Existing School Support Program (ESSP)

The Existing School Support Program (ESSP) has been launched for supporting the existing schools of the private sector in the province. The ESSP proposes to reach out to the "Existing low cost private schools" already functioning in the rural, semi urban and urban areas of the province that are serving the poor communities and are either running on the philanthropic model i.e. not charging any fees from the students or these schools are charging a very nominal fee of PKR 200 per child per month or even lower.

This program aims at bringing these low-cost private schools under the Foundation's overall regulatory and financial support regime including monitoring and technical support with a view to ensure sustainability of these schools.
This is in view of the fact that many of these nominal fees charging schools remain vulnerable and are unable to provide quality education to students. Subsequent to contractual arrangements with the Foundation; the regulatory and quality assurance regime of the Foundation will not only ensure improvement in educational environment; overall school viability leading to greater retention of the existing students but will also help the Foundation to reach out to a larger cohort of the out- of- school children in the vicinity of these schools; thus facilitating in the overarching goals of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 and the constitutional obligations under Article 25-A.

PROGRAMMATIC FEATURES

The major features of the Program are:

• I. All the Existing Private Schools charging fee less than or equal to PKR 200 are eligible to be apply. Partners, once selected, will receive subsidy according to the following schedule and category:
  • a. PKR 500 per child per month for Primary Schools – (Grades I – V)
  • b. PKR 600 per child per month for Elementary Schools – (Grades I – VIII)
  • c. PKR 700 per child per month for Secondary Schools – (Grades I – X)

  SEF will also provide textbooks and learning materials to the students. The Foundation would also invest in the professional development of teachers/head teachers through capacity building.

• II. It is mandatory for the selected Partners to maintain a suitable Human Resource Mix of the faculty and the management team that is qualified and experienced, and can add value to the core processes of the academic unit. Salaries should be market based and minimum salary must be in accordance with the Government regulations.
• III. Selected school will not charge any tuition fee or additional amount in any form of cash and kind.
• IV. Schools should have adequate space for the existing students.
• V. The applicant must come up with some strategy to address the issue of other out-of-school children within the vicinity.
• VI. Subsidy will be linked to annual assessments of students. In cases where a school does not meet the minimum standards of educational attainments, SEF reserves the right to withdraw or limit the financial support, or to terminate the contract after adequate warnings as determined under the contract.
• VII. A school will be supported only if there is verifiable evidence for the need of the school in the proposed locality.
• VIII. Re-enrolment (children already registered in public schools) of students is prohibited.