Aasman Se Batein

Aasman Se Batein is a one year project (2021-2022) supported by Malala Fund, implemented by ITA in collaboration with the School Education Department. The program aims to tackle gender equality for extremely marginalized out of school adolescent girls through catchup education at post-primary levels, with life skills and psychosocial counselling.

Project Overview

Enabling most marginalized adolescent girls (aged 10-16) recover loss of learning and development through catchup education at post-primary levels, with life skills and psychosocial counselling

Objectives

Extending home-based remote/blended learning opportunities for 1500 marginalized adolescent girls at post primary levels (with a need-based support for upper primary) while schools are shut or open in shifts/phased approach
Ensuring that all 1500 girls supported through home-based remote learning return to school through community based advocacy campaigns
Equipping 30 public middle/high schools with necessary health, safety and hygiene (including menstrual hygiene) and ICT resources to ensure protection and safety of learners, especially girls at school
Organizing 3-months accelerated learning/Chalo Parho Barho (CPB) or TARL camps within the selected 30 schools to boost functional literacy and numeracy skills for 1200 girls (40 per school) who have never gone to school (with support to 400 in-school children at risk)
Building capacity of 90 teachers (3 per school) on gender responsive education, ed-tech life skills, arts/creativity/healing and therapeutic learning in the context of Covid 19
Providing psychosocial support and health counselling to 3000 adolescent girls (100 per school) through school based sessions on life skills with concurrent engagement of parents and teachers
Training 90 girls (3 per school) to become mentors/Malala Champions to support the campaign on girls’ education and lead training for the other girls from their communities in life skills, ed-tech learning, health/nutrition and financial literacy
Strong advocacy campaign (including e-publication of 60 outstanding illustrated stories authored by Malala Champions e-shared nationally and globally) to highlight achievements of the project and encourage debate around gender equality
Organizing workshops, e-seminars and roundtable dialogues events with influencers to sensitize stakeholders about girls’ education

Key strands

Primary and middle catch-up for out of school girls and ensuring their return to school
Functional Literacy and Numeracy/CPB camps for never enrolled girls
Life skills and psychosocial support for all girls enrolled in school from primary onwards

Direct Beneficiaries

Type of Learning	Duration	Beneficiary Target
Primary and middle catch-up	12 months	1500
Functional Literacy and Numeracy/CPB camps	3 months	1200
Life skills and psychosocial support	12 months (weekly sessions)	3000
Total		5700

Partner Public Schools List

Thirty public sector middle and high schools have been identified for the intervention in collaboration with District Education Authority of Bahawalpur district of South Punjab. The criteria for selection of schools include level of education, enrollment rate, dropout rate, need for support for resources and materials and geographic location (i.e. tehsils/UCs falling in rural/underserved areas). The selected list of partner public schools is attached below:

Sr#	Tehsil	Circle/Village	EMIS CODE	NAME OF SCHOOL	Type of school
1	AHMADPUR EAST TEHSIL	FAZAL ELAHI WALA	31210472	GGES AFZAL KHAN SHIKRANI	Elementary
2	AHMADPUR EAST TEHSIL	NAND PURA	31210028	GGHS BASTI LOHARAN	High
3	AHMADPUR EAST TEHSIL	NUNARI	31210522	GGES NUNARI	Elementary
4	AHMEDPUR EAST	CHAK NO 160 NP	31210070	GGES CHAK NO 160 NP	Elementary
5	AHMEDPUR EAST	RASOOL PUR	31210537	GGES RASOOL PUR	Elementary
6	AHMEDPUR EAST	KOTLA MUSA KHAN	31210063	GGES KOTLA MUSA KHAN	Elementary
7	AHMEDPUR EAST	NAUSHERA JADID	31210072	GGHS NAUSHERA JADID	High
8	AHMEDPUR EAST	MALKANI BASTI	31210378	GGES BASTI MALKANI	Elementary
9	AHMEDPUR EAST	LARAN	31210069	GGES BASTI LARAN	Elementary
10	BAHAWALPUR SADDAR TEHSIL	HAZARI WALA	31260098	GGES HAJI HAZOORI	Elementary
11	BAHAWALPUR SADDAR TEHSIL	CHANDRANI GHARBI	31260091	GGES BASTI LUQMAN	Elementary
12	BAHAWALPUR SADDAR TEHSIL	HAKRA	31260089	GGES BASTI KHAWAJGAN	Elementary
13	BAHAWALPUR SADDAR TEHSIL	PAKKA	31260100	GGES BASTI CHACHRAN	Elementary
14	BAHAWALPUR SADDAR TEHSIL	SULTAN ARAIN	31260096	GGES BASTI MALIK MEHBOOB	Elementary
15	BAHAWALPUR SADDAR TEHSIL	WAHI SHAH MUHAMMAD	31260489	GGES MUSTAFA CAMPUS	Elementary
16	BWP SADAR	CHAK NO 031/B C	31260084	GGES CHAK NO 031/B C	Elementary
17	BWP SADAR	CHAK NO 011/B C	31260072	Elementary CHAK NO 011/B C	Elementary
18	BWP SADAR	CHAK NO 038/B C	31260042	GGHS CHAK NO 038/B C	High
19	BWP SADAR	CHAK NO 035/B C	312060440	GGES CHAK NO 035/B C	Elementary
20	BWP SADAR	GOTH LAL	31260506	GGES GOTH LAL	Elementary
21	BWP SADAR	CHAK NO 033/B C	31260081	GGES CHAK NO 033/B C	Elementary
22	YAZMAN	CHAK NO 043/D B	31240356	GGES CHAK NO 043/D B	Elementary
23	YAZMAN	CHAK NO 036/D N B	31240021	GGHS CHAK NO 036/D N B	High
24	YAZMAN	CHAK NO 069/D B	31240369	GGES CHAK NO 069/D B	Elementary
25	YAZMAN	CHAK NO 098/D N B	31240051	GGHS CHAK NO 098/D N B	High
26	YAZMAN	CHAK NO 047/D B	31240363	GGES CHAK NO 047/D B	Elementary
27	YAZMAN	CHAK NO 050/D B	31240025	GGHS CHAK NO 050/D B	High
28	YAZMAN	CHAK NO 006/D N B	31240058	GGES CHAK NO 006/D N B	Elementary
29	YAZMAN	CHAK NO 044/D N B	31240053	GGES CHAK NO 044/D N B	Elementary
30	YAZMAN TEHSIL	CHAK BAGH WALA 23/D N	31240057	GGES CHAK BAGH WALA 23/D N	Elementary

Support Services for Partner Schools

Events

Project Launch

Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi officially launched the girl’s education program “Aasman Se Batein” in district Bahawalpur on 14 March 2021. At the launching ceremony of the program, ITA invited members of the District Education Authority, including CEO, DEOs, Deputy DEOs, AEOs and head teachers to unfold the scope of work as well as develop collective next steps for implementation of the project in the targeted schools.

Objectives of the Event

Establishing an understanding of the nuts and bolts of the project and how does this align with the govt. efforts to address learning losses in Bahawalpur
Helping field staff develop technical and rigorous understanding of the project design
Undertake a structured discussion with the school Head Teachers, District Education Officer (DEO female), and Deputy District Education Officials (DDEOs) on challenges of enrollment, retention and learning during Covid-19
Signing MOUs with the school Head Teachers and distribution of partnership certificates by the Chief Guest

Webinar | Girls Education #LeaveNoGirlBehind

To create partnerships and contribute to exchange of ideas, experiences and expertise with stakeholders to scale up what works in mitigating gender deprivation, ITA organized a consultative session on “Girls Education #LeaveNoGirlBehind” on 9 February 2021. The virtual session included key players in the EdPolicy space to discuss the growing need and focus on girl’s education. The high-profile panel included the Founder of Women’s Voices for Change Shad Begum, Human Right Activist, Samar Minallah Khan, Executive Director PAGE Fajer Rabia Pasha, Senior Education Advisor Foreign Commonwealth Development Office Saima Answer, Executive Director, Pakistan Youth Change Advocates Areebah Shahid, Senior Program Manager Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) Saba Saeed and Founder Science Fuse Lalah Rukh. The session was moderated by a social activist Maham Ali and led to an engaging talk with messages and recommendations from the panelists.

Webinar | Gender Equality in a COVID-19 World: Actions in Pakistan

The Covid Pandemic has made the world more unequal, pushing the vulnerable into more fragile conditions. Women and girls bear the brunt of such extreme conditions globally and locally. Households living in poverty or sliding into fragile conditions of living under less than US$ 2 per day are on the increase in Pakistan. Girls are the first to be withdrawn from schools and colleges, to offset income losses and instability, but at what cost? It compromises the future of multiple generations as young women plan not for themselves only, but collectively for families and generations What can be done to avert this tragedy is a critical question to ask of leaders who are in the business of visionary solutions, backed by evidence and embedded in systems.

To this end on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2021 Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA), building on its flagship programs on girls education, invited some incredible women leaders who have the vision to provide workforce and social protection options on the one hand and on the other opportunities for education, livelihoods, financial inclusion and entrepreneurship opportunities of a quality second to none. The high-profile panel included the Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and Chairman BISP Dr. Sania Nishtar, Founder, NEST/IO Ms. Jehan Ara, Chief Programmes Officer, Malala Fund Dr. Maliha Khan, Chairperson of Beaconhouse School System Ms. Nasreen Kasuri, Country Director, Sightsavers Ms. Munazza Gilani and MD of Lightstone Publishers, Pakistan Ms. Ameena Saiyid, OBE. The session was moderated by CEO ITA, Baela Raza Jamil to led an engaging talk with messages and recommendations from the panelists.

Enrollment Drive

As part of the enrollment campaigns, 1800 posters (with 17 unique designs), 90 streamers and 90 flexes have been prepared and printed to be displayed in prominent locations in and around the selected schools. Enrollment drive IEC material attached below