

Dr. Arfa Syeda Zehra, an educator with over 40 years of experience, spoke about the role language plays in the education of an individual and the importance of a national language in our core curriculum. Dr. Arfa also called for schools to be a place of tolerance and putting an end to demarcation based on statuses. Dr. Al-Karim Datoo, an accomplished educator and researcher, illustrated how the ever increasing exposure to varied media takes effect on our culture through the interaction between the global and the local contexts; he further explored the role of education in this negotiation of cultures.

Prof. Rehana Mughni, an educator and a stalwart of the Foundation, talked about the importance of books and how in the past books used to be read with great interest and formed the basis of many discussions amongst family and peers. She said there is an evident decline in the perusal of books and that in today's world they have ended up as just decoration pieces in most homes. She stated that even in schools, libraries have just become an amenity to be checked off and one that is hardly utilized. She espoused the significance of books and said that the trend needs to be reversed for our own betterment.

The senior management highlighted the milestones SEF achieved thus far and congratulated all the staff recognizing their efforts and hard work towards promoting education across marginalized areas in Sindh. Management systems that support and reinforce the vision of the organization were underlined and the aim of higher goals for the betterment of the people of Sindh was emphasized.

The staff shared their experiences at the grassroots level, elaborating upon the challenges faced and lessons learnt on a day to day basis at the implementation end. Interesting methods of delivery were utilized such as role playing and the exhibition of documentaries and videos to showcase different subjects relating to the field of learning and education. The participants were also treated to the rich culture of Sindh in the form of Sindhi musical performances and the recital of poetry of Shah Latif Bhittai, etc. Proceedings were punctuated with comedy routines and also a rapid fire round that involved all of the attending and proved to be a source of great entertainment.

Events such as these serve as a source of great learning and also as recognition for the individual and collective contribution towards achieving the organization's credo and efforts for 'Education for All'. The employees found the gathering equally inspirational and heartwarming. It is hoped that such sessions go on to reinforce the educational interventions for the marginalized communities of Sindh.

CapacityIn House Training Pictures

In House Training for Field Staff

Internal capacity building is an important component of professional development provided by the Sindh Education Foundation. Face-to-face approaches are a preffered delivery method particularly for the field staff, who have direct and the most frequent interface with grassroots stakeholders. The field officers are also the actual implementers who not only facilitate in achieving required targets but also help promote the organization's objectives.

To implement coordinated programs at the field level, Sindh Education Foundation provides capacity building sessions to its field based personnel on a regular basis. One such session was organized recently by the Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) Project team for the orientation of its field personnel. The Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) project is one of Sindh Education Foundation's key Public-Private initiatives to improve access and quality of education in the province. The project currently extends support to 475 cost-effective private schools in marginalized areas of Sindh. The schools are routinely monitored and supervised though field visits to ensure quality intervention.

The 3-day session was held the SEF Head Office in Karachi from 9 to 11 April, 2012 and attended by 12 field personnel from 8 districts. In addition to updating personnel on matters related to their area of responsibility and project guidelines, the training focused on addressing the trainees' specific needs covering issues of implementation, student enrollment drives, school and classroom support visits, importance of time management during school surveys and effective work planning. A core objective of training was to instill and inculcate a continuous self learning process for effective programmatic intervention. The highly interactive 3-day sessions gave the field staff an opportunity to share and discuss issues that arise time to time in their respective districts. At the conclusion of training, the team members were better prepared for handling on the ground implementation and equipped to negotiate variable situations present on the field.

Capacity Building of School Entrepreneurs

'Promoting Low-Cost Private Schooling in Rural Sindh' (PPRS) Project was initiated 'to establish public private partnerships for increasing access to and improving the quality of educational services provided to the children in marginalized areas of the Sindh province.' One of the primary areas of intervention the project focuses on is the capacity building of entrepreneurs. During July 2009 3-day training was held for entrepreneurs titled "Academic Leadership Training for Entrepreneurs". The objective of the training was to inculcate leadership qualities and enhance capabilities in partner entrepreneurs to enable them to establish and manage schools effectively.

Training on the Teztareen Fast Track Curriculum

A training program was organized in early 2012 for teachers from the Sindh Education Foundation's Rural Based Community Schools (RBCS) Project. 250 schools under the initiative provide a fast-track academic program to 13,274 children in 10 target districts of Sindh. The curriculum comprises two tracks i.e. 'Behtareen' and 'Teztareen' offered to provide accelerated learning to children to help achieve primary level proficiency. Behtareen is tailored to provide primary level proficiency in 3 years for children aged 4 to 9 years while Teztareen achieves primary level proficiency in 1 year for the quicker grasping 9-16 years age group.

Led by the Learning Support Unit (LSU) at SEF, the capacity building program was conducted from January 25 to 30, 2012. Sessions were designed for the cohort of 250 teachers who had already received training and refresher on Teztareen Literacy (10 books) in their respective districts and were prepared for instruction on the Teztareen Primary (06 books/subjects) classes. (The Teztareen literacy level covers basic level competencies which include English, Urdu, Sindhi and Mathematics while Teztareen Primary is a more advanced stage of the curriculum covering English, Urdu, Maths, Social Studies, Science and Islamiyat). The training served to enhance teachers' comprehension of the course content in the 6 books/subjects of Teztareen Primary. Orientation was also given on classroom management techniques and methodologies for subject/lesson planning. Teachers Manuals developed by the LSU were also provided to the teachers. Structured sessions, interactive group discussions, activity based exercises and brain storming sessions were used as method of content delivery.

SEF envisions that the capacity development will facilitate teachers to improve teaching practices in the partner schools.

AASP Stakeholder Meeting at Sukkur (11th January, 2012)

The Stakeholder Meeting for the Adopt-a-School Program (AASP) was organized by Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) on 11th January, 2012 at a local hotel in Sukkur with over 30 participants attending the event. The audience comprised industrial heads, government officials, education sector practitioners, policy makers, and representatives from the private sector who could be prospective school adopters. The list of attending organizations included BSWA Khairpur, Engro, Pano Akil Petroleum, IRC, Coca Cola, Chamber of Commerce, Educate, Pak Daal Mills, MACH Development Foundation Ghotki, CCBPL, The Citizens Foundation, J.S. Rice Mills, Al-Noor Tiles Palace, Education College, Pakistan Bait-ul Mal.

Aziz Kabani (Director, SEF) chaired the meeting and briefed the audience about the objectives of public-private-partnership in education and the role the Adopt-a-School Program has been playing for furthering the cause of education in Sindh. The forum served to highlight the efforts of existing school adopters and share their experiences with other prospective adopters. Details of the Government's renewed commitment to the program were also shared.

Asma Inyatullah (Manager, SEF) gave an introduction on the Adopt-a-School Program stating that AASP has been a flagship initiative of SEF which has mobilized private sector support for public school reform. She said that to date more than 250 successful adoptions have been made and benefited thousands of children belonging to marginalized areas of Sindh. She added that the Government has highly acknowledged the SEF initiative and granted funds for Adopt-a-School Program to improve the quality of education.

Aziz Kabani shared Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali's (Managing Director, SEF) vision behind initiating the government and private sector collaboration which has taken concrete form as the Adopt-a-School program. It is a highly inclusive approach to revitalize government schools by involving in its campaign diverse segments of society i.e. concerned citizens/individuals, social agencies, multi-nationals, private sector and educationists, he added. The adopters contribute through the donation of time, resources and privileges for giving the marginalized children of the province, the seemingly simple privilege of quality education; an education that will give them hope of rising above their present distress. Mr. Kabani went further to commend the efforts of the school adopters and the Foundation in furthering the education agenda in Sindh.

Afterwards, SEF's senior management responded to queries of the potential and existing school adopters with renewed commitment towards creating an enabling environment to extend quality education for all.

Adult Education Program awards Certificates to women learners

Women empowerment plays an important role in the development of the country. The Sindh Education Foundation Government of Sindh's (SEF) Women's Literacy and Empower Program (WLEP) envisions 'the creation of a world that is just, equitable and peaceful in which women are equal partners in determining the direction, and governance of the societies for the benefit of all.'

Learners and teachers of the Women's Literacy and Empowerment Program attended a certificate distribution ceremony organized by SEF on 30th of November, 2011 at a local hotel in Karachi. Â A total of 200 participants present on the occasion comprised NGOs, civil society members, government officials, media personnel, educationists and representatives from the corporate sector.

WLEP's integrated curriculum implemented across the women's literacy and empowerment centres is aimed at addressing several key areas of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including primary health service, early childhood education, and women's economic empowerment through teaching and vocational skills. WLEP conducted assessment papers in 23 WLECs; 405 learners attempted the examination out of which 300 learners cleared the exam. The Ceremony saw certificates being handed out to 76 of the 300 qualified learners who have met literacy levels according to the provided curriculum. Additionally 24 learning facilitators from WLEP who have played a key role in implementing the vision of the program and achieving the targets also received certificates.

Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali (Managing Director, SEF) extended heartfelt congratulations on behalf of the Foundation to all the qualified learners and appreciated the efforts of the learning facilitators. Stressing the key role of the Women's Literacy and Empowerment Program, Prof. Anita shared the challenges faced and also the successes SEF has had in increasing educational access for social and economically marginalized groups in Sindh, particularly the adult women. SEF's leading educational innovations when it comes to women development and amongst SEF's various initiatives, WLEP has always been at the forefront in providing opportunities to empower women of low-income communities, she underlined.

Eminent Chief Guest at the Ceremony, Dr. Habiba Hasan, a pediatrician by profession and a women's rights activist, stated that the commitment and tireless efforts for women empowerment made by the SEF under the guidance and supervision of Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali  are to be lauded and without a doubt a boon to this nation. She added that WLEP initiative has not only empowered women and provided them with opportunities unavailable to them before but has also tried to bring a fundamental change in the mindset of people vis-à -vis the equality of women and their crucial role in development of society.

Prof. Rehana Mughni (Program Advisor, SEF) spoke about the latest book 'Dard Kay Rishtay', which is the latest addition to SEF's adult literacy books series. The resource, authored by Prof. Mughni will be used for educating women enrolled in the WLEP. Prof. Mughni highlighted how the adult literacy stories published by SEF facilitate in the development of learners by bringing relevant social issues to limelight and in some cases providing solutions to resolve these for benefiting communities. The stories are sourced from various parts of the Sindh province and collected over years of first-hand interaction with communities at the grassroots. She stated that the stories are a manifestation of the Foundation's continuous efforts towards developing issue based resource materials for educating adult women learners.

Overview of the Sindh Education Foundation was given to the audience by Ms. Parveen Ghuryani (Sr. Assistant Manager, SEF) highlighting interventions undertaken by the Foundation in the public, private and community schooling sectors. A detailed overview on the adult education initiative was provided by Ms. Zeenat Raza (Coordinator WLEP). She congratulated the marginalized adult women in remote areas who successfully completed the basic literacy component of WLEP and also benefited from skill development courses, health interventions through awareness sessions and health camps (health profiling, screening and vaccination) as well as enhanced their awareness about Early Childhood Development. She said that through the program, job opportunities were created at the grassroots level for facilitators and learners and that it started awareness raising campaigns for the social and political empowerment for women. She was happy to add that registered bodies at grassroots level have been established and that WLEP aided in the CNIC development of over a 1000 women.

Ms. Musarrat Palijo (Manager, SEF) gave a presentation on the Code of Conduct for Employees as set out by the Government's 'Sexual Harassment Act 2010'. SEF has translated the code into Urdu and Sindhi languages and provided these to all the staff members and partner communities. The presentation explained the provisions which the employees are expected to observe for creating a congenial working environment.

WLEP remains one of the Foundation's key interventions aimed at creating opportunities for women at grassroots so that they are equal partners in development. The certificates given to the learners by SEF will enable them for admission in 6th class in formal schools.

Launch of Jail School Project at Sukkur

Education is a vital component of any society's development. The Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) aims to promote access to quality education for the marginalized children and communities across the province. In line with this vision, SEF has initiated a small scale intervention for juvenile delinquents " one of the most vulnerable groups who are in dire need of educational access.

The Sindh Education Foundation launched the Jail School Project for the juvenile inmates on the 12th of December, 2011 at the Central Jail, Sukkur. Over a hundred people were in attendance which included government officials, police representatives, media personnel, civil society members and senior management as well as regional staff of the Sindh Education Foundation.

Mr. Ayaz Soomro, the Sindh Minister for Law and Prisons, chaired the launch event for the first ever formal educational facility in a prison. Mr. Soomro commended the dedication and untiring efforts of Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali (Managing Director, Sindh Education Foundation, Government of Sindh) in improving the quality and outreach of education in Sindh. He stated that the initiative of providing a proper educational curriculum was needed and much appreciated and called for the Sindh Education Foundation to open more schools in other prisons across the province. The minister said that the prison was supposed to reform the criminal element of society and there was no better way for reformation than education.

Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali, through a video message, talked to the juvenile inmates and urged them to avail this opportunity to better themselves through the benefits of education. She stated that the SEF will do its utmost to provide quality education to them and to do so is providing all facilities including school bags and books for the children. Furthermore, she said that she hoped that the children learn while in this project and become not only a boon for their family and society but also for their country. She even encouraged the children to write to the Foundation in regards to their educational progress and said that SEF will respond to their letters and highlight their efforts in its publications.

Jail superintendent Qazi Nazir Ahmed said that the jails needed an initiative like this where the children could get a chance to learn and to develop. He stated that lack of education and ignorance was the root cause of each and every ill in the society and the first step to rehabilitate the prisoners is education. Â He said that he is expecting to see really positive outcomes resulting from this initiative.

Mr. Aziz Kabani (Director, Sindh Education Foundation) stated that education was a fundamental right of every child and that the children in prison had as much right to an education as anyone else. He said that it would be a great misgiving if these children are not provided the same level of education as afforded to others and we need to ensure that this does not happen. He said that SEF has initiated the project with the hope that when these children are released from prison, they take the light of education and use it to benefit their society. He stated also that SEF has plans for opening other schools amongst prisons across the province as per Minister Ayaz Soomro's request.

The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police " Sukkur Region, Dr. Ameer Ahmad Sheikh stated that education is essential for the reformation of prisoners present in the jail. He expressed appreciation for the Sindh Education Foundation's commitment to education especially for marginalized groups. He said that this step towards educating the oft ignored juvenile delinquents has potential to go a long way and that he looks forward to opening schools in other prisons as well in collaboration with SEF.

Mr. Adnan Mobeen (Senior Manager, SEF) gave a brief introduction on SEF's initiatives and explained the project's curriculum in detail to the audience. The MOU was signed between SEF and the Superintendent Sukkur Jail and then presented to Minister Ayaz Soomro.

Children who were interviewed at the occasion responded that this was a great prospect for them to educate themselves. They said that they were very excited about this project and could use this opportunity for self development and rejoin the society at an even better standing than what they possessed when they went into prison.

SEF announces support to 185 new private schools in Sindh

The Sindh Education Foundation, Government of Sindh, in collaboration with the Reform Support Unit and the World Bank launched the 'Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) Project' in 2008-09. The Project aims to establish 1,000 new private schools across 10 districts of Sindh. The first 2 phases of the project saw the establishment of 300 new private schools. Assistance to 185 new schools was announced during a ceremony held in Karachi on October 29, 2011. The event was attended by around 300 participants comprising newly selected school entrepreneurs, representatives from non-governmental organizations, school administrators, government officials, media, educationists, corporate sector personnel and members of civil society organizations.

Dr. Mohammad Memon (Head, Aga Khan University " Institute for Educational Development) chaired the event as Chief Guest. Dr. Momon lauded the vision and extensive efforts of SEF under the dynamic leadership of Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali. He commended the PPRS Project model for not only bringing education to the more distant parts of Sindh but also in galvanizing the much needed private sector involvement in improving educational facilities in the province. He added that the success of the project was evident in the results shown by the impact evaluation carried out by the World Bank.

Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali (MD,SEF) highlighted the PPRS Project as one of SEF's successful public private partnership initiatives supported by the Government of Sindh that has extended access to quality education facilities for the marginalized children and communities of Sindh. She congratulated the 185 newly selected school owners and invited their support in the unified efforts for education. Prof. Anita stated that the PPRS Project is an unprecedented initiative in SEF's history as far as financial magnitude, outreach and beneficiaries are concerned. She added further that the idea is not to simply open a school but to initiate a sustainable educational center which is conducive to learning; a permanent place where the process of knowledge sharing can continue.

Ms. Ambreena Ahmed (Senior Manager, SEF) provided an overview of the Sindh Education Foundation introducing the interventions undertaken in the public, private and community schooling sectors and highlighted the Foundation's progress spanning over two decades with the support of the Government of Sindh as well as other national and international institutions.

PPRS Project Coordinator, Ms. Sadaf Bhojani, presented a detailed overview of the Project and key intervention details. She stated that the PPRS Project provides per-student subsidies to private entrepreneurs to set up and operate coeducational primary schools in underserved rural communities in 10 disadvantaged districts of Sindh. The schools also receive technical assistance in the form of teacher training, textbooks, and learning materials. She announced that the third phase of the Project will add 700 additional schools to the PPRS portfolio and out of these 185 applications have been selected in Round 1 and announced at this event.

Mr. Dushaynt Raju (Senior Economist, The World Bank) praised the PPRS Project and the efforts of Sindh Education Foundation. He stated that the Project was one of the most innovative initiatives present today in the developing world. He stated that the success of the earlier phases of PPRS has been remarkable both in terms of increasing the outreach and enhancing the quality of the education imparted to the marginalized children. Mr. Raju also praised the cost effectiveness of the Project model and said it was an achievement to be proud of. He added further that the PPRS Project shows great promise in improving the quality and outreach of education in the Sindh province and that the World Bank looks forward to supporting the initiative.

Ms. Mariam Adil (Impact Evaluation Manager, The World Bank) congratulated the newly selected entrepreneurs and the SEF for yet another milestone step towards furthering education to underserved communities. She said that a recent and rigorous evaluation by the World Bank establishes the success of the PPRS Project model in cost-effectiveness and improved students' achievement levels when compared to other developing world models. Initiated at the request of the Government of Sindh, the evaluation was carried out in early 2011 by a team of researchers from the World Bank, Columbia University, and the RAND Graduate School. Ms. Adil indicated that results have shown that PPRS schools have drawn nearly all young children in the respective vicinity into schools increasing the share of children that go to school by 29 percentage points. Moreover the cost-effectiveness of the PPRS Project in increasing school participation is one of the highest amongst all rigorously evaluated programs in the developing world. Importantly, the Project has produced large gains in child achievements especially in learning of Mathematics and local language. She added that students from PPRS Project schools out-performed not only the out-of-school children but also the students enrolled in other local schools in the vicinity when tested.

An informal question answer session was held between the audience and the SEF management after which the 185 selected school localities were awarded their offer letters.

IELP Training for Effective School Management

Concurrent training sessions were conducted for the individual and organizational school operators of 'Integrated Education Learning Program' across 7 regions in Sindh. These included Hyderabad, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, Dadu and Karachi. The region based sessions from the 1st to 3rd of November, 2011 were attended by respective school operators. 641 operators attended the training out of which there were 369 individuals (running 516 schools) and 2 organizational representatives (president and treasurer) each from 136 newly selected NGOs (with 379 schools) across 23 districts of Sindh.

The Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP) is an initiative of Sindh Education Foundation which aims to establish greater public private partnerships for increasing access to and improving the quality of educational (primary, elementary and secondary) services for marginalized children across Sindh. To ensure efficient and effective management of the schools and maintain the standard of quality education, SEF holds training of the school operators and the teachers on a regular basis.

The focus of the sessions was to enhance operator's capacities to plan, execute and manage school operations. For better administration and management, school management skills and leadership training was imparted and the roles and responsibilities of implementing individuals / organizations were highlighted. A manual shared with the trainees provided a roadmap to help operators improve the efficiency of school administration. The sessions were highly interactive and structured to include interactive group discussions, activity based exercises and brain storming sessions.

Mr. Aziz Kabani (Director SEF) as well as staff from SEF's Monitoring Unit, Executive Officers from sub-offices, Government Officials and Education department personnel monitored the sessions to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the training activity.

After successful implementation of the training for newly selected school operators, the training program was repeated for representatives of 120 partner NGOs who are running existing 307 schools in 14 districts across Sindh. The 3-day sessions were held in Karachi on the 15th, 16th and 17th of November, 2011.

PPRS Contract Signing & Orientation

The Sindh Education Foundation signed contracts with 185 newly selected school entrepreneurs during November 2011. The activity was part of the 'Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) project' that was held from the 14th to the 17th of November in Hyderabad. Entrepreneurs from 185 schools across the 10 districts of Sindh were invited to formally sign the contract and begin their commitment to improve quality and outreach of education in the province. These 185 schools established under Round 1 of the 3rd phase of PPRS, are additional to the already existing 300 schools established in Phase 1 and 2 of the Project. Mr. Aziz Kabani (Director SEF) presided the occasion.

To help entrepreneurs handle their newfound responsibilities, orientations sessions were conducted over the course of the 4 days on school management and educational strategy. The focus of the sessions was to enhance entrepreneurs' capacities to plan, execute and manage school operations. For improved administration and management, school management skills and leadership skills were imparted and the roles and responsibilities of implementing individuals and organizations were highlighted by the trainers. In addition, a manual was developed to aid in the training of the school entrepreneurs and to provide a roadmap to help entrepreneurs improve their efficiency in school management.Â

The orientation was made highly interactive with structured sessions used in combination with interactive group discussions and activity based exercises over the four days. With the initiation of the new partnerships, PPRS Project completes Round 1 of the 3rd phase of the Project in which an additional 700 schools are to be selected. 300 new private schools are already operational under this scheme and providing marginalized children and communities of Sindh access to quality education facilities.

Capacity Building for IQEP Teachers

In SEF's 'Improving Quality of Education Programme', the focus is to transform the teaching-learning environment in schools through qualitative reforms; thus teacher development interventions are at the very core of program design. To this end, 5-day training was held for 53 teachers of classes 3 to 5 at the Sindh Sports Board Hostel, Hyderabad from the 27th of September, 2011 to 1st October, 2011. The sessions were designed to develop teacher capacity and enhance their ability in effectively delivering the syllabus which in turn will aid in the holistic development of the children. The teachers were familiarized with primary level concepts of subjects such as Science, Mathematics, English and Social Studies. In addition, the participants were oriented on different pedagogical strategies including action research, problem solving, discussion, pictorial illustration, hands on activities and worksheets for promoting activity based teaching in classrooms and to make the subject matter interesting and engaging. Assessment techniques were also discussed with the teachers, to enable them to synchronize their teaching and learning strategies according to the learning needs highlighted in the appraisal. The sessions were highly interactive and engaged the trainees through brainstorming sessions, discussions and presentations.

CDC Students receive School Bags

The Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) consistently works towards promotion of Public Private Partnerships for providing access to quality education facilities to marginalized communities across Sindh. SEF has collaborated with various organizations in the private sector to enrich the educational interventions in schools.

In an effort to bring Mobilink's support to the province of Sindh, SEF's Child Labour Education Program and Mobilink Foundation discussed the possibility of Mobilink extending aid to SEF's Child Development Center (CDC). The CDC is managed by CLEP-SEF which is committed to increasing access to education for working children in the industrial area of Shershah, Karachi. Mobilink offered to provide school bags for children. Mobilized by the Head of CSR at Mobilink, Mr. Haider Bilgrami, a team of 4 people from Mobilink distributed schools bags at the CDC on the 9th of August 2011.

1000 school bags were donated out of which 350 went to the students of CDC and rest to children at SEF's partner schools in Kakapir and Mubarak Village.

Academic Interventions across 297 PPRS Project Schools

In the month of July, the Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) Project schools received course books published by the Oxford University Press (OUP) as well as bags and flash guides for children. The activity was undertaken across the 10 target districts of Sindh i.e. Thatta, Badin, Mithi, Qamber Shahdadkot, Larkana, Dadu, Khairpur, Umerkot, Sanghar and Shaheed Benazirabad. The course books comprise English, Math, Science, Islamaiat and Social Studies which were handed over to 179 entrepreneurs operating 297 schools from PPRS Project phases 1 and 2. The OUP books distributed were for the curriculums utilized in classes 1, 2 and 3.

To increase the effectiveness of the initiative taken by the PPRS team, the Learning Support Unit has been working in tandem by being involved in designing and conducting trainings for teachers in the usage of the OUP course books. The trainings were concurrently conducted in the 10 districts where PPRS has been operating.

The extensive training program included a 3-day refresher course for Grade 2 and a 6-day orientation for Grade 3 (for the 200 schools in Phase 1); concurrent proceedings for the 100 new schools in Phase 2 comprised 3-day refresher for Grade 1 teachers and 6-day orientation for Grade 2 staff.

A total of 600 teachers participated in which 200 were from PPRS Phase 2 and 400 teachers from PPRS Phase 1. The trainings focused mainly on the areas of Language, Science and Mathematics (Get Ahead Series I, II, III: the course books provided by the Oxford University Press). A total number of 33 trainers took part in the capacity building initiative.

The Learning Support Unit developed the resource material, literature and activities for the training sessions. The training manuals for the refreshers centered on concept review and reinforcement of the teachers. In addition to this, the teacher's Guide Book implemented in the main trainings encompassed specimen unit plans based on appropriate teaching strategies for respective grade levels and book content. This was a 9 day activity held from the 22nd of July till 30th July, 2011.

SEF rates high on school participation and achievement according to World Bank evaluation

The PPRS Project was launched in 2008-09 and the first two phases have seen establishment of 300 new private schools across 10 districts of rural Sindh. The Project is supported by the World Bank and European Union through their results-based loans to the province. Through the Project per-student subsidies are provided to private entrepreneurs to set up and operate coeducational primary schools in underserved rural communities in disadvantaged districts. The schools also receive in-kind benefits in the form of teacher training, textbooks, and learning materials. The third phase of the Project was recently launched which will add 700 additional schools to the PPRS portfolio.

At the request of the Government of Sindh, a rigorous impact evaluation was integrated into Sindh Education Foundation's innovative pilot public-private partnership initiative, 'Promoting Private Schools in Rural Sindh' Project.

The impact evaluation was carried out across 100 Project schools by a team comprised of researchers from the World Bank, Columbia University, and the RAND Graduate School. The impact evaluation followed an experimental design, allowing the team to identify the average causal effect of the program on school participation and achievement. The research findings show remarkable contribution of the Project in terms of increasing access to and the quality of educational models. PPRS schools have drawn nearly all young children into school increasing the share of children that go to school by 29 percentage points. Moreover the cost-effectiveness of the PPRS Project in increasing school participation is one of the highest amongst all rigorously evaluated programs in the developing world. The current cost of the program is roughly Rs. 7,000 per student per year. Importantly, the Project has produced large gains in child achievements especially in learning of Mathematics and local language. The students from PPRS Project schools out-performed not only the out-of-school children but also the students enrolled in other local schools in the vicinity when tested.

With this milestone achievement, PPRS Project adds yet another feather in SEF's cap. The results are highly encouraging and evidence that with support from grassroots and the Government alike the initiative will continue to grow from strength to strength. SEF management congratulates and tributes all the partners and well-wishers whose unfailing commitment and corporation has been with us for furthering the education agenda in the Sindh province.

Computer courses for the CDC in collaboration with Intel

Technology integration in all aspects of our lives has made digital literacy an essential to a person´s sustained economic self-sufficiency. Additionally, to maintain a productive and competitive workforce, government bodies and NGOs are constantly looking for cost effective and scalable ways to provide digital literacy to their adult population.

Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) in an initiative to build capacity in regards to technology integration provided a 2 day basic computer course for the teachers of Child Development Center (CDC). This course was conducted in collaboration with Intel at the SEF Head office on the 18th and 19th of July 2011. In attendance were 11 teachers, the CDC principal and program representatives along with the trainer from Intel.

The activity aimed to introduce basic computer skills to the teachers of CDC who can then pass the knowledge on to their students and also to improve the computer based knowledge of the staff members of CDC. Furthermore, it expects to provide adult learners who possess minimal experience with computers, the relevant ICT skills for workforce development and economic self-sufficiency.

The trainees were given an introduction to computers and operating system, use of internet, word processing, spreadsheets, multimedia and email. The session provided hands-on experience to the teachers who performed simple tasks that were relevant to the user and could be immediately applied in the learners´ daily work routines. Certificates were distributed to the participants at the end of the session.

SEF & ITA commemorate the Global Action Week 2011

A session was organized at Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) to commemorate the Global Action Week 2011, in collaboration with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA). The theme for the Global Action Week this year is "Women's and Girls' Education". The event was chaired by Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali, Managing Director, SEF. The participants included members of SEF, ITA and school heads and teachers. The session started by a small introduction to the issue of women's education. The posters made by students on the theme were shared and discussed. The session proceeded by sharing stories of women, especially those in the education sector. Prof. Rehama Mughni (Program Advisor, SEF), Mrs. Sayyed (Principal, Lady Mariam Adamjee Girls' School) and Ms. Zeenat Raza (SEF) shared their views about the importance of female education and the role encouragement and exposure play in shaping up of personality. They emphasized how

Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali in her speech stressed that the nation should benefit from and spread the benefit of the Article 25-A, of education to be a fundamental right for all children of Pakistan. She also emphasized on the importance of lifelong learning.

The participants filled post cards addressed to the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of National Assembly, Provincial Chief Ministers and COAS stressing on Girls' Right to Education. Petition was also signed by participants regarding awareness of the Article 25-A.

Moreover Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali distributed certificates amongst girls who had participated in the poster competition as a part of the Global Action Week.

Contract Signing for support to 1200 Private Schools in Sindh

The Sindh Education Foundation has worked with unwavering determination and zeal for the last two decades towards its goal of empowering disadvantaged communities by creating and facilitating opportunities for learning and education. With the support of the Government of Sindh as well as other national and international institutions, SEF has introduced numerous interventions undertaken in the public, private and community schooling sectors. The establishment of effective and replicable quality education models throughout the province is a testament to the Foundation and its partner's efforts in advancing educational excellence and equity in the province.

SEF's latest initiative, the Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP) announced support to 1500 private schools across the Sindh province.

9,600 applications for school management/establishment from the Sindh province were received against the Call for Application through advertisement. Out of this 4,500 applicants that matched the selection criteria were short listed and field verification for the same was conducted.

After re-verification, Hon'ble Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah selected through a process of computer generated randomization the schools to be supported through IELP. The Contract signing ceremony for the selected applicants was organized from April 21st to 25th, 2011 at the SEF Head Office in Karachi. Spanning over 4 days, the ceremony invited more than 1000 entrepreneurs who will be managing/establishing 1500 private schools across the 23 districts of Sindh.

Hon'ble Raza Haroon (Minister for Information Technology, Government of Sindh) and Hon'ble Syeda Shehla Raza (Deputy Speaker, Sindh Provincial Assembly) graced the sessions with their presence on the 22nd and 23rd of April respectively. Hon'ble Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq (Senior Minister for Education and Literacy, Government of Sindh) presided as Chief Guest on the 25th of April with Hon'ble Jam Madad Ali (Leader of Opposition, Sindh Provincial Assembly) and Mr. Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan (Advisor to the Hon'ble Chief Minister Sindh) as Guests of Honor for the occasion.

Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali (Managing Director, Sindh Education Foundation) called for school operators to take up this opportunity with full honesty and commitment as they can change the future of thousands of children who will be acquiring education in these schools. Prof. Anita expressed delight especially towards the women entrepreneurs for engaging in IELP.

Mr. Aziz Kabani (Director POR) highlighted the important role partnerships play in synergizing reform efforts in the services sector. He congratulated the program partners from public and private sectors and civil society for support towards creating an enabling environment for education in the province. Mr. Kabani highlighted that financial and technical assistance to 1500 educational institutions under IELP is an excellent manifestation of this commitment. He then invited the school entrepreneurs to play their part in creating a nurturing learning environment and providing a better world for our children.

Honorable guests lauded the efforts of the SEF towards promoting lasting public private partnerships for provision of quality education services to marginalized children across Sindh. While addressing the school entrepreneurs, it was highlighted that the contract signing would seal the fate of thousands of children who will be benefited through the interventions and efforts of school operators.

IELP Coordinator, Erum Ahmed, presented the IELP model as one of SEF's primary Public Private Partnership initiatives in Sindh. Details of key intervention areas including financial and technical support to 1500 new / existing private schools were also shared. A detailed overview of school contracts was given to participants after which a formal contract signing between SEF and school entrepreneurs was undertaken.

The signing of the contract represents a successful start of another SEF initiative, of a promise of better things to come. We wish the entrepreneurs the best of luck in their commendable endeavor to bring education and enlightenment to their communities across the Sindh province.

Random Selection of 1200 New IELP Schools Across Sindh

The Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP) is a recent scheme of SEF which aims to establish greater public private partnerships for increasing access to and improving the quality of educational (primary, elementary and secondary) services for marginalized children across Sindh. With the support of Government of Sindh and implementing partners including NGOs, CBOs, trusts and individual entrepreneurs, IELP will support around 1500 existing and new schools across Sindh.

On 22nd November 2010, selection of 1200 new schools through computerized randomization was undertaken by Honorable Qaim Ali Shah, Chief Minister Sindh and Chairman Board of Governor, SEF at CM House, Karachi. The project will benefit more than 250,000 children and create employment opportunities for at least 4000 teachers in far flung rural areas. SEF will extend financial and technical support to schools in the form of per child subsidy, teachers' professional development, capacity building of stakeholders, provision of free textbooks and learning material for children, student assessment and school monitoring and evaluation. A collaborative and timely initiative of SEF and Government of Sindh, the schools established under this scheme will play a vital role in providing educational opportunities to the children who have been deprived of formal schooling as a result of the recent floods.

Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali (MD, SEF) gave a detailed briefing on SEF's portfolio of educational initiatives and highlighted the foundation's role in ensuring provision of quality education facilities for the under privileged children and communities. Addressing the participants, Honorable Chief Minister applauded SEF's efforts for the promotion of education in Sindh. Especially lauding its latest scheme (IELP), he stated that it will help the Government of Sindh in responding to many issues faced by the education sector in the province.

Vice Chairperson SEF & Senior Minister for Education, Honorable Pir Mazhar ul Haq, Education Secretary Mr. Alamddin Bullo, Secretary Planning Ms. Naheed Durrani, Information Secretary Mr. Mumtaz Ali Shah and officers of Sindh Education Foundation were also present at the meeting.

In order to determine the current status after the floods, SEF will conduct re-verification survey of the above mentioned selected school sites. The survey will be conducted to examine whether or not the localities, buildings and communities are available for intervention. The selected schools will be awarded to the successful applicants based on the results of the survey.

School Profiling Survey across Partner Schools

ccording to estimates 40% of SEF partner schools have either been made dysfunctional or damaged due to the 2010 floods. Since schools play a critical role during and after disasters in various contexts and can act as havens for whole communities, SEF's work with the affected communities is enhanced even more. Presently, SEF is conducting field surveys to analyze the extent of damage that has occurred so that school revival may be facilitated.

For this purpose SEF has initiated a School Profiling Survey in October 2010 across partner schools in Sindh. The survey aims at assessing the impact of recent floods on schools and the status of schools infrastructure, student enrollment/head count, teacher attendance and SMCs, material inventory provided by SEF, and highlighting issues as academic concerns. So far data collection in 300 PPRS Project schools and 150 ELP schools has been completed; while the survey is underway in schools operating under RBCS program. In the coming months, the survey will be conducted in the existing 300 IELP schools; and a re-verification exercise will be undertaken across the 1150 newly announced sites in order to gauge the post-flood impact.

The data collected so far is being analyzed to assess the extent of damage to schools caused by floods. Analysis will facilitate SEF is devising strategies to address post floods program needs at the grass roots including the infrastructural and learning requirements.

Assessment Orientation & Tools Development Workshop

Sindh Education Foundation is not only committed towards the implementation of effective pedagogies but also towards assessing and evaluating the impact of its teaching " learning interventions. In this regard, an exclusive Assessment Unit has been setup in SEF which will primarily work on designing and administering school based assessment programs. Assessment Unit conducted a Three Day "Orientation and Tools Development Workshop" from the 26th to 28th of October, 2010 at a local hotel in Karachi. The Interactive and participatory workshop was the first of its kind that linked Early Childhood Education and Development assessment approaches in the light of National Curriculum of ECE targeting grade Katchi to grade 2. Among the participants were teachers of PPRS schools from 10 Districts of Sindh, representatives from the media, and local NGOs. The attendees gained insights about Key Learning Areas, Expected Learning Outcomes, Stages of Child Development, Education Assessment, Student's Achievement Indicators and Different Approaches of Early Childhood Education.

The sessions were activity based to provide trainees with practical experience of designing questionnaires to assess child competencies " Evaluation tools like rubrics, portfolios and checklists were also introduced. The training focused on the development of good quality examination papers based on active learning using assessment approaches that evaluate higher order skills like comprehension, logical thinking and problem solving rather than rote memorization.

The workshop concluded with a candid feedback session and appreciation certificates were presented by Mr. Aziz Kabani (Director, SEF), Mr. Tauseef Lateef (Manager & Head " Assessment Unit) and Ms. Sana Haidry (Coordinator- PPRS) to the participants.

Interactive History Lessons in SEF Partner Schools

The Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) and the Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP) have partnered for a 3-year school-based intervention which will engage children of primary / elementary grades through educational workshops on Pakistan's history. The program aims to inculcate civil sense, open mindedness and tolerance in the students by teaching them about how to care for Pakistan and its environment, embrace the diversity of its provinces and people and how to appreciate the various cultures.

The program is planned to work with 1,000 students across 8 government schools (SEF partner schools) in Karachi over the 3 years. The first phase was initiated in October 2010; sessions are conducted by CAP's volunteers over four working days of the week. This phase will continue to run over the October to December quarter. Through use of interactive approaches and activity materials such as historic photographs, multi-lingual games, role play, essay writing, etc. the students will develop critical thinking skills and be able to appraise the influence of past events on present day situations.

The initiative hopes to create a deeper understanding of historical events so our younger generations are better equipped to find solutions to problems facing Pakistan today.Â

SEF launches 'Emergency Education Program' for Displaced Children & Adults

Education plays a crucial role in aid responses following a natural disaster or complex emergency. Understanding its social responsibility during the recent floods across Pakistan, the Sindh Education Foundation launched an Emergency Education Program (EEP) as part of its Foundation Relief Initiative (FRI).

Foundation recognizes that education during emergencies is a lifesaving strategy as well as a right that displaced adults and children are entitled to since it helps to bring some structure into their daily routines as well as helps them in dealing with traumatizing memories. The program initiated across Sindh province in early September 2010 aims at providing 'friendly spaces' for recreational activities as well as non-formal education for displaced children and adults across the province of Sindh. Resource manuals have been developed in Sindhi language for teachers of early years as well as adult educators; comprising educational content in areas of crises management, health and hygiene education, environmental awareness, life skills, human values and rights modules and structured recreation activities like art and drama for active learning. These manuals can serve as supplementary education materials in early emergency and can also be used for enriching the curriculum, training of trainers, teachers training or conducting lessons to meet some of the psychosocial and learning/recreational needs of emergency-affected children and adults.

In order to maximize the usage of the emergency education content, SEF initiated the process of information dissemination to facilitators/educators. Training sessions designed for teachers demonstrate various teaching methodologies such as activity based learning, discussions and role-plays, etc. to be used during the educational/recreational interventions in various IDP camps. So far trainings have been extended to 700 teachers in Benazirabad, Sukkur, Khairpur, Ghotki, Dadu, Qamber, Larkana and Shikarpur districts of Sindh province.

SEF mobilized for Flood Relief

The recent unprecedented floods in Pakistan have left many impoverished. Thousands of people have been directly affected and displaced and many schools have been damaged as well. Since schools play a critical role during and after disasters in many contexts, the Sindh Education Foundation's work with the communities is enhanced even more. Schools can act as havens for whole communities; they can disseminate information on various kinds of hazards and mitigation through participatory measures and help people particularly children deal with distress and trauma caused by disasters. Many of the SEF partner schools in districts Dadu, Jamshoro, Khairpur, Larkana, Hyderabad, Benazirabad, Sehwan and Jacobabad have been adversely affected by floods. As per initial reports, more than 70 SEF partner schools have been affected due to floods. Details are below:

In response to the disaster, SEF immediately set up relief camps in Sukkur and Khairpur providing food, water and medicine to affectees. A dedicated fund has been set-up and SEF employees have generously donated, including part of their salary and a Fund has been instituted to undertake relief work and rebuild schools. Many staff members are working as volunteer aid workers at relief camps set-up by SEF in Sindh. As time progresses and needs emerge, SEF will work according to a comprehensive plan for relief and school revival.

In the first stage of disaster response, the SEF is mobilizing efforts to provide relief for communities in flood affected areas in Sindh province of Pakistan. Initial relief camps have been set-up at Jamshed Bandh (area bordering Sukkur and Khairpur); Government Primary School, Obri (District Khairpur) and along the main National Highway, Khairpur. The camps are extending assistance to 700 affectees through provision of temporary shelter, meals, drinking water and basic health services. A group of doctors is voluntarily providing first aid for treating snake bites, skin diseases, diarrhea, viral infections, etc. Local partnerships are encouraged to reinforce reform efforts. Work in underway through cooperation of local government officials in Khairpur. Also, Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO) has joined hands with the SEF to extend further facilities such as provision of mosquito nettings; water hand pump for supply of clean water and food. A data collection bank has been established as well for registration of flood victims. Data is being collected on family profile, area of residence, age, occupation, etc.

SEF is also preparing emergency education program for children and adults which will be launched in the coming weeks in order to help the deal affectees particularly children in dealing with the post-traumatic stress.

In the second stage of disaster response, SEF will work on school revival through rebuilding infrastructure and facilities destroyed by the floods.

Donations as well as partnerships with like-minded individuals and organizations are invited for integrated development work to reduce potential overlaps and enhance the distribution of development efforts across the affected regions.

SEF participates in the meeting of Stakeholders working on Literacy & Non Formal Basic Education in Sindh

Prof. Rehana Mughani (Advisor, SEF) represented SEF at the National Literacy Forum held in Islamabad on August 3-4, 2010. Participants from across the country shared provincial progress in the field of education and literacy. Prof. Mughni presented the educational interventions undertaken by the SEF in Sindh and highlighted efforts of the Foundation in facilitating Directorate of Literacy for achieving EFA goals.

Prof. Rehana also participated in a meeting held on August 11th, 2010 at Sindh Literacy Professional Development Centre, Karachi. Chaired by Director Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Sindh, the participants reviewed the adult literacy progress in the province and outlined activities and resource publications for Literacy Year 2010. Details of the Sindh Literacy Action Plan 2010-2015 were also shared. Representatives from SEF, Directorate Private Institutions, NCHD, The Education Foundation, Standing Committee of Education and Directorate, Literacy & Non Formal Education Sindh, briefed the participants regarding the progress made by their respective organizations. Prof. Rehana Mughni briefed about the various initiatives spearheaded by SEF in Sindh which are reaching out to around 0.7 million children in the age bracket 4-14 years and 1300 adult learners through various programs and projects.

SEF concludes the 'Improving Quality of Education Programme'

The Improving Quality of Education Programme (IQEP),one of the initiatives of the Sindh Education Foundation's catering to educational needs in underserved areas of Sindh, was recently implemented across 30 schools in Hyderabad cluster. On 15th July 2010, the Concluding Seminar for IQEP was organized at a local hotel in Hyderabad. The event invited 150 participants including the Foundation Open Society Institute Pakistan (FOSI) and Pakistan Center for Philanthropy (PCP) who sponsored and supported the program implementation as well school heads and teachers from the 30 partner schools, government officials, civil society members and representatives from media.

Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali (MD, SEF) shared her views about the project through a recorded video message. She highlighted the programmatic milestones and achievements and emphasized that without the collective support of donors, local government counterparts and school stakeholders, timely achievement of programmatic targets would not have been possible. Focused efforts through provision of learning materials, training and capacity building of academic and administrative staff, research & monitoring on key quality education indicators and advocacy for replication of models at the district and provincial levels were all carried out effectively through synergizing efforts.

Mr. Sarfaraz Ahmad Rajar, Advisor to Chief Minister, Government of Sindh, presided over the Seminar as Chief Guest. Addressing the audience, he lauded the efforts of the Foundation towards promoting lasting public private partnerships for provision of quality education services to marginalized children across the province. SEF representative gave an overview of the Sindh Education Foundation to the participants. Representatives from PCP and FOSI congratulated the SEF and the 30 partner schools on a successful partnership for enhancing students' learning achievements through provision of learning resources and capacity building. Moreover they briefed the audience regarding their respective programs. The forum of the Seminar was utilized to highlight the success stories of programme interventions, details of quality education interventions, research-based learnings and challenges faced during the 2 years of implementation. The event also provided an opportunity for school stakeholders to share their experiences and lessons learnt with the audience.

Through 2 years long interventions, the IQEP has laid down important characteristic that can be scaled up and replicated for raising student achievement in schools. Presence of a wide array of stakeholders from policy to practical levels at the Concluding Event in July reaffirmed that public, private and community sector partnerships are a key lever for improving low-performing and failing schools sector in order to ensure access to a high quality education for all.

Training for Adult Learning Facilitators in Sukkar

Sindh Education Foundation, in partnership with UNSECO and implementing NGO partner, Sindh Development Society, has established 10 Community Learning Centers in Sukkur that aim to extend educational, self-development and empowerment opportunities to adult women. Through CLCs, SEF envisions to improve participation rate of women in social, economic, cultural and political spheres.

For the purpose of capacity building of the center based Learning Facilitators, a training was conducted in Sukkur from 12th to 17th July, 2010. Prof. Rehana Mughni (Program Advisor, SEF) led the team of trainers from LSU and PSDU during the 6-day sessions. Participants were provided an overview of Community Learning Centers, effective management procedures, community mobilization methods, andragogical techniques, lesson planning, and resource development. Detailed orientation was given on 'Teztareen'- an accelerated syllabus, which will be introduced across the centers for developing primary level competencies in learners. Prof. Mughni, carrying extensive experience in women empowerment and adult education, also demonstrated pedagogy of 'Ujlee Rahein' Qaida. The publication comprises theme-based post literacy materials targeting adult women learners and educators.

To sustain the interest of participants, a number of interactive methodologies were used by the trainers. These included video screening of CLCs operating around the globe, group work, discussions on case studies, role-play and story telling. Moreover, newspaper reading activity was conducted and dialogue among participants regarding that news was encouraged.

The training concluded with a candid feedback session and appreciation certificates were given out to the participants.

Adopter's Appreciation Meeting

Adopt-a-School Program (AASP) was first conceived in 1990 by Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali, a renowned educationist and Managing Director, Sindh Education Foundation. AASP, a pioneering initiative to encourage private sector patronage of public sector schools, recently organized 'Adopters Appreciation Meetings' to appreciate the efforts of School Adopters and Government School Heads. The meetings were held from 25th to 27th May 2010 at the SEF head office. Fifteen adopters, accompanied by respective school heads from 42 schools visited the SEF. MD, SEF presented shields as a token of appreciation to various school stakeholders including teachers, school heads and the adopters. Program staff also discussed school improvement plans for individual schools and challenges faced by adopters in order to ensure effective implementation of program interventions.

Application Verification Survey under IELP

The Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP) is one the latest schemes of SEF which aims to establish greater public private partnerships for increasing access to and improving the quality of educational (primary, elementary and secondary) services for children across the province of Sindh. Through provision of per-child fee subsidy to school operators, the program aims to encourage the private sector to assist the government in addressing quality and access issues in education.

The application dissemination for IELP was initiated in early 2010 in two rounds. Thousands of applications from new and existing private schools owners were received from across the Sindh province. Initial short-listing for verification survey was carried out by SEF against the selection criteria published in the newspapers. Field verification was undertaken through third party from 27th May to 9th June 2010 to finalize 1200 applications to be supported under IELP. Evaluation of existing schools was carried out based on schools infrastructure, students' enrollment and attendance, number of teachers, room size, income/expenditure details of the school, presence of learning resources and availability of drinking water and functional toilets, etc. For new schools application verification was undertaken based on infrastructure, room sizes, potential number of students, potential teachers, availability of toilet and drinking water, NoC from concerned department, etc. A Round 2 of verification will be undertaken if 1200 required applicants do not qualify in the first round.

Furthermore, a baseline survey was conducted from 2nd to 12th June 2010 to identify the current status of the 302 existing partner schools of SEF. These schools will be supported under the new program as well.

Participants of Women's Leadership Programme visit MD,SEF

Participants of Women's Leadership Programme (WLP) visited the SEF on April 8, 2010. In an interactive session attended by around 25 mid to senior level women professionals, Prof. Ali candidly shared her experiences, inspirations and challenges faced as a woman in her personal life and in varied professional roles as a teacher; teacher educator; President of the Teachers Association and later as the Managing Director of the SEF. The program was organized under the aegis of NRSP - Institute of Rural Management. Prof. Ali shared her professional experiences candidly and explained her struggle in pursuing her goals and the team showed keen interest in Prof. Anita's accomplishments as a successful and inspiring leader

Orienting the group on the educational and developmental scenario in the country, Prof. Ali elucidated how determination, confidence and courage are instrumental in pursuing goals and averting challenging situations. While narrating her anecdotes, the Professor revealed how dealing with the toughest situations, during her tenure as the President of the Teacher's Union and later as a Minister for Education, was overcome through confidence in one's own ability as well as integrity of character and honesty to one's profession. In the dialogue, while referring to leadership role, she emphasized the importance of frequent interaction with the communities and the need to deliver services pro-actively in the community. She emphasized the need for community ownership, which is essential for sustainability of any intervention.

Training of Trainers Session held at SEF

A 4-Day Training of Trainers' Session was conducted by the Learning & Support Unit at the SEF Head Office from 31st March to 3rd April, 2010 under PPRS Phase I. The mock training session, being attended by LSU team from Head Office as well as regional trainers has been designed to ensure effective field training (planned for mid April) for the teachers and entrepreneurs of 200 PPRS Project Phase I schools in 10 districts. The purpose of the field training is to impart useful guidelines to entrepreneurs on academic and administrative planning of the schools so that the quality of education imparted can be brought up to Sindh Education Foundation's desired standards. The ToT being held at the SEF head office aims to orient the trainers with school guidelines and also to demonstrate interactive teaching practices and methodologies.

Professional Development of Employees

A 2-Day workshop on "Mentoring & Peer Support" was organized by British Council on 18th and 19th March, 2010 at a local hotel in Karachi and attended by members of SEF's Learning Support Unit. This workshop was the second in a series of workshop being conducted since December 2009. SEF trainers Ms. Tayyaba and Ms. Zafreen attended the sessions which were conducted by trainers of the English Department of University of Karachi. The primary objective of the workshop was information sharing and discussion on mentoring experiences implemented by the participants after the first phase. It also served to make clear the purpose behind mentoring and the ways it can benefit the people involved. SEF emphasizes continuous capacity building of staff members and encourages participation of teams in such training programs.

Pre-Launch (PPRS, Phase II) Press Briefing at SEF Head Office

Private entrepreneurs can play an integral role in promoting rural schools in Sindh. This was highlighted in the press briefing held in February, 2010 given by Mr. Aziz Kabani (Director, SEF) at Sindh Education Foundation. The press briefing was given to provide details of the launch of PPRS (Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh) Phase II as well as to discuss the wider portfolio of SEF. The briefing informed the media about the opening of 2,500 schools for 50,000 children in Sindh while stating that 200 private schools have already been established under PPRS Phase I. Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali (MD, SEF) also shared programmatic details with the audience and responded to the questions ventured forth by the participants that ranged from general literacy concerns, to the state of education system and the viability of public private partnerships. Both the print and electronic media attended the briefing. Representatives from Tameer e Sindh, Dhoom TV, Mehran TV, Radio Pakistan, Awaz, The Mail, Hilal e Pakistan, Ibrat, Awam, Daily Messenger and PPI were among those who attended.

Launch Event of Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) Project, Phase II

The launch event of "Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) Project" Phase II was organized by Sindh Education Foundation in March, 2010 at a local hotel in Karachi. PPRS is SEF's public private partnership initiative supported by the Government of Sindh aiming at increasing access to quality education facilities for the marginalized children of Sindh. Hon'ble Pir Mazhar ul Haq, (Senior Education Minister, GoS), presided the event as Chief Guest and formally launched 101 new private schools as part of PPRS Project Phase 2. The event featured key note addresses by Hon'ble Qaiser Bengali (Advisor to CM), Mr. Mohammad Memon (Director AKU-IED) and Ms. Naheed Durrani (Special Secretary, Finance, GoS) who were in unanimous agreement about the declining state of the country's educational standards and suggested different models and techniques to improve the situation. The key note speeches set the premise for the panel discussion that involved Dr. Mohammad Memon, Hon'ble Pir Mazhar ul Haque, Hon'ble Sharmila Farooqui (Advisor to Chief Minister) and Lt. Gen (Rtd) Moinuddin Haider (Former Governor Sindh) in a discourse entitled "Quality Education in Public Sector: Need for Innovative Models". At the end of the seminar, 79 entrepreneurs from 10 districts of Sindh were presented offer letters by the Senior Minister.

Form Submission closed for IELP Round 1

18th February 2010 was the last date to submit application forms for SEF's Integrated Education for Learning Program (IELP) Round 1. The forms are being disseminated since January. Following the form submission, extensive school scrutiny, short-listing and field based verification will follow and contracts will be awarded based on those inspections. A total of 1200 schools will be selected and the successful applications will be promptly notified. Unless 1200 applicants do quality under Round 1 a second round will be carried out during March 2010.

SEF provides District Level Orientation about IELP

District level orientation sessions for Integrated Education Learning Program were carried out by Sindh Education Foundation during February 2010. The sessions provided an overview of SEF Portfolio as well as detailed the IELP Program model. Mr. Noman Islam Shaikh (Parliamentary Secretary for Railways), Ms. Sharmila Farooqui (Advisor to Chairman), Barrister Mujeed ul Haq and Mr. Dabra (Advisor to CM) chaired the events in Sukkur, Hyderabad, Dadu and Mirpurkhas respectively.

The orientations were attended by representatives of the Education Department, Government of Sindh and NGOs, civil society representatives and prospective entrepreneurs. Regional Officers SEF presented an overview of the Foundation and its various programs in Sindh while the IELP Coordinator described the program details. A documentary on the IELP informing the participants of the salient features of the Program was also shown. Later, guidelines were provided to the participants about completing and submission of the forms to SEF.

Orientation on the Health Insurance Policy for SEF Employees

On 13th Feb 2010, representatives from the NJI Insurance Company were invited by Sindh Education Foundation to present an orientation of the health insurance policy being provided to the employees of SEF. Mr. Ahmed Meer, NJI Representative later proceeded to respond to the queries of the employees. The orientation turned out to be very informative and helped clear a lot of queries and concerns. Employees from both the SEF Offices in Karachi attended the orientation in three shifts. As per the Insurance policy hospitalization expenses are covered. A list of panel hospitals along with policy registration forms were also provided along with directions on how to go about intimating the claims. For the convenience of employees, the panel hospitals are located across Sindh. Currently, the policy covers only the employees of SEF but plans are underway to modify the policy to include benefits for spouses and children of employees as well.

Verification surveys planned for SEF Partner Schools under IELP

Working through public private partnerships the IELP Program aims to increase access to education and improve the quality of educational services provided to the children in far-flung and marginalized areas. Through provision of per-child fee subsidy to school operators, the program aims to encourage the private sector to assist the government in addressing quality and access issues in education. Under the program, a baseline survey is being conducted to identify the status (infrastructure, enrolment rates, attendance in classroom etc.) of the 300 existing Partner schools of SEF that will now be supported under IELP. Moreover, a field based verification survey will be initiated in the coming months for selecting 1200 additional schools to be supported under IELP.

IELP SEF Launches the Integrated Education Learning Program

Call for Application for Promotion of 1200 Private Schools across Sindh
» IELP Press Ad

For program details download the brochures below:
» Program Brochure - English
» Program Brochure - Sindhi
» Program Brochure - Urdu

Institutional and Academic Support for 250 RBCS project schools

In order to improve the physical and learning environment in 250 RBCS schools, the SEF during September and October 2009 provided furniture and fixtures including school sign boards, chairs, tables, bookshelves, wheel chairs, fans and light fittings to implementing partner NGOs for further distribution to schools. Stationery items (bags, notebooks, pencils) and learning resources were also provided for students and teachers in order to ensure a conducive learning environment in schools.

Verification Survey of 250 School Sites

During September 2009 an extensive survey of 250 school sites has been carried out by SEF for assessing the infrastructural uplift needs of the existing structures of RBCS partner schools. Based on the findings of the survey, individual school uplift plans are being developed for refurbishing school infrastructure to ensure safe and conducive learning environments for children.

Oxford University Press Syllabus in SEF Partner Schools

SEF has adopted the Oxford University Press syllabus (developed in line with the national curriculum) to be introduced in PPRS Project schools. The contents of the OUP textbooks have been customized in order to make them culturally appropriate and textbooks have been printed specially for distribution to the 200 PPRS Project Phase 1 schools. The Oxford University Press Pakistan publishes academic and general books, dictionaries and reference books, reprints of books published abroad as well as locally originated books including school textbooks and supplementary readers.

Partnership with New Century Education (NCE)

The academic interventions for schools under SEF's Rural based Community Schools Project have been designed in collaboration with New Century Education. NCE is an organization excelling in accelerated competency based curriculum and pedagogy. During the 3 year academic cycle, the students enrolled in RBCS project partner schools will achieve grade 5 competencies as per the National Curriculum.

Free Textbooks for School Children

The SEF provided free textbooks for around 20,000 children enrolled in PPRS Project Phase 1 schools. The customized books have been published by the Oxford University Press for SEF partner schools. Each child received a set of English, Math and Science books and a picture dictionary in English and Sindhi languages. Teachers Guides have also been provided in both the languages to facilitate the teaching and learning process. Dissemination of the textbooks to the 200 schools was carried out in September 2009 on the basis of the enrolment as verified through the inspection survey carried out by the SEF. To facilitate effective and smooth implementation of the curriculum, SEF's Learning Support Unit has undertaken specialized training for the teachers and is also carrying out learning support visits to each school.

Qualitative Research carried out in schools under IQEP

The 'Improving Quality of Education Program (IQEP)' is a pilot initiative that aims to undertake quality interventions in selected primary schools in Sindh. The primary goal of the program is "to improve the quality of education in select government, community and low cost private schools in order to improve student learning and achievement levels". Monitoring and research into the various dimensions of educational quality is one of the primary areas of intervention under the program. Keeping in line with that objective, a Qualitative Research titled "Impact study of quality interventions undertaken in government schools, low cost private schools and community schools" was conducted in May 2009 which consisted of two phases of data collection. A sample of 12 schools (40%) was selected for the 1st phase of the study wherein classes from kachi to grade 2 were extensively observed with the aim to gauge the impact of interventions being carried out in the schools under IQEP. The second survey was carried out in October 2009 to compare the data of both the phases in order to come to a suitable conclusion. The survey comprised both classroom observations and interviews with teachers. The results of the survey will facilitate SEF's Learning Support Unit in designing the upcoming teacher training program.

Training of 400Teachers of PPRS Project Schools

A comprehensive training program was conducted for teachers of PPRS Project schools during July-August 2009. The training was designed to guide the teachers to think beyond the traditional methods of teaching and promoted activity based approach of involving student in a continuous and engaging learning process.
A comprehensive manual detailing lesson plans and related activities was also provided to the teachers.

MD, SEF participates in the Symposium on World Teachers' Day

A Symposium on World Teachers' Day titled "Engaging Teachers' Associations for Achieving MDGs – Universal Primary Education" was organized by National Commission for Human Development and Department of Education, Government of Sindh in collaboration with UNESCO. The symposium took place in a hotel in Karachi on 5th October, 2009 where various renowned and qualified speakers from talked about vital educational issues such as providing quality education in primary schools of Pakistan, measures for dropout prevention, role of PTAs in improving quality of education, etc. Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali was one of the speakers at the Symposium and spoke about "Conductive Learning Environment in Schools". Her presentation was both engaging and informative and brought up an important aspect of creating a conducive learning environment in schools through enhancing teacher competence; provision of teaching aids; improving infrastructure; and increasing parental and community participation. Other noted speakers on the occasion included Hon'ble Qaim Ali Shah (Chief Minister, Sindh) Hon'ble Pir Mazhar ul Haq (Senior Education Minister, Government of Sindh), Ms. Nafisa Shah (Chairperson, NCHD), Mr. Shams Kassim Lakha (Chairman, PCP), Mohammad Nawaz Jattak (President of Government Teachers Association), Khurram Badar Alam (NCHD) and Dr. Fareeha Zafar (Director, Society for the Advancement of Education).

Soft Launch of ECD Mapping Study

The ECD Mapping Study has been launched on the ECDPAK website and can be assessed at www.ecdpak.com. The Study showcases the nature and scope of work carried out by various organizations in the realm of ECD in Pakistan. The Study, undertaken by the Sindh Education Foundation, hopes to catalyze collaborative ECD efforts for reaching the goal of raising healthy, competent and confident children.

School Inspection Visits

As part of the Phase I of Promoting Low-cost Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) Project a round of inspection of 200 newly established private schools was carried out by SEF during August and September 2009. The inspection visits were concurrently undertaken in the ten 10 district of Sindh: Thatta, Badin, Mitthi, Umer Kot, Sanghar, Benazirabad, Dadu, Khairpur, Kambar Shahdad Kot and Larkana. The survey revealed that certain schools were functioning well; however many schools are faced with the teething problems of low enrolment; high rate of retention; inadequate infrastructure, etc. Disbursal of textbooks and per-child subsidy to entrepreneurs was carried out by the SEF based on the verified number of students. Later, the entrepreneurs were briefed by Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali (M.D. SEF), Mr. Aziz Kabani (Director, SEF) and Mr. Noman Siddiqui (Senior Manager, Monitoring & Evaluation) during a meeting held at the SEF Head office. The senior management shared the field results with entrepreneurs and emphasized on the need for improving the functioning of schools. Suggestions and recommendations were also extended to facilitate the school owners in better and improved schools administration and management

Disbursal of School Subsidies to PPRS Project Entrepreneurs

A 3-day activity was carried out at the SEF's Head Office in October 2009 where 152 entrepreneurs of the 200 Phase 1 schools of the Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh Project were invited for a meeting. Managing Director, Director, Associate Directors and Senior Manager, Monitoring and Research carried out the meeting with school entrepreneurs. The meeting was held primarily to highlight the field monitoring observations made by the SEF and also to undertake disbursal of subsidies to the entrepreneurs. Aziz Kabani, Director, SEF emphasized that the quality of education needs to be maintained at all time and urged the entrepreneurs to use the learning resources and trained teachers effectively. He highlighted that child-centered learning methodology should be employed in the classroom. Mr. Kabani discouraged over-crowding in classrooms and pointed out that for an effective teaching learning environment, the learning space has to be appropriately constructed, well-ventilated and amply-lit. The students should have a comfortable seating space and learning resources need to be available easily. The availability of drinking water and functional toilet facility on the campus needs to be ensured. He requested the entrepreneurs that the school sign boards must be installed outside the school premises so that the PPRS project information is easily available to the locality residents. The entrepreneurs were also urged to get their schools registered with the Private Schooling Directorate. Prof. Anita G. Ali stressed that all these factors including teacher training and timely and regular disbursal of staff salaries are pre-requisites for a successful educational intervention. She assured the entrepreneurs that the SEF will ensure swift disbursal of per-child subsidies so that the schools continue to run smoothly and effectively.

Trainings of Early Years Teachers

The Early Learning Program was launched with an objective of improving Early Childhood Education and increasing access to quality education for children at the pre-primary and primary levels. Under the program, a 5 days teacher training was conducted in June 2009 for teachers from 150 schools in districts Tando Muhammad Khan, Badin, Khairpur, Ghotki and Nausheroferoz. 30 lead teachers from each district participated in the trainings. The overarching objective of the training program was to introduce newly appointed teachers to the themes of Early Childhood Development and interactive, child centered and activity based teaching-learning processes. Introduction to the National ECE Curriculum, critical development domains of children and improving classroom practices were some of the core themes that were covered during the training. Day wise training manuals, learning resources and stationery were also provided to teacher trainees by SEF

The Launching Ceremony of "Ujhlee Rahain

"The launching ceremony of adult education publication, "Ujhlee Rahain" was organized by the Sindh Education Foundation in Karachi on 11th of August, 2009. The publication has been authored by Professor Rehana Mughni, Program Advisor at SEF and has won various accolades from national and international organizations for her work in the field of adult education and women empowerment. This book was written with an aim to educate and spread awareness among the neo-literate women and deals with such topics as Hygiene, Self Awareness and Balanced Diet, etc. Professor Anita Ghulam Ali (S.I.), (Managing Director, SEF) in her welcome address spoke about the plight of women in the country and the need for their education and empowerment for achieving development in the country. Professor Rehana Mughni, (Program Advisor SEF) introduced the publication to the audience. Mr Iqbal ur Rehman, (Director Education, National Commission for Human Development), Ms. Ismat Niaz (Provincial Secretary, Pakistan Girls' Guide Association),Ms Dilshad Mirza (Deputy Director CIEC, Government of Sindh), Mr. Yousuf Jamal (Advisor to Governor) and Nasir Masood and Adnan Ahmed Siddiqui (Johnson & Johnson Pakistan) also spoke on the occasion. Ms. Fehmida Riaz, a famous Urdu writer, poet and feminist presided over the ceremony as the Guest of Honor while Mr Nisar Khoro, Speaker Sindh Assembly, was the Chief Guest on the occasion. A story from the book was also enacted in front of the audience in the form of a play by the SEF's team. Ms. Farhan Iqbal (FPCCI) and Begum Baji (Mufad-e-Niswan Trust) also graced the event.

The Launch of Early Learning Program

The Early Learning Program was launched by the Sindh Education Foundation on 20th August, 2009. The objective of the Early Learning Program is to improve the standards of education for young children and make education available across Pakistan. Currently, the program is being implemented in districts Tando Mohammad Khan, Badin, Ghotki, Khairpur Mirs and Noshehro Feroz. The launch was inaugurated by Hon'ble Pir Mazhar ul Haque, Senior Education Minister, Government of Sindh, who was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Professor Anita Ghulam Ali (S.I), in her welcome note highlighted the importance of early childhood education in creating a better future for children. A presentation on "A Healthy Learning Environment for Children in the Early Years" was carried out by Mr. Ali Usman, SEF's training expert. The goal of this presentation was to show that for learning to take place in a classroom provision of expensive aids and materials is not necessary. In fact through creativity a teacher can utilize commonly available and inexpensive materials such as paper, straws, newspaper, wooden boxes etc. can be used to teach children concepts of mathematics, languages and science. Hon'ble Pir Mazhar ul Haque's in his keynote address emphasized on the importance of providing quality early childhood education in Pakistan and instructed all the EDOs and DCOs of the 5 program districts to provide their full cooperation in implementing ELP interventions across the 150 government schools of Sindh.

2nd National Road Safety Conference 2009

Only a few years back, SEF had initiated its road safety education program, which was aimed at imparting road safety education in primary schools. Keeping up with the objective of creating awareness about road safety, SEF participated in the 2nd National Road Safety Conference that was held in Karachi in collaboration with Shell Pakistan, Aga Khan University, Road Traffic Injury Research Centre (Ministry of Health) and Indus Motor Company on July 7, 2009. The key note speakers that presided over the event were Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan (Federal Minister of Communication), Dr Rashid Jooma (DG Ministry of Health), Mr Zaiviji Ismail (Managing Director, Shell Pakistan) and Mr Parvez Ghias (CEO, Indus Motor Company) among others. The conference was also attended by regulatory body dignitaries and stakeholders from the corporate, education, health, road traffic systems and the engineering sectors. Mr Aziz Kabani (Director SEF) also participated in the panel discussion that took place at the event and discussed the critical role the education sector can play in creating road safety awareness amongst various segments of road users (including children and adults alike) in the country.

Contracts Awarded to Entrepreneurs for Establishment of 200 Private Schools

Hon'ble Pir Mazhar ul Haq (Senior Minister for Education, Government of Sindh) chaired a ceremony at the SEF on March 26, 2009, to select the private applicants (through computerized randomization) who would receive contracts in the first phase for establishment of 200 schools under the Promoting Low-cost Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) initiative. Contracts were awarded to 162 short-listed entrepreneurs from across Sindh by Hon'ble Nisar Khoro (Speaker Provincial Assembly, Sindh) at the official PPRS Project Launch.

Interventions for 1300 Adult Women Learners

The Women's Literacy & Empowerment Program (WLEP) is an adult education initiative of SEF which operates through 40 Centers across three districts of Sindh province. Recent interventions have been made across the centers in areas of adult women learning and literacy, early childhood care and development, health care and education and community awareness programs. These interventions directly targeted more than 1300 women learners and 600 children and were supported by Johnson & Johnson Pakistan. Multiple learning resources were provided to adult learners and 85 Learning Facilitators and co-facilitators were provided trainings in areas of effective management of adult literacy centers, community mobilization techniques, andragogical methodologies and skills for imparting health awareness, social awareness and life skills education. A set of adult literacy stories, highlighting health issues and tips on social and entrepreneurial skills, was also provided to the learners. Health camps organized for 1900 program beneficiaries comprised check-ups by trained doctors, nurses and other related personnel as well as free medicines for women learners and their children. Early childhood development interventions included awareness sessions for women learners on concepts of ECD, design of classroom level activities for learners' children of ages between 4-5 years and provision of age-appropriate learning resources for enriching the learning environment. A theme based post-literacy resource was also developed for adult women learners and educators on issues of empowerment including self awareness, education, health, human rights, etc. An end of term assessment was carried out and around 900 learners successfully completed SEF's adult education course recently.

Health Interventions for Working Children

A series of awareness session were conducted at the Child Development Center (CDC) by the SEF on topics of Health & Personal Hygiene, Cleanliness and First Aid. The sessions were highly interactive, and proactively engaged both children and their mothers in discussions on existing health issues in their surroundings and suggested solutions. First Aid kits and orientation on their usage was also provided to community members. Although CDC implements a specialized health curriculum which highlights preventive health issues and imparts safe hygiene practices to children, such community learning sessions conducted by both SEF staff and outside health practitioners greatly help to improve health consciousness amongst the larger community.

Technical Committee Meeting on Early Childhood Development

Sindh Education Foundation organized the second Technical Committee Meeting on Early Childhood Development in December 2008. The Committee was initially formulated and subsequently notified by the Secretary, Education & Literacy Department, Government of Sindh, in 2007. The Technical Committee on ECD is an important forum for advocacy that aims to provide an opportunity to government and civil society partners to share their respective roles, challenges and lessons learnt in promotion of ECD and ECE for children and put forth recommendations for greater synergies and enhanced government support for ECD initiatives in the province. Organized as part of the Releasing Confidence & Creativity (RCC): An Early Childhood Development Programme the forum brought together representatives from the Government and civil society sectors to share their respective work on Early Childhood Development, highlight challenges and lessons learnt in promotion of ECD and ECE for children and put forth recommendations for the Technical Committee's membership and role in creating greater synergies and government support for ECD programs in the province.

Building Teachers' Capacity for Improved Teaching-Learning

As part of the Improving Quality of Education Programme (IQEP) 60 teachers from 30 partner schools in Hyderabad participated in the 5-day training held in January 2009. The training focused on improving competencies of kachi to grade 2 teachers for enriching the quality of the teaching-learning process for children. Through activity based learning sessions, teachers were engaged in understanding child centered approaches and creative ways to integrate themes and subjects through active lesson planning. Key themes included critical thinking, early childhood development and nurturing, health and hygiene and environment. The training methodology was interactive, participatory and centered on discussions, dialogues and activities through which trainees were extensively engaged. At the end of the training an action plan was developed by each school highlighting activities that will be conducted in the classrooms. To implement the training successfully, the SEF also provided learning resources including low-cost no-cost materials, classroom displays, teaching aids, supplementary reading material, books, educational toys etc. to each of the 30 schools.

Orientation of 162 Entrepreneurs on Effective School Management

An Entrepreneurs' Orientation Workshop was organized in June 2009 in Karachi for 162 entrepreneurs, who have been selected for the establishment of 200 private schools in the first phase of Promoting Low-cost Private Schooling in Rural Sindh Project. The workshop aimed to introduce the partners to the overall project framework highlighting key interventions and activities to be carried out in PPRS, entrepreneurs' responsibilities for effective school leadership, management and administration and rules of engagement with SEF (including administrative and financial record keeping, and reporting guidelines). The 200 schools established as part of the project will be registered with the Private Schools Directorate and will work in accordance with the Sindh Private Education Institutions Ordinance 2001. SEF also shared an initial academic plan for the PPRS schools. This plan based on self explanatory and practical lessons will help entrepreneurs to guide teachers for initiating academic sessions in their respective schools.

Strengthening School Management for Quality Reforms

With an aim to ensure classroom level transformation in teaching-learning processes and active support for trained teachers, capacity building workshop of school management bodies was organized for 30 schools in Hyderabad. Attended by 54 participants, the trainees were facilitated to assume an active role in supporting and sustaining quality interventions in schools as part of the Improving Quality of Education Programme. The 2-day training aimed to help school management representatives to understand their roles and responsibilities for quality improvement initiatives and devise strategies to ensure parental and community participation in schools as active partners in the school reform process.

Meeting of the SEF's Board of Governors

The latest meeting of the Sindh Education Foundation's Board of Governors (BoG) was held at the SEF Head office on March 01, 2008. The meeting was chaired by Honorable Justice Rtd. Abdul Qadir Halepoto, the then Chief Minsiter, Sindh. Other board members including Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali, Managing Director, SEF and Mr. Shujat Ali Baig (Ex-Minister of Education, Sindh), as well as secretaries from Finance, Education & Literacy, and Planning departments also attended the meeting.

Launch of 'Promoting Low-cost Private Schooling in Rural Sindh'

The government realizes and promotes strategic partnerships with the private and community sectors in an effort to meet the challenges of both limited access and poor quality of education. In its latest initiative, the Government of Sindh (GoS) and the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) have partnered for the implementation of the pilot project titled 'Promoting Low-cost Private Schooling in Rural Sindh'. The project has been designed by the SEF in collaboration with the Sindh Education Sector Reform Program, Reform Support Unit and the World Bank. The Sindh Education Foundation (SEF), Government of Sindh is responsible for implementing and managing the pilot project.
Through supporting entrepreneurs in establishment of new private schools, this initiative seeks to provide free and quality educational services to the children in marginalized areas of the Sindh province. In the pilot phase, 1,000 low-cost private schools will be established by entrepreneurs in 10 districts including Thatta, Badin, Khairpur, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto (Nawabshah), Larkana, Kambar Shahdadkot, Sanghar, Mithi (Tharparkar), Dadu and Umerkot. The private entrepreneurs will be selected via comprehensive and transparent selection process.
In the first stage of pilot phase, 200 new schools will be established in rural localities where there are no educational facilities available within 1.5 km radius. Per-child per month fee subsidy will be provided to the entrepreneurs in order to promote longer term public private partnerships. Moreover to enhance the quality of education, the project will undertake development of the teachers professionally, building capacity of entrepreneurs and providing free text books and learning materials for students. Students' assessments and monitoring will be an inherent and regular feature of the project.

Improving Education Delivery through the 'Improving Quality of Education Programme'

The Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) has pioneered in effectively engaging the public and private sectors as well as the communities for school revival. The results have been remarkable both in terms of infrastructural improvements in the schools and enrichment of the teaching-learning process.
The "Improving Quality of Education Programme" is a recent addition to the SEF's PPP portfolio. Funded through the Open Society Institute , Pakistan (OSI) and coordinated by the Pakistan Center for Philanthropy (PCP), the SEF is responsible for implementation of the 2 year program in 30 schools in Hyderabad cluster and seek to reach out to approximately 6,000 children, 250 teachers as well as school heads and members of school management bodies.
The goal of the program is to improve the quality of education within 10 government schools, 10 community-based schools and 10 low-cost private schools in order to enhance student learning and achievement levels. Implementation approach will focus on service delivery for improving quality education within schools through provision of learning materials, training of teachers, capacity building of school heads and parental involvement sessions; as well as undertaking research and advocacy for reviewing and advocating for improved quality interventions. One of the significant objectives of the program will be to nurture critical thinking skills of students. This will be achieved by facilitating change management mechanism within the school to create an environment that supports children's curiosity and learning. Efforts will be undertaken to link up to the Open Society Institute (OSI) Critical Thinking Program.
Through successful quality education interventions for improving education delivery in one district in Pakistan, the Sindh Education Foundation seeks to provide a successful model for larger scale interventions in the future.

Early Learning Program (ELP) SEF's latest ECD Initiative

The area of Early Childhood Development (ECD) lies at the nexus of both literacy and health, an area which has grown increasingly in importance in the SEF mandate. In recognition of its contribution towards child development the Foundation undertakes continuous initiatives towards furthering the ECD agenda.
Early Learning Program (ELP) is the Foundation's latest initiative aimed at institutionalizing Early Childhood Education (ECE) classes in 150 government schools across 5 districts of Sindh namely Tando Muhammad Khan, Badin, Khairpur Mir's, Ghotki and Noshroferoz. Interventions towards improving the physical and academic environment within public schools will target classes kachi (pre-primary), 1 and 2 and reach out to 10,000 children, 450 ECD teachers and 150 teaching assistants as well as SMC members over the four year period. The learning environment will be enriched through academic interventions which comprise designing grade wise learning frameworks in line with the National ECE Curriculum, classroom activities, lesson plans, training modules for teachers, assessment plans for both children and teachers, learning support mechanism and teacher training follow-ups.

Piloting the Quality Assurance Resource Center

Recognizing the need to improve the declining quality of education, the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) in collaboration with the Department of Education & Literacy implemented the revised scheme 'Quality Assurance Resource Center (QARC)' last year. QARC piloted a quality assurance system in education that aims to enable support to good schooling and learning practices in both the public & private sectors of education.
Key interventions of QARC comprised the development of quality assessment system, and preparation and pilot testing of school categorization criteria. The major activities undertaken during the project implementation comprised school quality audits, NGO assessments, research and capacity building of academic staff of partner schools details of which are presented below. Linkages were also developed with different non governmental agencies, universities and educational institutions for information sharing and exchange of learning.

Survey on Status of Schools in Kacho Areas of Sindh

Government of Pakistan in 1975-76 initiated a school development program through financial and technical assistance from the United States Assistance for International Development (USAID). More than 150 schools in Kacho areas were established under this program by Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. These schools were built, as a double storey (2 to 3 room) structure, closer to the community so that they were accessible. Since the schools were established in the remote Kacho areas spread over a region extending from Jacobabad to Indus Delta, the progress of these schools could not be monitored regularly. During April 2008, the Honorable Senior Minister for Education, GoS, directed the Sindh Education Foundation to conduct a survey in order to study the school status and identify non-functional schools so that a revitalizing strategy could be established for them.
SEF surveyed 119 schools in 7 districts namely Dadu, Ghotki, Jamshoro, Khairpur, Larkana, Naushero Feroz and Sukkur. The indicators for the survey were infrastructure, facilities (like drinking water and functional toilets), students' enrollment, number of teachers and community characteristics. Out of the 119 schools, the study found 28 percent schools to be non-functional, most of them existing in the districts of Dadu and Sukkur while Larkana and Naushero Feroz have more than 80 percent functional schools. However, even the functional schools were found to have broken furniture, lack of electricity, unavailability of drinking water and dysfunctional toilets. Majority of the schools had water supply through hand pumps but this water is not suitable for drinking purposes due to high levels of arsenic. 12 percent of the schools where there was a provision of electricity lacked any electric appliances like bulbs and fans. In its present condition, the infrastructure of schools is dangerous for students and teachers due to unsafe roofs, unstable foundations, and broken doors and windows as it ensures no safety for students against severe weather conditions like heavy flooding. Despite these problems, the study reveals an average enrollment of 126 students and 2 to 3 teachers in each school that are functional. However, the ratio of boys is twice to that of girls, as communities are against co-education. The communities existing around the schools, though living in impoverished and destitute conditions, realize the importance of education and emphasized that the schools must be made functional with proper staffing and provision of facilities for school going children.
This survey concluded that a comprehensive situational analysis of these schools must be carried out for a detailed assessment in order to plan reform interventions for uplifting the functional status of these schools and providing quality education to marginalized communities.

Completion of Supporting Private Education Institutions Programme

The SEF recently implemented the second phase of the Supporting Private Education Institutions Programme (SPEIP), an innovative scheme of the Sindh Education Foundation under the Public Sector Development Program. SPEIP envisions transforming private schools into dynamic learning spaces. The first phase of SPEIP was implemented in 2003 and supported the institutional development and quality advancement of 300 partner schools. The second phase of the program was implemented during 2007-08 and built upon the successes of the first phase for furthering the process of institutional strengthening and quality advancement of 278 partner schools in the districts of Karachi, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Dadu, Badin, and Thatta.
Subject-based Training for Community School Teachers Currently many of the Foundation's target districts have difficulty hiring qualified teachers in some subject areas, most often mathematics, science and foreign languages. Improved teacher training in subject matter and teaching methodologies has therefore remained SEF's key focus for raising the quality of instruction in the classrooms.
Science is an important subject of the elementary schools. Based on their interest of Science, children decide about their area of further education. During March 2008, a 3-day training workshop on "Introduction and Use of Science Laboratory" was arranged for teachers of Community Supported Schools Program (CSSP). The workshop was facilitated by experienced resource persons of The Learner Centered Educational Society. The methodology for the workshop was a combination of theory as well as practice. 'Hands-on Approach' was used to enable teachers to observe the experiments in real classroom settings.
Prior to above training a three days training session was also arranged in Sehwan in addition to science the training in Sehwan also focused on early learning. The Quality Support Officers of CSSP Sehwan developed training modules and contents.
Capacity Building for Adult Education Teachers SEF's Women's Literacy & Empowerment Program (WLEP) conducted two trainings: "Capacity Building for Improving Quality and Scope of Literacy Programs" and "Engaging Adult learners: Creating an Effective Learning Environment". Through these trainings 85 LFs and co-facilitators learnt quality improvement and classroom management, mobilization and andragogical techniques and implementation of enriched topics in the WLEP's curriculum for adults.
Furthermore, the WLEP also organized training on the "Role of Stakeholders in Adult Literacy". A total of 88 LFs and co-facilitators got training on topics such as: resource material development, child assessment, quality improvement and classroom management, community mobilization, monitoring, implementation, record keeping, roles & responsibilities of general body members and executive members in the organization.
In addition to these training programs, the WLEP team also undertook capacity building initiatives through provision of adult literacy resources as well as classroom support during their WLEC visits.
Educational Resource for Community Schools SEF believes that community education without cultural expression is soulless. In an effort to benefit from indigenous culture and knowledge and to enhance the creativity and learning outcomes amongst children, the SEF's Community Supported Schools Program introduced music education for the children.
In collaboration with one of its partner NGOs SEF approached music composer Shahid Bhutto for developing tunes on poetry written by renowned poets including Shamsher Al Hyderi, late Bharoo Mal, late Mirza Ajmal Baig and a few others. The songs were voluntarily sung by folk singers Dilshad Mirza and Sooraj Palijo as well as teachers and children of CSS schools based in Malir area of Karachi. A total of ten songs were compiled for sharing across the SEF school communities. The songs are based on the themes of environment, health, patriotism, unity, character building, road safety, animal rights and history; and seek to educate students in the primary and elementary grades in these subject areas.
Production of this resource is a pioneering step taken by the SEF for educating children in the Sindh province through music.
Adult Literacy Stories in Sindhi Language In order to facilitate issue based teaching-learning for adult women learners, the SEF developed a series of 9 illustrated stories in Urdu language. These stories have been written by Prof. Rehana Mughni, Program Advisor, SEF. Recently UNESCO sponsored the translation and development of these stories in Sindhi language. The stories center on three broad themes which include health and nutrition, income generation and conflict resolution and are a useful adult literacy and awareness resource. Integrating these stories as part of the adult education underway at WLEP is an innovative attempt to inculcate women to be critical thinkers and effective problem solvers within their homes and communities.

Support to Private Education Institution Programme – Implementation of Phase II

Working along the lines of establishing public-private partnerships in order to impart quality education, Support to Private Education Institution Programme (SPEIP) is an innovative scheme of the Sindh Education Foundation under the Public Sector Development Program which is striving to transform private schools into dynamic learning spaces for all. The Support to Private Education Institution Programme partners with low-cost private schools with strong willingness to improve their quality and develop as dynamic learning institutes. The program focuses towards designing quality oriented interventions to enhance the institutional, technical and human resource capacity of partner schools. Accountability vis-à-vis parents and communities is an essential part of the program. In addition, the program launches meaningful research projects to build models for low-cost and high quality institutions of learning.
SPEIP was initially launched in 2003 providing technical and infrastructural support to 300 partner schools in the districts of Karachi, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Dadu, Badin and Thatta. The second phase with an implementing period from August 2007 to June 2008 builds upon the previous strengths of the program and will allow for further institutional strengthening and quality advancement of schools through the introduction of Quality Assurance Reviews. Quality Reviews will be conducted by the Quality Assurance Resource Centre another initiative of the Foundation where a quality assessment framework is being developed which will provide schools a system to constantly review their performance vis-à-vis various quality dimensions.

Awareness raising sessions on Health

With an increase in epidemics such as malaria and dengue fever, the WLEP team conducted various awareness-raising sessions on health in the Malir & Sehwan Centers. The topics discussed during these sessions included ailments such as dengue fever, drugs, malaria, hepatitis, pneumonia, cold & cough and various other common ailments. These sessions were conducted for the teachers of the Women's Literacy & Empowerment Centre (WLEC) to further educate the learners at their centers. With the help of the discussion teachers will be able to impart essential knowledge to the WLEC learners regarding vaccinations, treatments and overall cleanliness of their surroundings.

Health Camp set up in Manchar Lake

Lack of educational opportunities is one of the many predicaments that the Manchar community faces. Pollution by industrial effluents of this fresh water reserve has contaminated the water of Manchar and has left the community suffering from a plethora of water-borne diseases. To address this health concern, the Foundation has developed various strategies which includes the implementation of a health education component in the boat school to educate children about preventive health measures. SEF also plans to regularly set up health camps in the area to improve the health status of children, women and community members. In this regard the Johi Organization for Rural Development and Natural Recourse (JORDAN) and Benson Pharmaceuticals supported the Foundation's effort by donating medicines and arranged for doctors for organizing a health camp in the area. About 350 patients comprising primarily of women and children received treatment from doctors. Interested pharmaceutical agencies, doctors and nurses can contribute their bit in helping the disadvantaged of Manchar through the health camp.

Warm Clothing Provided to Manchar Lake Communities

Developing countries often face wide disparity in the standard of living of their populations. Such is the case of Pakistan where some are enjoying a life of luxury and wealth whereas some fall far below the poverty line; living in abject misery and are deprived of even the most rudimentary necessities of life. Owing to their economic desolation Manchar communities also face an acute shortage of basic necessities such as warm clothing during winters. The Foundation gathered a few funds from within its employees and other individual philanthropists and provided clothing to about 250 children of Manchar including clothes for boys and girls, socks, shawls, caps, sweaters and shoes. In this regard the Foundation would like to express their deepest sense of gratitude to Jaffer Brothers, Pakistan Cotton Fashion Apparel, Ms Masuma Lotia and Ms. Bina Shah for their generous contribution to help the destitute of Manchar. Interested individuals can visit the area and identify the gaps existing in the area and how they can contribute their bit in ameliorating the conditions of the region.

Health Initiatives at the Child Labor Education Program

Health Education has always been a crucial component at the Child Labor Education Program's (CLEP) Child Development Center. With the implementation of different health programs at the CDC, the center now serves as an essential component of health education and facilities for its students and community members. The following health activities were organized at the Child Development Center:

An informative session on 'Fundamentals of Health' was arranged at Child Development Center (CDC), Shershah on December 19, 2006 by Ms. Sirajunnisa Isani. Tailored for the female community members and teachers of the schools in the Shershah area, the health session educated the participants on basic health issues. Owing to the strong attendance at the session and the feedback of the participants the Sindh Education Foundation intends to make these sessions a regular feature so that more members of the community can benefit from learning about crucial, relevant and applicable health principles.

Free of cost dental checkups were provided to approximately 250 students of CDC at Shershah by a leading dental institute of Karachi- Altamash Institute of Dental Medicine. The beneficiaries mainly comprised of groups of children who work in various industries at Shershah and also manage to take out time to study at the Child Development Center.

During the National Polio week, a polio camp was set up at the CDC, Shershah by the Rural Health Centre. The Rural Health Centre is a government established center providing basic health services such as medicine, vaccinations and other required material free of cost. The vaccination camp at the CDC provided oral polio vaccination to more than 200 children all between the ages of 3-5 years in the Shershah area. Door-to-door visits were conducted by the Community Support Officers and the doctors of the Rural Health Centre to administer the polio vaccine on children who could not come to the center.

Eid Milan Party celebrated at CDC

The children and team members of CDC celebrated Eid Milan party. Ms. Sirajunnisa Isani and officials from ICI Pakistan were invited to attend the event. The show included children's performances and poetry recitals. It also included speeches from the guests and children. ICI Pakistan appreciated the team and children of CDC for their performance and gifted children with educational games and stationery.

ICI paints a new life to the CDC

ICI has contributed towards the infrastructural improvement of the Child Development Center at Shershah. Painting the walls with a fresh, bright color, the organization has breathed new life into the building of CDC, making the children more enthusiastic about going to where they study.

Workshop on 'Supporting Quality Revival in Public Schools'

A two day interactive workshop was held at a local institute during the month of April-May 2006. The training, titled "Supporting Quality Revival in Public Schools" focused on familiarizing Adopters & Head Masters on community sensitization, school observation ethics and school development plan. Mr. Ghulam Ali Shah Pasha, former Secretary Education, Education & Literacy Department, Govt. of Sindh participated as the Chief Guest of the event.

Community workshop on gender equity and Conflict Resolution

A community workshop on gender equity and conflict resolution was organized at Khaskheli Para - Rehri Goth in Malir District. 28 community members (males and females) attended the workshop during which many important issues were addressed. At the workshop the male participants agreed to the fact that women are suppressed to a degree where they fear to voice their misery in the face of inequity and discrimination. The workshop served as an educational and interactive endeavour where participants were educated on the concept of conflict resolution through various interesting group activities. Participants were also apprised of the various techniques of resolving conflicts and were informed on how to practically implement it in their lives.

Adopt-A-School Program Study Tour

As part of the Adopt-A-School Program team's professional development strategy, a 7-day study tour, from March 5 to 11 2006, was organized. The tour included visits to Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi in Lahore and the Pakistan Center of Philanthropy in Islamabad to study models of Adopt-A-School programs underway in Punjab. The program team members were able to reflect, review and learn from program experiences across Punjab province and incorporate lessons learnt into their own working framework. The visit also provided an excellent opportunity for SEF to develop institutional linkages for strengthening the Adopt-A-School Program in Sindh.

Workshop on Inclusive Learning

A workshop on 'Creating an Inclusive Learning-Friendly Environment (ILFE)' was organized by the Child Labor Education Program (CLEP). The 5-day workshop was held at the Child Development Center (CDC) from January 3 to 7, 2006. Its 'inclusive learning' component sought to train teachers to entrust parents with a more significant responsibility in the learning and development of their children; the segment on 'friendly environment' attempted to highlight the need for community participation in establishing an enabling learning environment for all children. This innovatively executed workshop, which used an ILFE toolkit developed by UNESCO, also aimed at providing more activity-centered learning opportunities for children by educating the CDC teachers alternative instructional styles to meet each child's needs.

SEF Trains Teachers & Supervisors

To date the Home Schools Program (HSP) has established 100 Home Schools. These schools are providing low-cost and quality educational opportunities to more than 4000 students. A tremendous achievement of these schools is that 80% of girls from 23 talukas of 12 districts of Sindh now attend school on a regular basis. These schools employ the services of 165 teachers and it is the primary responsibility of the Sindh Education Foundation and the partnering NGO to work together to provide support and training services to these teachers to improve the learning environment in the classroom. Bearing these vital objectives in mind the program team recently organized an extensive activity-based training. The training also helped teachers understand various subjects and improve their teaching techniques. This teachers training, initiated in February, was accomplished in 3 clusters of the program, Karachi, Larkana and Hyderabad.

This productive 5 day training, one that was immensely appreciated by all school supervisors and teachers, covered various topics including teachers' belief system; Child psychology: learning and behavioral patterns; Activity-based learning; Multi-grade teaching and orientation on learning materials. The enthusiasm that welcomed the training team during the activity helps the organization realize the value of enhancing the capacities of people who are working at grassroots levels, because eventually it is these people who directly make all the difference SEF strives for.

Community Teachers Benefit from Trainings

The demand-driven nature of the Community Supported Schools Program (CSSP) ensures that its progress is greatly dependant on the needs of the community, the teachers, the students and their parents. This dynamic attribute allows the program to undergo enterprising adaptation and enrichment. One such aspect of this enrichment is regular teachers training in order to share and acquaint teachers with new and more effective teaching practices and syllabi. From December 26, 2005 to January 2, 2006 the program along with the Learning Support Unit (LSU), organized a training for its elementary school teachers. Nearly 100 elementary teachers from Sehwan, Warah, Mehar & Larkana clusters participated in this 8 day training. The content of this widely appreciated training focused on the concepts of teachers' beliefs, child psychology, more effective multi-grade teaching, health education and subject-based sessions on Mathematics and English.

Support Extended to Community Schools

One of SEF's salient strategies to improve and support the quality of teaching and education is to provide teaching and learning aids according to each program's requirements. On regular visits to the Community Supported Schools (CSS) its program team observed that there was a significant need for material that would allow for more child-centered environment. As a result, during the month of October 2005, the CSSP team was involved in distributing learning material within its schools. The team has also put immense efforts into compiling innovative manuals that will aid teachers in introducing newer concepts in the classroom with helpful activities and lectures.

MoU Signed with the Community Development Network

Previously, SEF administered all Community Supported Schools through their partner Village Education Committees (VECs). These VECs held the primary responsibility of managing the schools. With a recent change in strategy these VECs have joined hands and have established the cluster-wise Community Development Networks (CDN). This network will serve as an umbrella organization over the VECs and will efficiently coordinate and communicate the activities and initiatives taken by the VECs. A memorandum of understanding was signed between CDN Larkana, Sehwan & Malir and SEF in November, 2005. It is also expected that this network will strengthen the grassroots participation in the social and educational development of rural communities

Training Conducted for Learning Facilitators

5 day training was organized for 34 Learning Facilitators of the SEF's Women's Literacy & Empowerment Program. The training titled 'Teachers as Critical Thinkers' was held from August 28 till September 1, 2006. The training that was immensely appreciated by all participants and covered various topics which included Teacher's Belief System; Adult Learning; Activity Based Learning and Center Management.

Trainings of SPEIP Partner Schools

Under the Public Sector Development Program, one of the pioneering initiatives taken by the Sindh Education Foundation is the Support to Private Education Institution Programme (SPEIP). SPEIP is striving to transform private schools into dynamic learning spaces for all and is being implemented in 300 private schools in nine districts of Sindh namely Thatta, Badin, Dadu, Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar, Tando Mohommad Khan, Khairpur and Karachi. SPEIP focuses on institutional development and qualityadvancement support to low-cost private and community based schools in areas of teacher's development, school management and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Since December 2004 SPEIP has been undertaking trainings for teachers and school management bodies of all partner schools in the area of quality advancement. Some of the trainings that were conducted in the last quarter are as follows: In June 2005 training was conducted for 405 teachers from 135 partner schools. The training was divided into 2 broad themes entitled 'Teachers as Critical Thinkers' and 'Information and Communication Technology in Education.

During the past quarter learning material was also distributed amongst SPEIP partner schools. The learning material comprised books, teaching aids, sporting equipment and teaching aids for katchi to grade 5 of all 300 schools. This resource material distribution was complemented with teacher training workshops for 900 teachers of the same schools. The training titled 'Diversifying Learning' revolved around the effective use of these learning materials for diversifying & improving learning within these schools. In September 2005 training sessions were designed for members of School Management Committees (SMCs) of 300 partner schools. The trainings focused on the following topics: role of school management bodies, effective school culture, resource mobilization and school development planning. The trainings were attended by 900 SMC members.

SPEIP Extends Partnership to 50 New Schools

This quarter SPEIP welcomed 50 new schools in their program from district Karachi. 14 of these schools are working under the QuAID program of the Aga Khan Education Services, Pakistan. 36 others are various private schools based in Karachi in Malir, Sachal Goth and Rashidbad towns. To initiate the intervention, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremonies with new partner schools were held in August 2005.

Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony

This quarter SPEIP welcomed 32 new schools in their program from district Karachi. 14 of these schools are working under the QuAID program of the Aga Khan Education Services, Pakistan. 18 other are various private schools based in Karachi. To initiate the intervention, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremonies with new partner schools were held on 5th August 2005 and 6th August 2005 respectively.

Two day Seminar on Strengthening the Adopt-A-School Program

During the month of June this year the Sindh Education Foundation held a two-day seminar for the Adopt-A-School Program. The seminar was conducted to share views and perceptions regarding the program and possibilities of strengthening the program. The seminar provided a platform to adopters, SEF, government school representatives and government officials to collectively discuss program-related issues and reach a consensus regarding key policy recommendations. A significant number of recommendations and ideas emerged from the range of stakeholders that were present during the seminar. During the preliminary round, held on June14, 2005 adopters of all the Adopt-A-School Program schools were invited to reflect on the findings of the Situation Analysis conducted by SEF and to develop a concrete work plan for the course of activities of the program for the coming years.

The second day of the seminar focused on providing a platform to facilitate dialogue between the government and adopters to explore avenues for program strengthening. The seminar also provided an opportunity to reflect on existing roles and responsibilities of key program stakeholders and to collectively propose changes and recommendations regarding the program's future course of action. Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali, Managing Director, Sindh Education Foundation formally welcomed the participants and appreciated the contribution of the adopters. She assured the adopters of SEF's ongoing support and facilitation in all school improvement measures.

Mr. Hashim Leghari, the then Secretary of Education & Literacy Department, Mr. Mehboob Sheikh, Additional Secretary, Academics & Training and EDOs from Nawabshah, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Mirpurkhas and Thatta participated in the event. Mr. Hashim Leghari emphasized the need for providing access to education to out-of-school children. He reiterated the government's pledge to increase enrolment in Sindh and enumerated various schemes and projects in the pipeline for education sector reforms. Responding to various questions raised by the adopters he extended the Department of Education's commitment to support the program and facilitate the adopters as and when required.

During the seminar Dr. Baela Raza Jamil, Chairperson of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi highlighted certain issues central to the operations of the program. She outlined many ideas to strengthen the program, encourage philanthropists to help in the improvement of public sector education and create sustainability within existing schools. The Adopt-A-School Program, initiated by the Sindh Education Foundation in 1997, is one of the pioneer programs that aim to partner the private and public sector in order to revive educational support for government schools.

Distribution of Institutional Packages to Schools

The Fellowship Schools Program (FSP) distributed a package of Rs.30, 000/- to each of its partner schools. The objective of providing financial support to these schools is to facilitate Parent Education Committees in procuring 'basic facilities' for schools. Prior to this activity, a comprehensive study was conducted and it was discovered that a number of Fellowship Schools needed repair work, furniture, books, and other forms of support. The Fellowship Support Program team, in its evaluation of the schools, set forth a criterion for the distribution of an Institutional Package. The criterion contained various indicators of school success including: enrolment of students, Parent Education Committees performance (for three years), teachers' performance and quality of education in schools.

The Institutional packages were distributed on June 8, June 11, and June 14, 2005. Mr. Mohammad Usman Chacher, District Coordinating Officer, Matiari District, Mr. Mehboob Sheikh, Additional Secretary, Academics & Training, and Mr. Sikandar Ali Shah, Executive District Officer (Education), Khairpur Mirs', attended the distribution ceremonies held at Hyderabad, Karachi and Khairpur Mirs' clusters respectively. A total amount of Rs.3 million was disbursed amongst 100 Fellowship Schools of the program.
The Fellowship Schools Program, supported by the Department of Education & Literacy, aims to provide and promote primary education for girls in remote areas of Sindh. The program is designed on self-reliance, and on promoting low-cost, high quality education within the target communities. Currently the program is operating in Karachi, Khairpur and Hyderabad districts.

Home Schools Program Monitors Partner Schools

An in-depth monitoring activity was conducted in the schools of the Home Schools Program and their respective communities. The basic idea was to gauge the performance of the partner NGOs and supervisors, as well as the perceptions of the community members, parents and students. The results obtained from this activity would consequently help in reviewing the policies and fine-tuning the intervention strategy of the program. The study also attempted to assess information related to the students' enrolment, attendance, their use of resource material in the classroom, teachers' qualifications, attendance and training needs etc. Through individual sessions with teachers, during which the team discussed topics such as multiple intelligences and multi-sensory approaches, the team sought insights into the need to create a more nurturing, culturally relevant and creative learning environment in the classrooms through the use of learning materials and other teaching aids.

Amongst the wealth of insights that were gained through the initiative, it was observed that the partner schools are wholeheartedly living up to their vision of inculcating within the communities the sentiments of educating children with self-reliance and self-esteem.

The monitoring also revealed that schools have benefited greatly now that teachers have been trained to practice more activity-based learning and multi-grade teaching methods. It was also learnt that in the schools of Shahdadpur and Faridabad clusters, community members have galvanized themselves and have nominated members who are voluntarily teaching in these schools without any financial compensation. Yet more inspiring is the account of a girl, in the Thul district, who is voluntarily running a school since 1999. Here the landlord (Wadera/Zamidar) of this area supports the teacher by granting her Rs.200/-per student per year for those students who pass the annual exam from a nearby government school.

Despite the success stories, there is still a need of facilities such as additional learning material and teaching aids, especially in Sindhi; services such as teacher's training, appointment of school supervisors and teachers, and financial support. The Foundation is undertaking efforts to meet the existing needs of the partner schools.

Refresher Courses Offered to Teachers in Hala and Khairpur

During the past quarter, the Fellowship Schools Program (FSP), a community school model of the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF), conducted refresher courses for 92 teachers. These trainings were held cluster-wise in Hala and Khairpur during the first week of April, 2005. The objective of these one-day trainings was to improve the quality of education imparted at the Fellowship Schools. During the training the teachers were provided trainings on teaching multigrade classrooms, teaching arts and crafts and conducting functions and assemblies.

Home Schools Program Partners with 68 New Schools

The Sindh Education Foundation partnered with local NGOs for the formation of new schools under the umbrella of Home Schools Program. 68 new schools were welcomed to the Home School Program bringing the total number of schools to 100. The Home Schools Program is one such initiative which provides primary education to girls in areas where even boys' schools do not exist. These schools are established with collateral support from the community, which includes the infrastructure (building, furniture etc) as well as participation in the management process. Concurrently, SEF plays the role of a facilitator, providing financial and technical support for capacity building of the school.
Prior to the establishment of schools an extensive situation analysis was conducted which identified potential villages where schools were required. Around 150 villages of district Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Tando Muhammad Khan, Sanghar, Nawabshah. Jamshoro, Dadu, Larkana, Shahdad Kot, Jacobabad and 3 towns of Karachi i.e. North Nazimabad, Kemari & Malir were monitored. It was then decided to open 68 new schools in potential villages. A ceremony was arranged at a local hotel in Hyderabad where letters were distributed amongst representatives of partner NGO's, to open schools in selected villages/areas. Cheques for the establishment of the schools, including the purchase of student benches, school sign board, blackboard etc. for every school were also distributed. Some of the NGOs that have partnered with the SEF for the development of the home schools include: Sachal Education Welfare Society, Community Development Foundation (CDF), Indus Development Association, Chandia Welfare Association, Women Literary Drive Organization and others.

Teachers' Training Workshop Organized by SPEIP

The Support to Private Education Institution Programme (SPEIP) is a pioneering initiative taken by the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) under the Public Sector Development Program which is striving to transform private schools into dynamic learning spaces for all. SPEIP focuses on institutional development and quality advancement support to low-cost private and community based schools in areas of teachers' development, school management and Information & Communication Technology (ICT). SPEIP is being implemented in 300 private educational institutions in Sindh.
One of the areas that SEF provides support to schools that have partnered with SPEIP is that of quality advancement. As a result, SPEIP conducted training workshops to build the capacities of its teachers. These workshops were held between January 17 and February 9, 2005 for 5 districts of Sindh. The participants of these trainings engaged in critical analyses and discussions regarding teachers' beliefs about education, learning, students, parents, and teachers themselves. The training was divided into two broad themes entitled 'Teachers as Critical Thinkers' and 'Information and Communication Technology in Education'. The beneficiaries of these workshops were 351 teachers from 117 partner schools.

Training Sessions Organized

The education system in most developing countries is increasingly being seen as providing tools to engage communities towards social reform. In this regard teachers are deemed to be the main proponents for promoting critical thinking. It is important for teachers/ educators/developers to understand the importance of teachers' beliefs about education & their relationship with teachers' practices.

Students Assessment at 360 private schools in Sindh

The Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) recently held a district wide assessment activity for its Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) Project. Conducted in early 2013, students of grades 1 to 4 from 360 PPRS project schools took part in the activity. More than 30,000 students were selected through random sampling for the exercise. The assessment was conducted over 15 days by 130 invigilators, 80 of whom were externally hired for the purpose together with 50 members from the SEF project and field offices.

The PPRS project is an SEF initiative under the Public Private Partnership component of the Sindh Education Reform Program with collaboration of the World Bank. The overall goal of the initiative is to establish public private partnerships for increasing access to quality education services in marginalised areas. The project operates across 10 districts namely Thatta, Badin, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, Umerkot, Mithi, Khairpur Qamber Shadadkot, Larkana and Dadu.

Assessment followed a competency-based approach to determine students' learning outcomes in literacy (English and Sindhi/Urdu languages), numeracy and science for grades 1 to 4. The written assessment was prepared on the educational competencies of the National Curriculum and looked at students' achievement vis-à-vis their prior and current knowledge. Various tools were used for the assessment such as picture comprehension, fill in the blanks, matching, short responses, word meanings, sentence making and problem solving and multiple choice items.

The pilot assessment activity of the Phase I, II and III PPRS project schools was the first cycle of what is to be a bi-annual assessment exercise. Results of the assessment will be used mainly to provide an assessment of learning and facilitate in identifying strengths and weaknesses for improving the standard of education. It will enable the SEF to develop more comprehensive teachers training programs and extend constructive guidance to entrepreneurs for improving their understanding of the educational standards themselves. Learning outcomes will help improve the school operators' effectiveness for improving learning outcomes in schools to ensure continued support from the Government.

The SEF plans to extend the assessment to all partner schools in Sindh and undertake valid and reliable students' assessments that routinely provide schools and the Government with information for improving students' achievement levels in key learning areas.

SEF MD conducts meeting with RBCS stakeholders

A meeting of SEF’s Managing Director was arranged with the representatives from 09 RBCS partner NGOs at SEF Head Office. Representatives from Bright Education Society (BEST), Community Development Council (CDC), DevCon, Health and Nutrition Development Society (HANDS), Jagarata Social Welfare Organization (JSWO), NGO Development Society (NGS), Shah Haider Education Society (SHESS), Sindh Development Society (SDS), and Village Shadbad Organization (VSO) were present to give overview of their schools and discuss future strategies of the Rural Based Community Schools (RBCS) Program.

In the meeting, emphasis was given on strengthening school infrastructure, increasing student enrollment in schools, enhancing sustainable quality in educational practices, introduction of IT in curriculum and starting evening classes for out-of-school children.

SEF conducts Training of Teachers of ELP schools

March 13 to 23, 2015, SEF conducted training of teachers of ELP schools. Training session was supervised by Learning Support Unit and was held in 5 districts including Badin, Khairpur, Nausheoferoz, Ghotki and Tando Muhammad Khan. .

It comprised of two sessions. First session focused on the training of 1 lead and assistant teacher from 150 schools resulting in 300 beneficiaries. In the second session, training was imparted to one teacher from grade 1 of 150 schools.

The training session covered 5 important components

First aspect of the training covered role of ECE teachers. Topics shared under this phase of training highlighted necessary guidelines which should be adopted by the ECE teachers in making the learning environment much conducive and friendly.

The cornerstone of second aspect was the usage of KWL technique for lesson planning. Through this way the teacher is well aware about the topic of the subject as to what exactly is to be shared with the students and what is it that they will learn by the end of the session.

Third component was based on the usage of interactive techniques in teaching. Demonstration on such techniques comprising of storytelling activities was given through props.

Other aspect was about maintaining child’s portfolio. In order to main child’s portfolio effectively inclusion of worksheets and check list was suggested in addition to the child’s profile form.

Last aspect of training highlighted the usage of summative and formative approaches of assessment, where formative refers to continuous assessment methods during learning and summative refers to the assessment held at the end of the learning phase (like daily, weekly, monthly and Yearly exam.

SEF conducts Training Activity for RBCS Schools

March 14 to 20, 2015, The Sindh Education Foundation conducted training activity for the schools of Rural Based Community Schooling Program in 10 districts of Sindh including Khairpur, Qambar Shahdadkot, Dadu, Sanghar, Larkana, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Karachi, Jamshoro and Mirpurkhas. .

Training session was supervised by Learning Support Unit (LSU) with the aim to impart understanding on the effective classroom management techniques, development and understanding of conducive classroom environment to enhance language proficiency with respect to basic skills and structure and re-strengthening the framework of lesson planning.

Media personnel visits PPRS Schools

February 1 to 4, 2015, media personnel visited Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) schools in Mithi and Umerkot districts. The visit was arranged in view of intention expressed by the journalists of local channels to visit the schools and see for themselves as to how schools were performing on ground. The visit provided a chance to the mainstream media to witness the progress and delivery of quality education in SEF schools.

During visit, media personnel recorded interviews of students, teachers and entrepreneurs who are running schools. They also spoke to the community in order to have their opinion about how the schools are affecting their lives in a positive manner.

SEF conducts contract signing activity for IELP schools

February 6, 2015, The Sindh Education Foundation conducted contract signing activity for Integrated Education Learning Program (IELP) schools. The activity had been supervised by Director Programs and Planning. There were total 1000 schools and approximately 700 operators, of which 350 were individuals and 250 were organizations.

After contract signing activity, subsidy for the period July-December 2015 is being disbursed by SEF.

SEF conducts contract signing and subsidy disbursement activity for RBCS schools

January 14, 2015, SEF conducts contract signing and subsidy disbursement activity for Rural Based Community Schooling Program (RBCS) schools. During activity 10 partner NGOs from Sindh were present to sign the contract and collect subsidy at SEF’s head office, Karachi.

SEF conducts mock training for the teachers of PPRS phase IV schools

December 9, 2015, SEF conducted 3 day mock training for the teachers of PPRS phase-IV schools at a local hotel in Karachi. Training session was divided into 5 areas including English language competency, early childhood education, teaching methodologies of grade 1, entrepreneurship and health education.

Depending on the grade, participants were imparted training on brainstorming sessions, classroom activities and usage of guide books and various assessment techniques to facilitate teachers in conducting sessions with students.

SEF conducts district-wise meetings of ELP schools

December 29, 2014 to December 3, 2015, The Sindh Education Foundation conducts district-wise meetings of Early Learning Program (ELP) in 5 districts of Sindh including Tando Muhammad khan, Badin, Khairpur, Nausheoferoz and Ghotki

During the activity, core ELP team along with regional team met the government TOs and ADOs and acknowledges their efforts for the promotion of early education in government schools.

Ms. Naheed Shah Durrani takes charge as Managing Director-SEF

It is hereby announced that Ms. Naheed Shah Durrani has formally joined the SEF as the Managing Director.

Ms. Durrani has held various portfolios with the Government of Sindh including serving as the Secretary of Education in the past.

We are glad on her joining us as the head, and expect that she would steer SEF through to new horizons of success, as has been her claim to fame.

SEF Conducts Successful Meeting with Chief Minister Sindh

The Managing Director along with the SEF team had a meeting with the Honorable Chief Minister at the Chief Minister House. The Honorable CM appreciated the efforts and the work of the Sindh Education Foundation and hoped that we will continue our journey with the utmost dedication.

Chief Minister, Sindh/Chairman Sindh Education Foundation showed full confidence in Anita Ghulam Ali’s Management Team and especially in Aziz Kabani (Managing Director, SEF). He assured the SEF team that he will continue his support at all levels in the future as he used to support Anita Apa.

Tribute to Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali by SEF

August 28, 2014: A tribute was held in honor of Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali, one of the founders of the Sindh Education Foundation, at the SEF head office by the SEF staff. During the event, numerous employees took the stage to share stories about Prof. Anita's profound impact on their lives and how much her absence is felt by everyone. Mr. Aziz Kabani stated that even though Prof. Anita may no longer be with us, SEF will honor her memory and her legacy by continuing her good work and her mission of educating and empowering the children of Sindh.

Managing Director holds Budget Meeting at SEF Head Office

August 20, 2014: Mr. Aziz Kabani, Managing Director Sindh Education Foundation, Mr. Shukri Rehman, Director Finance and Mr. Abdullah Abbassi, Director Admin & HR held a meeting with all SEF programs and unit heads to discuss their budgets for the current fiscal year.

The participants included staff from the PPRS, IELP, AASP, ELP, RBCS, WLEP and CLEP in addition to the unit staff from Program Support and Development Unit, Director Office, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, Assessment, Marketing, Advocacy and Publication, Administration, Procurement, Human Resource, IT and the Complaint Cell. SEF employees from the regions also travelled to the Karachi head office to attend the meeting and present their budgets to the MD SEF. Mr. Kabani and the Directors were briefed thoroughly on all budgets on which they provided their feedback. Mr. Kabani said that the budget shall be approved after further scrutiny of the SEF Senior Management.

Managing Director Sindh Education Foundation Meets with Chief Minister Sindh

Aziz Kabani, Managing Director Sindh Education Foundation, met with Chief Minister Sindh and Chairperson SEF Qaim Ali Shah today at the CM House.

The Chief Minister expressed grief on the passing of the former MD SEF Anita Ghulam Ali saying that she was a true educationist and an asset for Sindh. CM Qaim Ali Shah said that Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali was an institution of integrity and dedication and her contributions to enhancing the quality of education and the capacity building of the teacher community in the province will never be forgotten.

He said that Sindh Education Foundation is a prestigious organization and is an example of commitment and perseverance towards the case of education. The Chief Minister asked Aziz Kabani to follow the example set by Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali and take the Sindh Education Foundation to even greater heights.

Aziz Kabani takes charge of Sindh Education Foundation as Managing Director

Aug 12, 2014: Mr. Aziz Kabani, formerly the Director at the Sindh Education Foundation, has been appointed the Managing Director at SEF. The decision regarding Mr. Kabani’s additional charge as Managing Director was taken unanimously by SEF’s Chairman and Chief Minister Sindh with the aim to enhance SEFs already exemplary performance.

Mr. Aziz Kabani has been faithfully serving SEF for the last 14 years with complete honesty and integrity. Under his leadership, it is hoped that the Foundation will achieve even greater milestones in its quest to provide enhance education quality and access to the underserved in Sindh.

SEF Founder Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali passes away on 8th August 2014 in Karachi

SEF Founder Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali Passes Away on 8th August 2014: Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali, renowned educationist and former Managing Director Sindh Education Foundation, passed away today in Karachi.

President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah, Senior Education Minister Nisar Khuhro and Addl. Chief Secretary, Education & Literacy Department Fazllullah Pechuho. have expressed heartfelt condolences over her death.

Apa Anita, as she was affectionately known to us at SEF, was a wonderful person and a great leader who strove tirelessly for decades for the cause of education in the country.

This is an extremely sad day for SEF and indeed for the whole of Pakistan. She will be greatly missed by everyone at the Foundation. We request everyone to please pray for her soul.

AASP attends Bloom’s Taxonomy Workshop

The Sindh Education Foundation’s Adopt a School team participated in a workshop on Bloom’s Taxonomy at Iqra University on 23rd and 24th June 2014. Bloom's taxonomy refers to a classification of the different objectives that educators set for students (learning objectives). It divides educational objectives into three "domains": cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Within the domains, learning at the higher levels is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels. A goal of Bloom's taxonomy is to motivate educators to focus on all three domains, creating a more holistic form of education.

During the session, presentations were given on Bloom’s Taxonomy, Bloom’s Ranking of Thinking Skills, Task Oriented Question Construction and the Incorporation of Bloom’s Taxonomy in Lesson Planning. Afterwards, the participants were formed into groups to brainstorm and to present on the format of Bloom’s Taxonomy which is dependent on Creating, Evaluating, Analyzing, Applying, Understanding and Remembering. Certificates were presented at the conclusion of the activity.

SEF participates in ‘Governance Forum’

17th June, 2014: The Sindh Education Foundation participated in the one-day ‘Governance Forum’ organized by the Institute of Business Administration and Government of Sindh on the 17th of June at a local hotel in Karachi. The forum was held to discuss and deliberate on the Service Delivery Service initiatives in Governance. The seminar showcased the initiatives undertaken by the Government of Sindh to accelerate development in the province. These initiatives focus on Poverty Alleviation; Public Private Partnership Programs; Fiscal Procurement Reforms’ and use of Information and Communication Technologies. Presentations were made to bring these programs to public knowledge and to share their impact.

Syed Murad Ali Shah, Advisor to Chief Minister for Finance, graced the event as Chief Guest. Other notable personalities included Sajjad Saleem Hotiana, Chief Secretary, Dr. Fazllullah Pechuho, Additional Chief Secretary Education & Literacy Department, Sohail Rajput, Secretary Finance, Dr. Adeeb Rizvi, Head of SIUT, Aziz Kabani, Deputy Managing Director SEF and Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Director IBA. Over 400 participants attended the event.

The Sindh Education Foundation participated and highlighted the SEF schools operating on the Public Private Partnership model in education, with a special emphasis on the SEF initiatives including the IELP, PPRS, AASP and RBCS program. Mr. Aziz Kabani presented on the occasion, explaining the PPP model in detail and emphasizing on its effectiveness in the running of the SEF schools. Mr. Kabani informed the audience about the high level of quality education being disseminated in the Sindh province through the SEF schools. He explained that the SEF school curriculum has been based on the international level syllabus to ensure the children get the very best in education. Mr. Kabani stated that SEF is committed to its cause of providing quality education to the underserved areas of Sindh and through education nurturing progress and development in Pakistan.

SEF conducts Support Visits to RBCS Schools

May 19, 2014: The Sindh Education Foundation conducted support visits to the 250 schools of Rural Based Community Schooling (RBCS) Program in 10 districts of Sindh including Karachi, Hyderabad, Dadu, Larkana, Qambar Shahdadkot, Sukkur, Khairpur, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas and Jamshoro. The aim of the visit was to identify and verify locations of schools in the RBCS program, collect information on teachers and student’s enrollment, check availability of basic school facilities including books, student/teacher learning material, clean drinking water and functional washrooms.

During the event members of the core and regional RBCS teams and 2 members from the Program Support and Development Unit were present. In order to conduct the activity effectively, the RBCS team was divided into two groups; Group A and B. Group A comprised of 13 members and was responsible for collecting data from schools whereas Group B comprising of 2 members was assigned the task of data entry.

Prior to the activity, a one day orientation was held to brief the participants about the aims and objectives of the school support visits. Presentations were also given on the school support visit (SSV) tool and its usage in collecting information on school’s infrastructure, enrollment and classroom set-up.

At the end of the school support visits, review meetings were held in Larkana, Sukkur and Hyderabad for five days in which the condition of the RBCS schools and future activities for the program were discussed.

The school support visits proved useful in gathering information about active NGOs in the RBCS regions and identifying those schools which need improvement in terms of infrastructure. It also provided NGOs the opportunity to share ideas about future projects for the RBCS Program, reducing the communication gap amongst the participants

SEF to showcase IELP Schools at the Border.

May 30, 2014: The Sindh Education Foundation is conducting a field activity in order to highlight the infrastructure, quality of education and various management styles of the schools operated on the border by the Rangers.

The Foundation will document the success stories of the students and teachers at these particular schools. This information will be utilized to showcase best practices and shall be implemented as a motivational tool for other IELP schools.

SEF monitors Teachers Training organized by SETTP

Apr 27, 2014: The Sindh Education Foundation monitored teacher’s training organized by Sindh Elementary Teachers Training Project, Government of Sindh in collaboration with Canadian International Development Agency/Provincial Institution of Teacher Education and Bureau of Curriculum. The training spanned over 18 days in which subject specialists and experts conducted various sessions for primary and junior school teachers.

During the training session, 5 representatives from Sindh Education Foundation’s Learning Support Unit conducted visits to inspect the quality and programmatic requirements at the monitoring sites including Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad. In order to facilitate the training activity, an extensive, in-depth training manual was developed by SEF in collaboration with BOC. To record observations and evaluate results critically, a monitoring tool was also designed by SEF.

During training it was observed that the session design was comprehensive and well suited to the needs of the teachers. The content and methodologies, adopted and implied were relevant and fulfilled the desired objectives of the program. The session was based on an interactive format and encouraged participants to share their valued experiences and contributions. Motivation and keen interest was also noted in the participants, however the actual gradient of this training may be deduced by a thorough analysis through pre and post training test.

Based on the observations it was recommended that such training session should be organized frequently to enhance the competencies of the Government teachers.

SEF conducts Text Books Dissemination Activity in Hyderabad.

May 17, 2014: The Sindh Education Foundation conducted a book dissemination activity at Hyderabad under its Integrated Education Learning Program. During the activity, the IELP regional teams from Larkana, Dadu, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, Shaheed Benazirabad were present to collect books to distribute to their respective schools, whereas schoolsin the Karachi district received books from the SEF Head Office.

Up till now 800,000 books have been delivered to the Hyderabad Office. 75% of IELP schools have received books for grades 1, 5, 6, 7-10. Books for grades 2, 3 and 4 shall be supplied when available from the Sindh Textbook Board.

SEF Schools Comparable to Elite Private Schools says Chief Minister Sindh

May 06, 2014: Chief Minister Sindh, Qaim Ali Shah, lauded the hard work and determination of the Sindh Education Foundation in the field of education, in a first time ever formal debate on the post-budget situation of the government by the elected assembly.

The Sindh government has spent more development funds than any other provincial government in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. This was claimed on Monday by the Sindh Chief Minister in the provincial legislature in his speech to conclude the post-budget discussion to review the government expenditures for the 2013-14 financial year.

In response to the allegations that government schools and colleges were without basic academic and physical facilities, the Chief Minister gave the example of 300 government schools under the administration of the Sindh Education Foundation’s PPRS Program and stated that their academic performance and output was comparable to any elite private school in Karachi.

SEF supervises Verification Survey of PPRS Phase IV applications

12 May, 2014: After the success of its previous phases, Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) Program is about to enter its fourth phase with the aim of opening 654 schools across the 10 program districts of Sindh. Currently, the PPRS Program provides support to 346 schools functional in the Sindh province. Through phase IV of the PPRS program, SEF will significantly extend its outreach in areas lacking educational facilities.

In order to ensure transparency in the phase IV application process, a validation survey is being carried out by third parties i.e. Management Development Centre (MDC) and Action for Humanitarian Development (AHD). The third parties will verify the data of applications in excess of 10,000, received by the Sindh Education Foundation to open 654 schools in 10 districts of Sindh.

6,036 applications were received from 6 districts ( Larkana, Khairpur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, Umerkot and Mithi) and were allotted to MDC for verification. AHD was assigned to verify the data from the other 4 districts (Dadu, Qambar Shahdadkot, Thatta and Badin) with a total number of applications of 4,166.

During the verification survey, SEF provided facilitation through supervision of the regional and field offices’ processes and by visiting sites on a random basis.

The analysis of the verified data will be completed by the mid of May after which the schools will be awarded to the successful applicants.

SEF disburses Subsidy and Teacher Salaries for RBCS Schools

Mar 27th, 2014: The Sindh Education Foundation disbursed Rural Based Community Schooling Program subsidy and teacher salaries to the partner NGOs in the 10 RBCS districts of Sindh. The distribution of the subsidy and salaries had been delayed due to the regularization process of the RBCS Program, shifting the initiative from the development side to the regular side.

A total of PKR 5,250,000 was given to the 10 partner NGOS for teacher salaries and the infrastructure development of schools. The subsidy for infrastructure development was disseminated on the 3rd of March, 2014. The disbursement of teacher salaries took place during RBCS training sessions, held from the 17th to the 26th of March, 2014 in the RBCS districts. PKR 30,000 was given to each of the 500 teachers as back log clearance from July to December 2013. Discussion on up-coming activities and specifications required for school setup were also discussed during the sessions.

SEF conducts training of 500 RBCS teachers

The Sindh Education Foundation’s RBCS Program is a natural extension of the organization's community based schooling initiatives and brings together the resources and development efforts of the public, community and private sectors.

Sindh Education Foundation organized a ten day training session for Rural Based Community Schooling Program in 10 districts of Sindh from the 17th to the 26th of March, 2014. During the session a team comprising of 2 trainers from the Learning Support Unit and 1 facilitator from the Rural Based Community Schooling Program was present. 500 teachers from 250 RBCS schools participated in the training.

The aim of the training session was to orient grade 1 and 2 teachers with modern pedagogies of early years teaching and enhance teacher’s content for general and theme specific teaching. It also served as a motivation tool to adopt child-centered teaching methodologies and provided opportunities to teachers for reflective practice of what they learn and acquire.

On the completion of training, certificates were distributed to the teachers as token of appreciation.

SEF organizes mock training activity for RBCS Program

Mar 17, 2014: The Sindh Education Foundation’s RBCS Program is a natural extension of the organization's community based schooling initiatives and brings together the resources and development efforts of the public, community and private sectors. A five day mock training activity was organized in Hyderabad from March 11 to March 15, 2014 by the Sindh Education Foundation for the Rural Based Community Schooling Program. A team comprising of 23 participants from the regional and core team of the Learning Support Unit attended the event.

The aim of the mock activity was to prepare the trainers, strengthen the framework and ensure quality and standardization of the ten day training workshop which will commence in Hyderabad on March 17, 2014. The upcoming training activity will focus on grade 1 and 2 teachers and will orient them with modern pedagogies of early teaching. The training will also motivate teachers to adopt child centered teaching methodologies and help them in enhancing content for general and specific theme teaching.

SEF conducts Assessment Activity at Child Development Center (CDC)

The Punjab Education Foundation is an autonomous statutory body which aims to encourage and promote education in the private sector operating on non-commercial/ non-profit basis. The Punjab Education Foundation has been restructured under the Punjab Education Foundation Act-XII of 2004 for the promotion of education to encourage and support the efforts of the private sector in providing education to the poor, through public private partnership.

A four day educational visit to the Punjab Education Foundation, Head office, Lahore was organized by the Sindh Education Foundation from March 10th to March 14th. A team comprising of participants from Assessment unit and Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh (PPRS) Program represented SEF on the occasion. The purpose of the visit was to observe the processes, procedures and framework of the different modules of Punjab Education Foundation so that comparison and improvements can be made accordingly.

During the visit, the SEF also participated in a workshop titled “Assessment for learning to transform the classroom” organized by TAKE in collaboration with Institute of Education, London from March 11th to March 13th. The workshop presented useful insights regarding different classroom transformation methods through creativity and creating a network for the educational community.

SEF conducts Assessment Activity at Child Development Center (CDC)

Jan 16, 2014: The Sindh Education Foundation conducted the assessment of the students studying at the Child Development Centre (CDC) in Shershah. The center is operated under the Child Labor Education Program (CLEP) and aims to empower working children so that they can gain access to opportunities for improving the quality of their lives and families, but without pulling them away from their income-generating routines. The purpose of the assessment activity was to gauge the competencies of students. 36 students of grade 2, 11 of grade 5 and 27 of grade 7 appeared for the examination and were assessed for the subjects namely English, Urdu, Math and Science.

Regional Launch of Annual Status of Education Provincial Report (ASER) 2013

Karachi, February 11: For the provincial launch of the “Annual Status of Education Report ASER Pakistan – 2013” (ASER) in Sindh and to share the findings of the survey with those concerned, a dialogue was arranged at a local educational institute. Over 150 people which included major stakeholders belonging to the field of academics, practitioners working in the field of education and representatives from the Government and media personnel attended the event.

The provincial launch of ASER was organized by Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) in collaboration with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi (ITA). This was the fourth Sindh launch of ASER in Pakistan and the report was the most comprehensive one yet. The national survey of education undertaken by over 10,000 youth volunteers covered 263,990 children aged 3-16 across 138 rural and 13 urban districts of Pakistan. Specifically in Sindh, all 23 Districts and 2 Urban Cities were also surveyed.

Since 2008/9, Pakistan through its civil society and expert led groups has been undertaking a rural household based learning survey, called the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). ASER 2013 is said to be a testimony to civil society's commitment to evidence-based planning and collaborative action with the government. ASER 2013 assists governments, private sector and other research/think tanks with vital information regarding 3-16 years old children and learning outcomes for 5-16 years, the precise age group stipulated under Article 25- A for extending education as a fundamental constitutional right.

Mr. Taj Haider, Coordinator to Chief Minister Sindh, presided as the Chief Guest at the event. To discuss the findings and results of the 2013 report in detail, esteemed panellists such as Dr. Shaikh Tanveer Ahmed (CEO, HANDS), Dr. Muhammad Memon (Professor Hamid-al-Din-al-Kirmani, Aga Khan University-Institute for Educational Development), Mr. Noman ul Haq Siddiqui (CEO, Anzaam Private Limited), Mr. Naveed Ahmed Shaikh (Advisor Education Governance and Education Management, Sindh Community Mobilization Program), Dr. Arif Alvi (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf), Mr. Zulfiqar Bachani (Sr. Assistant Manager, Aga Khan University-Human Development Programme), Dr. Muhammad Suleman Shaikh (Secretary Board of Trustees, SZABIST), Mr. Asghar Soomro (Head of Programs, Intermediary and Public Private Partnership, Education for Sindh) and Mr. Muhammad Hussain Mehanati (Former Ameer, Jamat-e-Islami), Mr. Zakir Shah (Additional Secretary Schools), Ms. Saba Mehmood (Chief Program Manager, Reform Support Unit) were invited to the forum.

Event was initiated by Baela Raza Jamil (Director, ITA) who welcomed the guests and appreciated their participation. She stated that it was heartening to see ASER carry momentum on a global scale as well as in Pakistan. She said education is a welcome call for society and it has been made possible with the efforts of NGO’s and global bodies. The collaboration has also given rise to the social movement in which everyone is a leader and is capable of spreading the cause of education.

Aziz Kabani (Director, SEF) shared that the ASER report has a positive effect on the future of education by providing vital information to those in decision making positions. According to him education is not a national issue but a problem which is affecting our society at large. He said that ASER is an independent body which serves as an influence to promote education to others. He said that according to the survey 71% of educational targets were achieved in the year 2013 but it is not up to the mark as the aim was to achieve 100 %.

Dr Arif Alvi one of the panellists highlighted that due to the bad situation in the country immediate action is required. He said that Pakistan is passing through an era of hardships where no policy but only implementation can make a difference.

Taj Haider also presented his views on the ASER 2013. He said even if half of the ratio given in the report is correct, we can say that we are on the road to success. He highlighted that teacher retention is one of the basic issues. In addition he said that teachers should know about the content which they are teaching so that they can impart authentic knowledge to the students. He also encouraged the efforts of communities in imparting education. In the end he said that only education can make us rise as a nation in the world.

Muhammad Hussain Mehanati initiated discussion by highlighting the importance of education in Islam. Efforts should be made to identify the reasons which are making us deprived of education. He emphasised that beside infrastructure, availability of quality teachers is essential for imparting education. He also recommended that checks and balances including student’s attendance on a daily basis is an essential tool for learning and development of youth.

Saba Mehmood started her discussion by highlighting the initiatives of the Reform Support Unit. She said that in order to check the transparency of the examination system, assessment was conducted all over Sindh. The result of the assessment was very low, only 20%, which indicated the lack of transparency and an alarming situation. According to her, school consolidation is also one of the major issues and RSU has tried to resolve it by developing units which comprised of two or three schools in the same boundary. In order to ensure the functionality of schools, RSU has also developed the Sindh School Monitoring System. Ms. Mehmood recommended that teacher absenteeism and political interference should be reduced for the establishment of a good education system.

Dr. Muhammad Memon initiated his discussion by saying that there is no relation between highly qualified teachers and student learning. Even teachers who are not very qualified can make a difference in student’s life through their experience. Based on the data he appreciated the nurturing of girls through education as compared to boys. In the end he mentioned that efforts should be made for educating teachers as they are the ones who are responsible for impacting the lives of students.

Dr. Muhammad Sulaiman Shaikh stated that the variation between the two groups, have and have not, have affected education system badly. He said to reduce the disparity, it is necessary to inculcate uniformity so that everybody gets a chance and access to quality education.

Nauman Siddiqui during his speech gave recommendation that general knowledge and moral consequences should also be included in the ASER in order to increase its qualitative approach.

Dr. Tanveer stated that poor health and low literacy rate of parents, particularly mothers, is responsible for the children’s dropout rate at schools.

Asghar Soomro also gave a brief speech and expressed his concerned for the need of education in the province of Sindh.

Naveed Ahmed Shaikh congratulated the ASER team for holding the event. He said that an increment in the educational budget will not solve the issue. He said that the system should accelerate its efforts in order to yield fruitful results. He ended his speech by saying that everyone including bureaucrats, teachers, parents and politicians should play their role in order to improve the status of education in Pakistan.

In the end Ajrak and bouquets were presented to the guests by the Sindh Education Foundation staff as a token of appreciation.

SEF conducts data cleaning activity of student profiles for PPRS schools

Promoting Private Schooling in Rural Sindh program is a key initiative under taken by Sindh Education Foundation in 2008-09.The PPRS Program was designed in collaboration with the World Bank to open schools under public private partnership in the marginalized areas of Sindh.

In the month of February, SEF conducted data cleaning activity of student profiles for PPRS schools in 10 districts of Sindh. The purpose of the activity was to verify the data collected in the year 2012 and 2013 for student enrollment, school assessment, funds disbursement to school operators and provision of materials to children.

Activity was held at the Field and Regional offices of SEF, where entrepreneurs were invited to participate in the data cleaning exercise. In order to minimize discrepancies in data validation, various sources including GR Register, Attendance Register and student profiles were checked for verification.