e-Newsletter, March 2021
 
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) or the "Centre of Education and Consciousness" Public Trust, established in 2000, is a civil society organization focused on addressing the profound education crisis of Pakistan through action and policy research, service-delivery and advocacy. ITA has been a strong education champion across Pakistan with field programs covering complex aspects of: Access, Learning, Quality, Evaluating Low Cost Private Schools, Inclusion, Child Protection, Gender Justice and Education, Tolerance, Citizenship, Health and Hygiene Interventions, and Technical and Vocational Training Programs with government, communities and public and private school systems.
International Women’s Day  
Webinar: Gender Equality in a COVID-19 World
Idara-e-Taleem-o-AagahiThe Covid-19 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. On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2021, ITA, building on its flagship programs on girls education, invited some incredible women leaders to participate in a webinar titled 'Gender Equality in a COVID-19 World: Actions in Pakistan'. The panel of women leaders included Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation; Jehan Ara, Founder, The Nest I/O; Dr. Maliha Khan, Chief Programmes Officer, Malala Fund; Nasreen Mahmud Kasuri, Chairperson of Beaconhouse School System; Ameena Saiyid, OBE, MD of Lightstone Publishers and Munazza Gillani, Country Director, Sightsavers. The session was moderated by Baela Raza Jamil, CEO, ITA.
#ChooseToChallenge
Idara-e-Taleem-o-AagahiITA has been working to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality to create an inclusive world. ITA celebrated International Women’s Day 2021 throughout the month of March by carrying out the #ChooseToChallenge campaign to raise voice for an equal world for women.
We Choose to Challenge inequality and gender disparities in Education.
Aurat March  
ITA teams participated in the Women’s Day March (Aurat March) across Pakistan.
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi
Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)  
ASER 2021 - Measuring Learning Losses Due to Covid-19
ASER 2021 aims to measure the learning losses due to Covid-19 and schools shut down in 2020. A household level survey is planned to be conducted in 16 rural districts of Pakistan, targeting a sample of 9600 households. Provincial trainings were conducted in Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi. Master Trainers from all 16 districts participated in the training sessions. District trainings are underway. The survey will be conducted in the first week of April.
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi
GEM Report
The ASER Pakistan Team is working on the GEM Report 2021-22 titled "Non-State Actors in Education". The report will explore in detail the emergence and prevalence of non-state actors in the provision, regulation, financing and management at different levels of education: primary and secondary, higher education, special education, early childhood education and technical and vocational training. The team will review data, evidence and policy documents while employing a mixed methods approach to map out the scale and scope of these actors and delve deeper into the mechanisms through which non-state actors are effectively dominating the education landscape.
TCF Schools Assessment
Idara-e-Taleem-o-AagahiThe research and evaluation team at ITA is conducting ASER survey in 94 schools of The Citizens Foundation (TCF) – 54 from 6 districts of Punjab and 40 from 4 districts of Sindh. Data collection and data entry has completed. Data analysis and report writing is to be completed in April.
Aasman Se Batein  
ITA officially launched the girls’ education program ‘Aasman Se Batein’ in Bahawalpur district on 14 March, 2021. Aasman Se Batein is a one-year project supported by Malala Fund, implemented by ITA in collaboration with the School Education Department, Punjab.
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi
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. 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.
Siyani Sahelian  
Idara-e-Taleem-o-AagahiITA participated in 4th Pakistan Development Policy Series 2021: "Fighting Poverty by getting Girls and Boys to Learn" organized by World Bank on 18 March, 2021. The Pakistan Development Policy Series 2021 involved discussion and debate on key reform areas critical to Pakistan’s economic, social and development growth. Focusing on girls’ and boys’ education, the fourth webinar invited leading specialists and representatives from government, academia, and civil society to explore how Pakistan can better address the constraints to girls’ and boys’ education to guarantee free access to pre-tertiary education. ITA shared specific inputs that impacted girls’ achievement and recommendations on how to tackle the challenges of Out of School Girls in Pakistan based on the experience and learning from Siyani Sahelian Project.
Children’s Literature Festival (CLF)  
Young Author Award 2020-21
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi
CLF announced the results of Young Author Award 2020-21. YAA serves as a positive platform for young writers in Pakistan (aged 10-18 years) to showcase their creativity and critical thinking. YAA 2020-21 received an overwhelming response from all over Pakistan, with children participating enthusiastically from all the provinces of Pakistan.
Digi Kutub Khanay (DKK)
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi
ITA, in collaboration with Tech Scape, successfully launched Digit Kutub Khanay (DKK) in Gilgit Balistan.
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi
ITA and Tech Scape conducted the first DKK session in Hunza at Govt. Girls School Karimabad on 16 March, 2021. The school management and the community appreciated these collective efforts and also requested future sessions.
Karakorum Kutub Khanay reaches out to children of Hopper Nagar
Idara-e-Taleem-o-AagahiTech Scape in collaboration with ITA-CLF conducted another exciting DKK session at Prince Barkat Foundation, at Nagar Khass. The students participated in different activities such as reading books, painting, playing board games, and digital fun learning games on tablets.
Pakistan Literacy Project  
The PLP team achieved various targets in March. The repair and maintenance work of library rooms was completed at all 20 schools in Lahore and Bahawalpur along with monitoring visits and satisfactory report from the schools. At least 69% of the total books have been leveled. A five-day Library Management Training on habits of reading, responsibilities of stakeholders, furniture arrangements, book leveling and how to create a child friendly library was held from March 15-20, 2021. 84% books were received from different publishers and stored at warehouse aligned in bundles ready to be disseminated to each school. The PLP team also actively participated in the Women's Day March.
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi
Safe School Reopening Pilot (SRP)  
Idara-e-Taleem-o-AagahiSRP is being piloted in 20 schools under Federal Directorate of Education, identified by MoFE&PT and JICA with the goal ‘To create a scalable, fully-costed pilot for safe and healthy school reopening aligned to the MoFE&PT priorities, community engagement and evidence-based practices. SRP implementation strategy was developed on evidence generated through baseline assessment data. The delivery of Protective materials and Equipment, setting-up of fabricated isolation room in three schools, fabricated toilets in nine schools, repair works under WASH facilities in all 20 schools, and major renovation of isolation rooms in two schools, has been achieved. The Vigilance committees have been formed in all 20 schools. The midline assessment of the pilot is to be conducted in April.
Safe Internet and School Outreach Program (SISOP)  
Safe Internet and School Outreach Program is an initiative of Telenor in partnership with ITA to tackle the new age issue of digital safety. This program aims to provide free training to students of ages 3-22 and teachers about how to use Information Communication Technology and the internet in a safe manner. The interactive session is designed so that students become aware of threats involved in interacting digitally with the world and are able to identify and protect themselves effectively. The program has the aim of training 200,000 children and 7000 teachers in 2021 and has already trained 18,710 children and 289 teachers in the first quarter.
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi
Life Skills for Kids (LSK)  
LSK students are actively taking part in a two-month Science Fuse course by performing different experiments in class and in field for practical exposure. Although classes have stopped due to third wave of Covid-19 but LSK staff has been visiting field areas and communities so learning continues for children. Students also participated in World Recycling Day by making different items with used and waste material.
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi
LSK teams celebrated International Women’s day by acknowledging community females by organizing special events in campuses. Students also expressed solidarity with the country in accordance with Pakistan Day. To teach self-defense techniques to girls, a special fitness session was arranged for LSK students by a renowned fitness master.
Felicitations to Richard Geary upon receiving Sitara-e-Khidmat  
Idara-e-Taleem-o-AagahiITA is thrilled that Richard Geary, Founder and Executive Director FESF Pakistan, has been conferred with Sitara-e-Khidmat by the Pakistan government for his services to the deaf community. ITA extends its felicitations to Richard Geary at this very well deserved recognition!
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi   Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi