e-Newsletter, February 2023

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.

ASER Pakistan – Learning Quality in Katchi Abadis of Pakistan 2022 Launched!

Aser Katchi Abadis 2022 was launched in Peshawar. Mr. Graham Cass Head of Education and Health from Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) joined the launch virtually. Representatives from Government, Semi Government and Civil Society Organizations were also present at the Launching Ceremony.

The government made a considerable effort from 1985 to 1990 and in 2006 to address the issues of Katchi Abadis, but basic needs such as health, water, sanitation and education were left unaddressed.

Children living in these settlements have largely been ignored in large-scale educational initiatives and mainstream discourse for inclusive and equitable education in Pakistan. Given this context, it has been imperative to analyze and undertake the citizen led Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)1 survey in informal squatter settlements to ascertain the enrolment status of children residing in Katchi Abadis, schooling choices and how well or poorly do these children fare in learning in comparison to other children. This study reveals important insights as vital evidence for policymakers and planners. This study is a continuation of our earlier pilot conducted in the urban slums of Karachi and Lahore. This time, a different demographic was selected in two districts of Pakistan: Hyderabad from Sindh Province and Peshawar from Khyber Pakhtunkhawan (KP) Province of Pakistan.

Recovery For Foundational Learning, Flood Response 2022

80% of the Distribution of BTS and School Stabilization Kits Completed

14,500 students and 120 schools have been provided with Back to School, Dignity & School Stabilization kits in the flood-affected districts of Ghotki and Shikarpur. The kits will play a vital role to overcome the learning losses of the children and enable access to quality

Our CPB Camps in Full Swing Our CPB Camps in Full Swing

Young Girls and Boys are learning social and emotional skills at our CPB Camps, via play-based learning happening in our first cohort of in-school children at risk and out-of-school children (drop-outs & never enrolled) ages 6-13 years in the districts Ghotki and Shikarpur. We sincerely hope this will lead to new concepts and practices for positive learning practices.

Baseline Surveys for Cohort-II

We are excited! Our Cluster Coordinators are conducting a BASELINE SURVEY for our CPB/TARL Camps COHORT-II for our learning recovery camps for teaching at the right level (TARL), Chalo-Parho-Barho (CPB) over 55-60 days, for addressing foundational literacy and numeracy for 30,000 in-school children at risk and out of school children (drop-outs & never enrolled) ages 6-13 years in the districts Ghotki and Shikarpur. We hope this endeavor will lead to positive learning practices for children and be a conducive step towards community-rebuilding in the flood-affected areas.

Digital Literacy and Advocacy through social media - ITA Initiative

Idara e Taleem o Aagahi (ITA) provides exemplary services in the field of education. Keeping in mind the importance of Digital Safety and Literacy, ITA has taken a new initiative to educate the youth with digital safety and literacy skills. An enhanced version of Digital Safety and Literacy includes Digital Literacy and Advocacy, which empowers the youth to learn and implement advocacy campaigns. The purpose of this initiative is not just to provide the skill set but also to build up the skill set and see through its implementation. The Digital literacy and Advocacy module includes the very important elements such as Digital Safety, Literacy, Data, social media and its usage and a skillset to design and develop social media content using CANVA - a digital platform to design.

ITA has a very concerning client list which focuses on digital literacy. These clients are Telenor, META and now British Council. British Council as a client has availed the services of ITA to train its Volunteers on Digital Literacy and Advocacy through social media. ITA delivered a three days training and had a successful review of 9/10.

This initiative and the trainings under it are very compatible as to what is needed in this era and ITA will always be on the forefront to produce and deliver quality content in all aspects of education.

We Think Digital (WTD)

The ITA team has successfully completed the teachers and community trainings in all 10 districts of Gilgit Baltistan under the We Think Digital Program Phase 6. Starting from Gilgit, Hunza, Ghizer and Astore in Gilgit Region to Shigar, Khapalu, Kharmang and Skardu in Baltistan, the extensive training sessions sensitized the teachers and community on the importance of using digital technologies with safety and responsibility.

South-South Fellowship Programme

The South-South Programme is an initiative under ‘What Works Hub” that aims to provide a platform for education leaders from the Global South as Fellows of powerful cross-sectoral coalitions to exchange evidence and best practices for improving foundational learning.

The Fellowship is a high-end commitment towards bringing reforms for foundational learning in Pakistan through coalition building/networks, what works for FL, production of global public goods.

The Coalition has been working effortlessly around Foundational Learning since its conception in August 2022. The Fellows identified 5 villages/union councils in 4 provinces for collecting HH/School data for diagnostics and actions. Data has been collected from 4 villages in three provinces. We believe that all the Pakistan Fellows must now hold an in-person meeting to build consensus on actions based on the evidence collected thus far; deliberate on the future dynamics of our coalition and possible expansion, action plans, timelines and South-South agenda which will take our Coalition forward. A paper on PPPs in Sindh has been produced as an example of Public Good with a podcast.

In lieu of all this, on 4th February 2023, the second in-person meeting was held in Lahore. The meeting began at 10 am and ended at 3pm. The quorum was full as almost all the Fellows were able to join and insightful discussions were held. The meeting started with a round of introductions from the participants followed by an overview of the agenda of the meeting. Ms. Amna Javed presented the data sets compiled by ITA in the Village Clusters of Ali Pur Shumali, Muzaffargarh and Moomal Ji Maari, Ghotki.

The broader coalition objective of creating local groups/village councils was also presented by Ms. Baela Raza Jamil, with the discussion questions of how to go forward with it. The question of whether we can fix what is broken, how to provide a mandate for these local groups and how will it work and be different/innovative from any other village councils.

Pakistan Literacy Project (PLP)

Book Development Workshop

A four-day ‘Book Development Workshop’ for children’s books was held in Lahore from 1st to 4th February under the auspices of Room to Read (RtR) and Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) under its Pakistan Literacy Project (PLP) at Faletti's hotel Lahore. It was conducted by Mahesh Prathirathna of Room to Read and Rumana Husain of ITA.

It was the first time in the country that writers, illustrators, editors and art editors had come together from Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Swat and other places to collaborate on this project. The publishers who participated are: the National Book Foundation (NBF), Alif Laila Book Bus Society (ALBBS) and Maqbool Academy. Reviewers from the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB), Directorate of Curriculum Assessment & Research Sindh (DCAR), Sindh Textbook Board (STB), Sindhi Language Authority (SLA), and the National Curriculum Council Pakistan (NCC) also participated.

Library Visits

During the visit to Pakistan for the Book Development Workshop, Mahesh Prathirathna took out time to visit PLP established School Libraries and Classroom Corner Libraries in government partner schools. Mahesh interacted with the students and talked to them about their favorite books, he also discussed the importance and the impact of good books and libraries on children development and learning with the school teachers and principals.

Community Engagement for sustainability of the libraries

With the support of the District Education Authorities (DEA) Lahore and Bahawalpur, PLP teams have established Community Resource Groups led by Principal, teachers and the PLP team in each school. CRG serves as an official platform to engage with all parents and community members and provides a mechanism for regular and sustained contact with community members, and govt. officials for the improvement and sustainability of the libraries. Meetings are held once a month (sometimes twice a month) to discuss key issues and any challenges. Parents are made aware of the success stories to inspire them to encourage their children to read books. Teachers, parents, govt. officials and PLP team sit together in one place, read books and share ideas.

PLP Book stalls in jeep rally at Cholistan Bahawalpur from 10th to 12th February 2023

PLP Bahawalpur DPM along with her team arranged PLP Book stalls in the jeep rally. Coaches gave an orientation and conducted a reading activity session at this event. They sold PLP Books and handmade embroidery dresses including traditional and hand-woven scarfs, shoes, and decoration items. And motivated many visitors to the Book exhibition.

PLP Participation in the 4th International Conference on Early Childhood Development (ECD)

The PLP team participated in the 4th International Conference on Early Childhood Development (ECD) on the 22nd & 23rd February 2023 with the theme “Nurturing for Transforming Lives-The Power of Early Childhood Development” at the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad. PLP placed a stall on “Improving Reading Habits and Literacy Through Active Libraires, Making Reading Fun at Early Level “.

PLP organizing orientation on Reading activities across districts of Punjab

Continuing the orientation sessions, PLP team Bahawalpur organized a one-day orientation session in District Rajanpur in the presence of CEO and deputy DEO Rajanpur. The team conducted reading activities with a demonstration. CEO motivated and focused on establishing library corners, and making sure all reading activities in their Schools. They appreciated the ITA team for conducting a motivational and fruitful session during the library period. WhatsApp groups of all these Districts have been created and teachers who participated in the training sessions are sharing reading activities, which they are conducting in their Schools. Some Schools are buying Especially Book racks for displaying PLP books. In this regard, they are spending the school budget on establishing library corners.

Life Skills for Kids

Life Skills for Kids TVET center artisans are stitching ECE kits for schools effected from flood. LSK main stream students of secondary grades are attending tuition classes and computer classes regularly in LSK colony Campus. Order work is continuous in vocational center for school Uniform, cloth bags and dresses. More locations and communities were observed for LSK new ventures

LSK-ITA displayed the handicraft stall in Pakistan Literacy Festival, Peshawar Literature Festival and Faiz Anam Mela, Lahore.

Young Omang (MHM)

Young Omang has started on thematic area "Menstrual Hygiene Management". Consultants are working on MHM literature Desk review as well as identifying networks and available laws regarding MHM.

Pakistan Learning Festival (PLF)

Pakistan Learning Festival joined hands with various organizations and has been an important part of Amazing Festivals throughout the month of February, 23. Pakistan Learning Festival (PLF) with its aim to bring and incorporate literature and learning for children across Pakistan made it possible at all festivals to have children learning sessions and activities. PLF had its stall setup with ITA-PLF Publications and sessions for children at Pakistan Literature Festival (Lahore), Faiz International Festival, Peshawar Literature Festival. Amazing ITA Publications at stalls in Pakistan Literature Festival, Faiz International Festival and Peshawar Literature Festival had the attention of all the participants who admired and supported the initiative. Alongside amazing books for children, fun filled learning activities and games were also made available which had the audience of these festivals hooked to the ITA-PLF stalls.

Sessions organized and arranged by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) included storytelling, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), Psychosocial First Aid (PFA), Coping with anger issues through relaxation exercises, Life Skills through Digital Safety and Security, Social Media Ethics, learning through harmonies, what are Digital Stories? - How can you make them? Story chains with dictionaries, making a story and illustrations by active use of Dictionaries and arts and crafts activity sessions which included origami art, paper collage, mosaic art, thumb painting, painting/sketching/coloring and face painting along with interesting game activities based on Ludo, chess and carrom board.

The initiative aims to increase children’s access to books, inculcate the book-reading habit in the children and to create an amazing environment for the children to learn outside the classroom with fun filled activities.

Learning through Harmonies – Gain aur Seekhain

"Learning through Harmonies- Gain aur Seekhain" to promote SEL and foundational learning among school-going kids - a session was conducted by Idara e Taleem o Aagahi ITA with the students of Government Girls Elementary School Gull dera tehsil, Bahawalpur on the song 'Humain Kitab Chahye” produced/ recorded by Rakae Jamil.
The song Humain Kitab Chahye is aligned with the learning outcomes of the National Curriculum of Pakistan. Students enjoyed singing the song followed by the very interactive discussion and activities on the song.
Learning Through Harmonies - Gain Aur Seekhain session on song Intehsaab at Faiz International Festival.

Kitab Gari

Kitab Gari held numerous amazing sessions at different locations. These sessions were based on storytelling, reading activities, origami arts and crafts and games such as ludo, chess and carom board.

These sessions were held throughout the month of February, 23 at Children Library Complex, Faiz Festival, Karachi Literature Festival, Government College Middle School, Lahore, FCC Primary school, Lahore, 7UP Community, Lahore, GGP-Orangi Town No. 5, Karachi and Govt. Girls and Boys 7-D-3 Primary School, Anda Mor, North Karachi.

The initiative aims to increase children’s access to books, inculcate the book-reading habit in the children and to create an amazing environment for the children to learn outside the classroom with fun filled activities.

Young Author Awards (YAA)

Young Author Award 2022-2023 deadline was at the corner on 15th February 2023.

Safe Use of Internet Day

Celebration of Safe Use of Internet Day
ITA conducted sessions on the safe use of the internet for children in the flood-affected schools of Ghotki and Shikarpur under the ambit of “Recovery for Foundational Learning, Flood response in Sindh”. The session was conducted to spread awareness about cyberbullying and harassment, the revealing of personal information that can make a child vulnerable or open to fraud, accidental exposure to inappropriate images or content viruses, spyware, cat phishing scams, fake news, hate news, and trolling, etc
The aim of these sessions is to inculcate safe surfing practices in children from an early age!
ITA conducted sessions on the safe use of the internet for children in the flood-affected schools of Ghotki and Shikarpur under the ambit of “Recovery for Foundational Learning, Flood response in Sindh”. The session was conducted to spread awareness about cyberbullying and harassment, the revealing of personal information that can make a child vulnerable or open to fraud, accidental exposure to inappropriate images or content viruses, spyware, cat phishing scams, fake news, hate news, and trolling, etc
The aim of these sessions is to inculcate safe surfing practices in children from an early age!

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Celebration of International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11th, 2023
ITA celebrated the International Day of Women and Girls in Science celebrated on the 11th of February to promote the full and equal access and participation of women and girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields.
With women accounting for more than 50% of the world population, achieving gender parity in every field is pertinent. It is important to understand that the economic development of a country is closely linked to the participation of its female population in the workforce, which can be achieved by improving the access of girls to scientific and technological education by providing clear ideas of career opportunities.

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