Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA), or the “Centre of Education and Consciousness” Public Trust, was established in 2000. With humble beginnings in Lahore, ITA has expanded programs (capacity building, services, research, advocacy and policy influence) across the country with 23 offices and 131 staff. It is certified by the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) and has a tax-exempt status.
The mission of ITA is to advocate and demonstrate universal access to quality learning and standard setting in education as a comprehensive inclusive learning experience for human evolution. Since 2000, ITA has been engaged in the education sector through a rights-based partnership approach to improve quality and governance of education from school to state level, ensuring inclusive and gender mainstreaming approaches and evidence-based advocacy for policy influence (mainly within the public-sector space). It emerged both as a response to the deeply felt crises of learning and systems by its original sponsors, and also to the government’s demand to help improve failing public sector schools.
Core Values
Empathy
Hope
Empowerment
ILMpact – Service Delivery
Overview
The ILMpact program specifically targets children with disabilities, children from religious minorities, and other marginalized groups in selected districts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The program aims to achieve two major outcomes: first, to improve teaching quality and learning outcomes, and second, to increase access to education for girls and marginalized children. The project will be implemented over a duration of three years, and the FCDO has selected a unique consortium of partners for this purpose.
The ILMpact initiative includes five workstreams:
- WS-I: Learning and access pathways for Out-of-School Children (OOSC)
- WS-II: Safe, welcoming and inclusive school eco-systems enabling RL
- WS-III: Personal Agency
- WS-IV: Prevention and awareness raising
The program aims for a long-term impact by improving inclusion and learning outcomes. This is achieved by strengthening provincial education systems through technical assistance. Success is measured by the enrolment of girls and boys in school and by foundational learning levels, particularly in marginalized districts.
ITA’s Role in ILMpact:
The ILMpact project aims to benefit 64,000 out-of-school children (OOSC) and 88,000 in-school girls through direct implementation activities. ITA serves two roles: as a Consortium partner and as an Implementation partner. In this capacity, ITA will provide technical support, & build capacity, content creation and implement training programs, accelerated learning programs and remedial learning. This includes developing training materials, learning material, identifying out-of-school and in-school girls, and creating tools and assessment materials.
ITA’s role in supporting out-of-school children focuses on inclusivity and equitable access. Among the target group, 55% will be girls with 10% of children having disabilities and 20% representing religious minorities. To achieve these goals, ITA will implement foundational and/or accelerated/remedial learning interventions that include life skills training to ensure school readiness. The intended outcome is to facilitate the mainstream enrolment of these children in schools.
ITA’s role in remedial learning focuses on supporting at-risk girls in grades 3 to 5. To ensure inclusivity, 10% of these girls will be those with disabilities, and 20% will come from religious minorities. This intervention aims to address foundational learning gaps and provide remedial programs that help these girls from dropping out and increases learning levels.
Consortium Partner:
ITA is finalized and aligned curriculum and teacher training materials for all learning solutions and ensuring contextual relevance through collaboration with provincial education departments in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. ITA is also leading capacity-building efforts by conducting six high-quality Training of Trainers (TOT) sessions for implementing partners to maintain quality standards during implementation.
- ITA will be responsible for the approval of content with regards to the academic learning streams, namely ECE/Kachi, Catch Up Learning Programme, and Remedial Program.
- ITA will be delivering training of trainers along with other partners to downstream partners and government officials for each learning stream. A lead trainer group will be formed including representatives of ITA, Sightsavers, SDPI, British Council, PAMS etc. This Lead Trainer group will then deliver training on the learning solution to Master Trainers. These trainers will be nominated by the government as well as downstream partners. There will be a separate TOT for each stream and each province with refresher approximately every six months. The Master Trainers will then go to their respective districts and train their teachers with refresher approximately every six months.
Implementing Partner:
In addition to its technical assistance, ITA is undertaking direct service delivery in two districts. The service delivery encompasses activities across all workstreams with the following outcome targets:
- Identify, engage, and enrol OOSC in mainstream schools.
- Improve learning outcomes of at-risk girls through remedial learning programs within schools.
- Implement and track outcomes through School Leadership, DOSTI, Girls Club, and STEAM Club programs.
Grade-wise Interventions:
The ILMpact program provides structured learning pathways for out-of-school children (OOSC), and recent dropouts based on their age and learning level. Children will be identified through a household beneficiary survey. These programs are designed to ensure school readiness, facilitate enrolment and mainstreaming, and prepare students for board examinations at the matric level. Details for each program are provided in the table below.
Stream | Katchi + grades 1 & 2 | Catch up/Summer Camp | Remedial Program | ||
Pathway | ECE | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | TaRL (Grade 3-5) | Grade 3-5 |
Overarching Objective | Access and Learning | Access | Access | Access and Learning | Learning |
Duration | 6 months (2025-26) and 8 months (2026-2027) | Grade 1 will focus on direct enrolment of children only | Grade 2 will focus on direct enrolment of children only | 02 Months | 6 months (2025-26) and 8 months (2026-2027) |
ILMpact Support | Training of teachers | Support in reducing school cost (provision of bags and stationery) to newly enrolled children supported by ILMpact | Support in reducing school cost (provision of bags and stationery) to newly enrolled children supported by ILMpact | Foundational Literacy and Numeracy through TaRL Approach + Life Skills & Sports Activities | Foundational Literacy and Numeracy through TaRL Approach |
Who Gets Enrolled? | Never Enrolled Children 3–5-year-olds- direct enrolment in schools | Drop out or Never Enrolled- 5-7 years old – direct enrolment in schools | Drop out or Never Enrolled Children 7-9 years old – direct enrolment in schools | Drop Out Children Ages 9-11 (Grades 3-5) | In school children (Grades 3-5) |
Assessments | Children will be assessed at the end of the intervention. Assessment tool will be based on numeracy, literacy and SEL component | No assessment | No Assessment | Children will be assessed at the beginning, middle and end of the intervention. Assessment tool will be based on numeracy, and literacy. | Children will be assessed at the beginning, middle and end of the intervention. Assessment tool will be based on numeracy, and literacy. |
Result | Promotion to Grade 01 and continued formal schooling | Enrolment and Retention in Grade 1 | Enrolment and Retention in Grade 2 | Enrolment in Formal Schools (Grades 3-5) | Enhancement in Reading and Numeracy |
Pictorial View
