0 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project

Quarterly Progress Report: January-March, 2015

Sponsoring USAID Office: USAID/Pakistan Cooperative Agreement Number: AID-391-A-13-00005 Grantee: The International Rescue Committee (IRC) Date of Submission: May 15, 2015

The authors’ views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) or the United States Government

1 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Table of Contents Acronyms ...... 3 Executive Summary...... 5 Program Activities...... 7 Component 1: Improved Classroom Learning Environment For Reading ...... 7 Component 2: Improved Policies And Systems For Reading ...... 29 Component 3: Community Based Support for Reading ...... 33 Gender ...... 35 Communications and Reporting ...... 37 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) ...... 39 Performance against proposed indicators ...... 41 Issues and Challenges ...... 54 Annexures ...... 56

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Acronyms

AJK Azad Jammu and Kashmir AIOU Allama Iqbal Open University ALBBS Alif Laila Book Bus Society BPS Basic Pay Scale BoC Bureau of Curriculum CE Cambridge Education CAG Content Advisory Group CIP College Improvement Plan CSO Civil Society Organization CSR Corporate Social Responsibility CRP Complementary Reading Program DSD Directorate of Staff Development EA Equal Access EDF The Education and Diversity Foundation EGRA Early Grade Reading Assessment EDF Education and Diversity Foundation DoE Department of Education FATA Federally Administered Tribal Areas GB Gilgit Baltistan GBEAC Gilgit-Baltistan Education Assessment Centre GCET Government College of Elementary Teachers GECE Government Elementary College of Education GRC Grants Review Committee HEC Higher Education Commission HRIS Human Resource Information System ICT Islamabad Capital Territory IRA International Reading Standard IRM Institute of Rural Management IRC International Rescue Committee KP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa MDC Material Development Committee MoU Memorandum of Understanding MRC Material Review Committee MSI Management Systems International NACTE National Accreditation Council of Teacher Education NCRC National Curriculum Review Committee NGO Non-Government Organization NOC No Objection Certificate PEAS Punjab Education Assessment System PEC Punjab Education Commission PITE Provincial Institutes for Teacher Education PMP Performance Monitoring Plan PRP Pakistan Reading Project RFA Request for Applications

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RIS Reading Improvement Strategy RITE Regional Institute of Teacher Education SGP Small Grants Program STEDA Sindh Teacher Education Development Authority TIG Teacher Inquiry Group ToR Terms of Reference TRG Technical Reference Group TTI Teacher Training Institute UO University of Oregon

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Executive Summary

The USAID funded Pakistan Reading Project (PRP), implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and its partners (Creative Associates, World Learning and Institute of Rural Management), is a five-year project with the objective to support the provincial and regional departments of education (DoE) throughout Pakistan to improve reading skills of children in grades one and two. The project will achieve this goal through three distinct but interrelated components that will work in synergy to affect the quality of primary education: teacher education, policy reforms, and community support for reading in Pakistan.

In this reporting period, the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project (PRP) successfully completed the Material Review Committee (MRC) formation process in all provinces/regions of Pakistan. As previously reported during the last quarter, MRCs in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) were approved. This was followed by approval for Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Sindh in this quarter. PRP organized a two-day national level MRC meeting, which was attended by 21 participants (16 male, 5 female) from all provinces/regions (except FATA due to administrative reasons). They reviewed materials, including workbooks, big books, scripted lesson plans and a flash card set, developed by the project, provided feedback, and then suggestions were incorporated. Similarly, eight provincial/regional MRC meetings - one each in AJK, Balochistan, ICT, KP, GB, and Sindh, and two in FATA, were organized. The MRC members from FATA could not participate in the meeting at national level therefore an additional meeting was organized in FATA. The MRC that will review Sindhi material will be constituted this quarter.

Five Urdu manuals were finalized for face-to-face trainings this quarter, which are part of PRP’s continuous professional development (CPD) model. Following the finalization of 10 teacher inquiry group (TIG) modules for year 1, we prepared a draft outline of TIG modules for year 2 meetings. Material developed for teaching reading was designed in three parts, each comprising eight academic weeks. Material, including workbooks, scripted lesson plans, big books, decodable readers and flash cards set, for the first eight academic weeks was finalized and sent for printing and will be delivered to schools in the next quarter.

We started distributing TIG modules, scripted lesson plans and manuals for face-to-face trainings this quarter to 434 mentors, 93 academic supervisors, 5,408 teachers, 23 reading specialists, and 1,385 head teachers in all provinces/regions, except FATA. The distribution of TIG material is still in progress and a consolidated number will be reported in the next quarter.

In the previous quarter, Cohort 1 TIGs were formed using the EMIS data, followed by field verifications. During this quarter, we finalized 874 TIGs in consultation with teachers during face-to-face trainings. A five-day training was organized for 23 reading specialists (15 male, 9 female) in all provinces/regions, except FATA. A six-day session trained 434 mentors (240 male, 194 female). A three-day PRP Orientation was facilitated for 93 academic supervisors (59 male, 34 female). 1,385 head teachers (771 male, 614 female) were oriented about their role in TIGs. 1,554 head teachers were trained in a five-day face-to-face teacher training, which trained a total 5,408 teachers (2911 male, 2497 female).

PRP successfully developed the first version of virtual mentoring videos (VMVs), which were shared with teachers for their review and feedback. A short messaging service (SMS) system

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(which supports Urdu, Sindhi and English languages), and 25 audio phonic lessons were developed for helping teachers to teach the pronunciation of Urdu letters.

86 faculty members (47 male, 39 female) from 27 Teacher Training Institutes (TTIs) were given training on practicum, while 142 faculty members (77 male, 65 female) from 25 TTIs participated in semester orientation sessions organized by PRP. In collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan, a reading curricula outline development workshop was organized in which 22 (7 male, 15 female) teacher educators from universities, elementary colleges and apex institutions participated.

PRP works with 3,649 (1,216 male, 2,333 female or 61% female) scholarship recipients. So far, 688 students (668 ADE and 20 B.Ed. – Hons.) have received complete scholarship installments for their teacher education degree programs. The disbursement of the remaining 2,682 scholarships is in process.

In order to justify and solicit the required approvals from the education departments through PRP’s steering committees, we developed an assessment tool this reporting period and administered it in the assessment units of AJK, GB, FATA, Balochistan and KP. Based on the initial feedback received on this tool, we will develop a situation analysis report during the next quarter and submit it to the steering committees for their comments and approval.

PRP followed up with the education departments of all regions/provinces, not only to seek the nominations of officials, but also to complete the necessary formalities for the Study Tour to Egypt planned for April 2015.

We identified two thematic areas (gender and children with special needs) in consultation with IRC’s technical unit for the solicitation of the Community Reading Program (CRP) grants. These thematic areas were shared with USAID and will be finalized following their feedback.

Further to tender advertisements published during the previous quarter for purchase mobile libraries, we procured four mini trucks (two for Karachi and two for Islamabad). Due to challenges obtaining licenses and approvals to drive the vehicles, the mini trucks remain in storage.

PRP organized the inauguration of the Department of Teacher Education building at the University of Karachi this quarter. Ambassador of the United States, Richard G. Olson and Sindh’s Senior Minister for Education, Nisar Ahmad Khuhro inaugurated the newly constructed building.

The following sections of the report present details of the activities undertaken by PRP during this reporting period.

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Program Activities

This section of the quarterly progress report presents key PRP programmatic activities in accordance with the currently approved work plan. These activities fall under the three core components of the Pakistan Reading Project:

1. Improved classroom learning with an explicit focus on reading 2. Improved management in public education systems and low-cost private schools 3. National culture of reading re-established

Component 1: Improved Classroom Learning Environment For Reading

The core objective of component 1 is to improve the classroom learning environment for reading by providing skills to teachers through high quality education, training and continuous professional development, support improvements to pre-service education, provide a model for the professional development of in-service teachers and introduce new instructional methods, materials and resources to support improved reading outcomes for children in primary grades. Throughout this component, PRP will support the efforts of the Government of Pakistan in each province/region to achieve these goals. The project will also focus its efforts towards building the capacity of provincial/regional and district government stakeholders to ensure sustainable improvement in the quality of reading instruction and assessment in Pakistan.

The following sections present details on component 1 activities undertaken during this reporting quarter.

Sub-component 1.1: Teacher skills improved through quality education, training and continuous professional development.

In order to improve teachers’ skills, the project is undertaking a number of activities, which include the development of reading focused material for teachers and students; face-to-face trainings, and on-going support though various means.

The process of material development began with a review of the already available resources in the market. From that review, a list of frequently used letters and words was identified and a scope and sequence was developed. The project’s material development team then created reading focused material for grade 1, i.e., flash cards, workbooks, lesson plans, and big books. (Decodable readers are also included as part of the workbook and leveled readers will be included for grade 2 next year). This material was then reviewed by the material development committees (MRCs), and their suggestions were incorporated in the final material, which after approval, was finalized for printing. The material for grade 1 has been developed initially for the first eight academic weeks. Material will continue to be developed and finalized following the same process for two more eight-week sets for grade 1 and then three sets (each one for eight academic weeks) for grade 2. It is a challenging task, both since there is a dearth of material available in Urdu (and regional languages), and also due to the involvement of a large number of stakeholders, approval processes, and printing and distribution of large volumes of material all within a time-constrained academic calendar. However, the project has managed to meet the targets for the first cohort and aims to follow a similar strategy and process for the rest.

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A series of nationwide trainings includes face-to-face trainings for teachers, head teachers, academic supervisors, reading specialists and mentors. Continuous professional development is offered in the form of Teacher Inquiry Group (TIGs) and on-going support through coaching and various digital resources, such as training videos, SMS, and provision of tablets. 10 TIG modules have been developed to streamline the TIG meetings.

The following sections present details on component 1 activities undertaken during this reporting quarter.

1.1.1.1 Formation of Material Review Committees (MRCs)

When, under the revised technical approach, the focus of the project shifted towards Urdu, Sindhi and Pashto languages, the material development committees (MDCs) were re- notified as material review committees (MRCs). Each MRC comprises language experts from apex institutions, bureaus of curriculum and textbook boards to actively participate with PRP in the materials review process. The role of the MRCs is to ensure that all learning and teaching materials are specifically designed to provide practice in enhancing student reading skills, align them with teacher in-service training modules, and ascertain that they are developed within the context of the Pakistani education system, students and teachers.

PRP initiated the re-notification process in all provinces/regions and received formal approvals for MRCs from AJK, FATA and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) in the previous quarter. During this quarter, we received formal approval for MRCs from Balochistan, Gilgit- Baltistan (GB), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Sindh. Thus, we accomplished the formation of MRCs for review of Urdu material in all provinces/regions (except Punjab).

1.1.1.2 Material Review Committee Meetings

All the material review committees are invited to review the material developed by the project either at the provincial/regional, or at the national level. During this reporting period, a national level material review meeting was organized. This two-day MRC was attended by 21 participants (16 male, 5 female) from all the provinces/regions, except FATA where the government did not allow MRC members to participate Photograph 1: National MRC meeting held in Islamabad in this meeting for certain administrative reasons. The participants reviewed material developed by the project for the first eight weeks, which included lesson plans, workbooks, big books and a flash cards set. Though it was a challenging task in such limited time, the participants were able to review the material thoroughly against a pre-defined checklist. They identified certain areas for improvement, for instance, changing some words and illustrations, and suggested ways to improve the language and quality of the material, for example, adding more instructions in the lesson plans to make them more user-friendly. The material was then revised in light of

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the feedback received from the material review committee. The MRC approved all the above-mentioned material.

1.1.1.3 Development of Urdu Training Manuals

Face-to-face training is an integral part of PRP’s continuous professional development (CPD) model. These trainings are organized at different levels for different stakeholders involved in the CPD process including, project staff (district program managers, school support associates) reading specialists, mentors, teachers, head teachers and academic supervisors. PRP oriented participants about its scope of work, proper use of the material provided by the project and their specific role in the CPD model. The project has used a cascade model for face-to-face trainings of teachers. Therefore, developed manuals helped training facilitators to maintain uniformity in the message across all the provinces/regions.

During this reporting period, PRP finalized five manuals for stakeholders, one each for the face-to-face training of reading specialists, mentors, teachers, head teachers and academic supervisors. The participants, in the face-to-face trainings, liked the contents of the manuals; however, they also identified some areas of improvement. For instance, some activities require more time than what is was currently allocated; a few of the instructions for the facilitators needed more clarification; and, more deliberation needed to go into specifying the exact role of head teachers and academic supervisors in improving reading. PRP is in the process of collecting the comments of the stakeholders from all the provinces/regions and will make the suggested improvements in the training manuals in time for the next round of face-to-face trainings.

1.1.1.4 Development of Urdu TIG Modules

Teacher Inquiry Group (TIG) modules are like workbooks that guide teachers through the PRP professional development course during the TIG meetings as well as between meetings. Each module focuses on one concept of a reading related topic. Each module for year 1 presents a component skill of reading, provides practical activities that teachers can use to teach and assess that component skill, and gives teachers time to practice. Additional guidance is offered for teachers to apply this learning in their classrooms. In previous quarters, the project finalized 10 modules for year 1 TIG meetings.

During the reporting quarter, we initiated the process for the development of TIG modules for year 2 meetings. For this purpose, a draft outline has been prepared and will be finalized in the next quarter.

1.1.1.5 Development of Urdu Scripted Lesson Plans for Grades 1 and 2

Planning and implementing explicit instructional lessons is important for student achievement and teacher support. Planning a quality reading lesson can be challenging for teachers who lack skills and face time constraints to develop a good lesson plan. PRP is providing guides to teachers that include scripted lesson plans to be used each day to help them deliver engaging lessons based on best practice. These plans aim to assist the teachers in delivering a high-quality reading lesson every day. They also provide teachers guidance on how to help students complete the workbook activities and use the big books.

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The project will produce the scripted lesson plans for grade 1 in three parts, each comprising eight weeks. During this quarter, we completed the scripted lesson plans for the first eight academic weeks for grade 1. The printing process has been initiated and the printed material will be delivered to schools in the next quarter.

Photograph 2: A sample of the Urdu scripted lesson plan

1.1.1.6 Development of Urdu Workbooks (Activity Books) for Grade 1 and 2 Students

As students learn the basic skills for reading, they need multiple avenues to practice and solidify their understanding. In Pakistan, a majority of grade 1 and 2 students lack materials to practice and improve their reading skills. Generally, only a textbook is used for this purpose. To address this issue, PRP is developing workbooks for grade 1 and 2 students that include interactive and engaging activities. These books include activities for identifying and writing the lesson’s target letters, matching rhyming words, identifying letter-sound correspondence, writing words, studying the lesson’s short text, and reviewing new vocabulary. Grade 2 workbooks will allow students to apply the more advanced phonics and decoding skills they will learn in the daily lesson, as well as reinforce comprehension strategies and new vocabulary.

Like scripted lesson plans, the workbooks for grade 1 will also be produced in three parts, each comprising eight weeks. During this quarter, we completed the workbook for the first eight academic weeks for grade 1. Like all the other material developed by the project team, these too were shared with the MRCs. Changes and suggestions, like improvement in text or illustrations, were incorporated and after approval, the material was sent to the printer. The workbooks will be delivered to schools in the next quarter.

1.1.1.7 Development of Urdu Decodable Reader Package

Decodable readers are considered an important aspect of a reading program. They help students to use and develop correct print to sound phonologic processing skills. Students or emerging readers who are in the initial stage of developing their reading skills will begin with decodable books in order to practice decoding and blending words with specific letters and phonological patterns.

The decodable readers have been developed by the project’s material development team and are included in the workbook. Each lesson in the workbook has decodable text with supporting illustrations. All the illustrations have been specially created by an illustrator who worked in close coordination with the material development team. Like other teaching and learning materials, the decodable readers will also be produced in three parts as part of the Grade 1 workbooks, each part comprising eight weeks. During this quarter, we developed the decodable readers for the first eight academic weeks for grade 1. The printing process has been initiated and the material will be delivered to schools in the next quarter.

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1.1.1.8 Development of Urdu Leveled Reader Package

Like decodable readers, leveled readers also help children to practice reading skills independently, improve vocabulary, and develop comprehension and fluency. These books are usually based on word count, word length, sentence structure, and story composition, and are appropriate for students at different stages of reading skills development. Early leveled readers tend to be simple and straightforward with the support of pictures and a few words, while those at higher levels may have verbs in different tenses, be of different genres, and contain more words overall.

Like decodable readers, leveled readers will also be developed as part of the workbook, based on the scope and sequence, for Grade 2 students in the next year.

1.1.1.9 Development of Urdu Flash Card Set Including: Alphabet Cards, Syllable Cards, Word Picture Cards and Word Cards

Flash cards are considered an effective teaching resource to help teachers direct children’s attention to the target letter, word, or image. They can be used in multiple ways to introduce letters, create stories, review frequent words, play educational games, and so on. Children can be helped to make connections between letters and pictures, words and pictures, making the vocabulary meaningful to them. Photograph 3: Flash cards developed by PRP We developed the text (including letters, syllables and frequent words) for flash cards with respect to scope and sequence developed for grade 1. Supporting illustrations were created by an illustrator. Like all the other material, the flash cards were also reviewed by the MRCs. The suggestions regarding changes in some words and illustrations were incorporated in the final version.

During the quarter, we initiated the printing process for a set of flash cards for grade 1. It will be distributed to schools in the next quarter.

1.1.1.10 Development of Urdu Big Books for Grade 1 and 2

Big books are used to practice reading aloud by teachers in classrooms. The size of the books helps teachers to engage children actively in the reading process, where the children can see the pictures and text in the books from a distance while sitting around the teacher during the read aloud activity.

The content for big books is aligned with the scope and sequence and recycles words used in the decodable readers. They are developed in conjunction with the development of workbooks and lesson plans to ensure coherence across the materials package. Each big book offers specific guidance for the teacher to use the story to reinforce the component skills of reading over the course of repeated readings throughout the week. There will be 24 big books, one for each week aligned with the workbook and scripted lesson plans.

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During this quarter, we developed eight big books for grade 1 to be used in the first 8 academic weeks of the school calendar. The printing process has been initiated and they will be distributed to schools in the next quarter as part of the complete package.

1.1.1.11 Provincial Urdu MRC Meetings to Review Material

MRCs have been constituted by the respective provincial/regional authorities to participate with PRP in the materials review process. The role of the MRCs is to

ensure all learning and teaching materials are specifically Photograph 4: Big books developed by PRP designed to provide practice in enhancing student reading skills, aligning it with teacher in-service training modules, and are developed within the context of the Pakistani education system, students and teachers.

During this reporting period, 8 provincial/regional MRC meetings were held, one in each province/region to review the material. In FATA, we had to organize two meetings, as they could not participate in the meeting held at the national level. During these meetings, material was reviewed against a checklist, (please see annexure 1), developed in consultation with the MRCs, changes and suggestions made were incorporated and the material was then endorsed by the committees for use in face-to-face trainings and in schools.

1.1.1.12 Formation of Sindhi Material Review Committee

During this reporting period, MRC for review of Sindhi material was notified by the Secretary Education, Sindh.

1.1.1.13 Professional Review of Sindhi Material Review Committee

The meeting for review of Sindhi material could not be held as per plan because the material being developed in Sindhi (modules, workbooks, decodable and leveled readers, flash cards, scripted lesson plans and examples in the training manuals) was not ready for review. The hiring process for the Sindhi material development team took longer than expected, due to difficulty in finding the right candidates. Two Sindhi material development managers have now been hired and will be on-board from the first week of April to support Sindhi material development to start cohort 2 in Sindh as per schedule.

1.1.1.14 Development of Sindhi Training Manuals

The manuals to be used in face-to-face trainings of reading specialists, mentors, teachers, head teachers and academic supervisors are ready in Urdu and the same manuals will be used during face-to-face trainings in Sindhi districts with Sindhi examples.

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1.1.1.15 Adaptation of Sindhi TIG Modules

The project is in the process of finalizing the contract with the “SynPhony” expert to help in analyzing the Sindhi word data bank through “SynPhony” to develop the scope and sequence for Sindhi. The process to develop lesson plans, workbooks, and big books will be initiated after the finalization of the Sindhi scope and sequence.

The adaptation of TIG modules and other material in Sindhi will start in the first week of April. Like the Urdu material, Sindhi material will also be developed by the project staff (Sindhi material development managers). TIG modules developed for Urdu will be adapted into Sindhi and used by Sindhi teachers during their TIG meetings in Sindh. Project will use the Urdu manual with Sindhi examples for face-to-face training of teachers. The scripted lesson plans for teaching reading, workbooks and big books will be developed in Sindhi.

1.1.1.16 Development of Sindhi scripted lesson plans for grade 1 & 2 For progress, please refer to activity 1.1.1.15

1.1.1.17 Development of Sindhi Workbooks (Activity Books) for Grade 1 For progress, please refer to activity 1.1.1.15

1.1.1.18 Development of Sindhi Decodable Reader Package For progress, please refer to activity 1.1.1.15

1.1.1.19 Development of Sindhi Leveled Reader Package For progress, please refer to activity 1.1.1.15

1.1.1.20 Development of Sindhi Flash Card Set Including: Alphabet Cards, Syllable Cards, Word Picture Cards and Word Cards For progress, please refer to activity 1.1.1.15

1.1.1.21 Development of Sindhi Big Books for Grade 1 and 2 For progress, please refer to activity 1.1.1.15

1.1.1.22 Provincial Sindhi MRC Meetings to Review Material Please refer to activity 1.1.1.13

1.1.1.23 Distribution of TIG Modules and Scripted Lesson Plan

During this reporting period, PRP started distribution of TIG Modules and scripted lesson plans as an integral part of the in-service activities of component 1. The following table shows the distribution of TIG modules to stakeholders in the first round provinces/regions as of reporting time. The distribution of TIG material is in progress in other regions, as noted, and will be reported in the next quarter.

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Table 1: Distribution of TIG modules

S. No Province/Regions Mentors Academic Supervisors Teachers Reading Specialists 1 AJK 96 30 1297 3 2 Balochistan 81 Planned in next quarter 993 3 3 FATA Training could not be initiated due to NOC - 4 GB 30 Planned in next quarter 505 3 5 ICT 21 10 565 4 6 KP 191 53 1853 3 7 Sindh 15 Planned in next quarter 195 7 Grand Total 434 93 5408 23

1.1.1.24 Distribution of Manual for Face-to-Face Training

During this quarter, PRP started the distribution of manuals for face-to-face trainings as per the revised project work plan. Since the manuals were finalized, after changes and approvals, at the central level just a few days before the start of trainings, they could not be printed and distributed in time. A soft copy was therefore sent to all provinces/regions, where the local staff was entrusted with taking printouts and making photocopies according to the anticipated number of participants to ensure the availability of material at the training venues in time. The material was then handed over to the participants by the project staff during face-to-face trainings.

The table given below shows the data on distribution of manuals in different provinces/regions for the face-to-face training of mentors, academic supervisors, head teachers and teachers.

Table 2: Distribution of manuals for face-to-face training

S. No Province/Region Mentors Academic Supervisors Head Teachers Teachers

1 AJK 96 30 398 1297 2 Balochistan 81 Planned in next quarter Planned in next 993 quarter 3 FATA Training could not be initiated due to lack of NOC 4 GB 30 Planned in next quarter 170 505 5 ICT 12 10 193 565 6 KP 191 53 540 1853 7 Sindh 15 Planned in next quarter 84 195 Grand Total 434 93 1385 5408

1.1.2 Teacher Professional Development – In-service Training

1.1.2.1. Clustering of Schools for TIGs

As per the revised PRP approach, teachers participating in PRP receive a comprehensive in- service professional development package focused on the teaching of reading. Teachers receive a combination of face-to-face trainings, teacher inquiry groups (TIGs) participation, and coaching to help them effectively teach the five component skills of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension, with writing and print concepts integrated).

TIG is a form of collaborative professional development wherein a small group of teachers (4-8) from neighboring schools meet at least monthly to discuss their teaching experiences

14 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015) and share their successes and challenges with peers. The teachers themselves lead their learning and are able to focus on challenges that are most relevant to their particular context. PRP’s highly structured approach to the TIG will be sustained over 2 academic years and will be located at or near a teacher’s school. They model pedagogical techniques appropriate for the target content, and offer both theoretical and practical knowledge.

Following an initial face-to-face training, the TIG program will commence. One school from the TIG member schools will serve as the host for TIG meetings and any associated functions – this school will be located in convenient proximity to most members. Where possible, the meetings will rotate so each school may have the opportunity to host, and this will also allow mentors to visit schools more frequently.

PRP completed data collection and verification process for clustering of schools to begin TIG meetings in cohort 1 districts. We developed the following criteria for selection of schools and teachers for this purpose.

Table 3: Criteria for selection of schools and teachers

Parameter Name Proposed Value Remarks

Number of teachers in a 6-10 Special cases may be possible for scattered area by TIG providing necessary justification School Type Government No multi-grade and single teacher school Must have grade 1 and 2 students Number of Schools in TIG 1-6 Depends upon the teachers per school. A TIG should not exceed 6 schools Grade of Teacher Grade 1 and 2 Teachers selected for training must be teaching Grade 1 Language of Instruction Urdu and 2 Urdu and Sindhi (Sindh only) Sindhi (Sindh only) TIG Gender Male Taking cultural norms into considerations Female Mix Enrollment Preference will be given to high enrollment schools (Grade 1 and 2 enrollment) Border Schools Subject to security clearance from regional/provincial security team.

Initially cohort 1 TIGs were formed using the EMIS data followed by field verification in quarter 1. During this reporting period, a total of 874 TIGs were finalized in consultation with teachers during the face-to-face trainings. The following table shows the number of TIGs completed in Cohort 1 in all 7 PRP intervention provinces/regions.

Table 4: TIGs formed in cohort 1

S. # Province/Region Number of TIGs Formed 1. AJK 199 2. Balochistan 154 3. FATA No training due to lack of NOC 4. GB 65 5. ICT 61 6. KP 369 7. Sindh 26 Total 874

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1.1.2.2: Training of Reading Specialists

Selected from Provincial Institute for Teacher Education (PITE), Bureaus of Curriculum (BOCs), and Directorates of Education (DOEs), and textbook boards, government reading specialists will represent and support the project at the provincial level for in-service CPD. Reading specialists will be invited to PRP face-to face trainings to gain first-hand exposure to the PRP approach to reading instruction and teacher support. With this knowledge, the reading specialists will be better equipped to engage in and advocate on behalf of PRP- related policy discussions at the provincial level.

“I found the training workshop to be very fruitful. Participants learnt new techniques of teaching reading to early grade readers. If teachers adopt these practices in their classrooms it will help children to recognize letters and words easily and without any trouble. I am sure it will not only improve the quality of reading but also result in improved enrollment in govt. schools.” Dr. Maqbool Tahir, Reading Specialist, AJK

“I never thought sounds and letters should be taught on the basis of a logical sequence based on the scope. I will now keep an eye on how this is reflected in the textbooks that I review.” Ms. Ausaf, Reading Specialist, Textbook Board, Balochistan

During this reporting period, PRP delivered 5-day training to 23 reading specialists. Table 6 province/region-wise number of reading specialists trained in PRP.

Table 5: Number of participants in reading specialist training

S. No Provinces/Regions No of Reading Specialists Trained Male Female Total 1 AJK 2 1 3 2 Balochistan 2 1 3 3 FATA* 0 0 0 4 GB 2 1 3 5 ICT 2 2 4 6 KP 2 1 3 7 Sindh 5 2 7 Grand Total 15 9 23** * Training could not be held due to lack on NOC **A criteria for the nomination of relevant personnel to support the project as reading specialist was shared with the secretary education in each province/region. One of the requests in the criteria was for them to nominate an equal number of male and female reading specialists. However, only ICT nominated an equal number, hence the total number of reading specialists is skewed in favor of males.

1.1.2.3: Training of Mentors (Face-to-Face)

Mentoring is one of the most important professional development models used around the globe to help teachers improve their instructional practices in order to foster student learning. Nominated by the provincial Directorates of Education (DoEs) and selected through an interview process, mentors for cohort 1 are chosen from the government education sector. Mentors are exemplary primary teachers, secondary teachers, or education specialists from other district-level education institutions. Each mentor is responsible for two TIGs (12 teachers or schools). They will attend TIG meetings, serve as an advisor to help teachers if they struggle with module content, help draw out participation, and offer pedagogical and content guidance. Mentors will also carry out regular classroom

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observations/visits to model techniques, assist in developing lesson plans, and help teachers set and meet their personal goals for professional growth. They will use the PRP- developed observation rubric and TIG modules as guiding tools. Mentors will make 4 classroom visits per month, or approximately one visit to each of the twelve TIG member schools per quarter.

Photograph 5: Mentors during a face-to-face training

“I am enthusiastic about implementing the concepts of reading in my own classrooms and in the classrooms of other colleagues that I will work with.” Nargis Kakar, Mentor, Pishin, Balochistan

“I thought that storytelling was just for the sake of enjoyment but I learnt here that storytelling can become an effective technique to improve reading and language skills. Storytelling techniques were really helpful for us to understand print concepts, vocabulary, phonemic awareness, comprehension and fluency.” Muzzamal Begum, Mentor, AJK

During this quarter, we trained a total of 434 mentors (240 male, 194 female) in 6-day rigorous training. They were trained about the scope of work of the Pakistan Reading Project, components of reading, how to assess students’ reading skills, TIG approach, coaching and about their role in this whole process. While the mentors appreciated the content of the training, they made a few suggestions, for instance, revisiting the time allocated for some activities since they took longer than specified, and improving the section on coaching by giving more detailed instructions. The suggestions will be incorporated for the trainings for cohort 2. However, the project will address coaching in more detail during the refresher face-to-face trainings in year 2.

The table below gives the provincial/regional details about the number of mentors:

Table 6: Number of mentors trained

S. No Province/Regions No of Mentors Trained Male Female Total 1 AJK 54 42 96 2 Balochistan 49 32 81 3 FATA* 0 0 0 4 GB 23 7 30 5 ICT 06 15 21 6 KP 103 88 191 7 Sindh 5 10 15 Grand Total 240 194 434 *Training could not be initiated due to NOC in FATA

1.1.2.4: Orientation of Academic Supervisors

District academic supervisors connect school level activities to district level structures/policies. They are responsible for carrying out periodic school visits throughout the school-year, focused more on monitoring than on pedagogical support. PRP will

17 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

strengthen the skills of academic supervisors to provide supplemental monitoring support to PRP target schools.

During this reporting period, 93 academic supervisors (59 male, 34 female) received 3-day orientation about the scope of work of the Pakistan Reading Project, components of reading, assessment in reading, TIG approach and their role in helping improve reading in schools. While the participants were appreciative of the training, they suggested adding more information about their role in the implementation of project activities. The table below shows the provincial/regional data on academic supervisors’ orientations. Academic supervisors for remaining regions will be trained in April 2015 and reported in the next quarter.

Table 7: Number of participants for academic supervisor orientation

S. No Province/Regions No of Academic Supervisors Oriented Remarks Male Female Total 1 AJK 23 07 30 2 Balochistan 0 0 0 Planned in next quarter 3 FATA 0 0 0 Training could not be initiated due to NOC 4 GB 0 0 0 Planned in next quarter 5 ICT 06 04 10 6 KP 30 23 53 7 Sindh 0 0 0 Planned in next quarter Grand Total 59 34 93

1.1.2.5: Orientation of Head Teachers

Head teachers serve an important administrative and management role in schools. In order to effectively support PRP teachers in their school and classroom environments, head teachers will be strengthened to understand the PRP model, their role in school change and teacher support, and using reading assessment data to track school progress toward reading improvement goals. Head teachers

lend support for teacher participation Photograph 6: Head teachers display their work during a workshop in, and implementation of, TIG activities.

In the training, participants were trained about the scope of work of the project, component skills of reading, continuous professional development model, their role in the continuous professional development, and how to assess reading skills of students. During this quarter, 1385 head teachers (771 male, 614 female) were oriented about their role in TIGs and improvement of reading in their schools whereas 1554 (disaggregated data not confirmed yet) head teachers were trained in 5-day face-to-face teacher training. Therefore, these teachers were not invited for the orientation session of head teachers

18 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

In most of the primary schools, there is no specialized post for head teacher. Senior teachers are given the responsibility of performing as head teachers in addition to their duties as teachers. In a majority of cases, head teachers being Grade 1 or 2 teachers participated in the face-to-face training of teachers. Therefore, the head teachers who participated in the face-to-face training of teachers were not invited to the orientation of head teachers. In ICT, two head teachers, who had already been trained as teachers, joined the head teacher orientation session again. Although it is a small number considering the overall number of teachers trained, we plan to be more vigilant to ensure that no such overlap occurs in the future.

Table 9 shows the detail of head teachers’ orientation session.

Table 8: Number of participants of head teacher orientation

S. No Province/Regions No of Head Teacher Oriented Remarks Male Female Total 1 AJK 188 210 398 Other 414 head teachers trained as teachers during face-to-face training of teachers 2 Balochistan 0 0 0 Planned in next quarter 3 FATA 0 0 0 Training could not be initiated due to NOC 4 GB 141 29 170 Other 153 head teachers trained as teachers during face-to-face training of teachers 5 ICT 50 145 193* *2 head teachers were already trained in the 5-day face-to-face training as teachers but, by mistake, they also joined the head teacher orientation sessions. These two have been counted in the face-to-face training of teachers. 6 KP 348 192 540 Other 966 head teachers have been trained as teachers during face-to-face training of teachers 7 Sindh 44 40 84 Other 19 head teachers have been trained as teachers during face-to- face training of teachers Grand Total 771 614 1385 1554

1.1.2.6: Training of Teachers (Face-to-Face)

Two annual face-to-face trainings are planned to introduce teachers to PRP-designed student materials and accompanying teachers’ guides. A 5-day introductory training and 3- day follow-up refresher training to be held during school holidays will be co-facilitated by mentors and PRP staff. By learning the skills needed to understand and implement daily reading lessons, teachers are equipped to begin these lessons at the start of the school year, and then have TIG support as they carry these on throughout the year. Face-to-face trainings model active, learner-centered approaches and give teachers ample time for hands-on practice of each key activity.

19 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

“This workshop is very useful for me. I learned so many new things regarding techniques. I learned about Urdu alphabets and their sounds. I learned about PRP and the role of a primary teacher in reading. I am very satisfied with this workshop and especially our facilitator and mentors. I am very thankful to USAID for initiating this project.” (Iram Samundar, Primary Teacher, AJK)

During this reporting quarter, PRP delivered 5-day face-to-face teacher trainings to 5408 (2911 male, 2497 female) teachers. Most of the training content, particularly that related to the components of reading, assessing student reading skills and read-aloud, were liked by the participants. However, unavailability of sufficient number of tablets to watch the virtual mentoring videos at each training venue remained a big challenge throughout the training. Similarly, some videos had an issue with the quality of voice-over, which will be corrected for the next training sessions.

The table below shows provincial/regional data of teacher training.

Table 9: Number of teachers trained

S. No Province/Regions No of Teachers Trained Male Female Total 1 AJK 676 621 1297 2 Balochistan 633 360 993 3 FATA 0 0 0 4 GB 383 123 505 5 ICT 101 464 565 6 KP 1054 799 1853 7 Sindh 62 133 195 Grand Total 2911 2497 5408

1.1.2.7 Orientation of TIG Facilitators (Face-to-Face)

Orientation of TIG facilitators will be held before first TIG meeting in April 2015.

1.1.3 Technology in In-Service CPD

1.1.3.2 Development of Virtual Mentoring Videos

The first version of the virtual mentoring videos has been developed. By using these videos teachers can address issues such as how to catalyze young children’s interest in reading. These videos are tightly linked to the TIG modules, and offer demonstrations of each component skill within a read aloud and through participative classroom activities. They aim to reinforce, complement, and multiply the impact of the in-service teacher training program and also enable teachers to receive ongoing professional development on how to teach reading and reflect these techniques in the classroom.

During this reporting period, these virtual mentoring videos were shared with teachers during face-to-face training for review and feedback. There was a general consensus regarding problems with the voice-over and suggestions to improve it. PRP will finalize these videos in the next quarter.

1.1.3.3 Development of SMS and Digital Resources

During this quarter, the project worked with Telenor (Pakistan) to develop an SMS System. The SMS server was tested by sending Urdu and English text messages to around 200

20 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

teachers. The system can support both Urdu and English text, and if needed, Sindhi texts can also be sent through it. The system is now operational and will start sending messages to the teachers after the 1st TIG meeting is held.

In addition to the virtual mentoring videos, the project intends to provide teachers with audio phonic lessons for all the letters of Urdu. This digital resource is intended to help teachers to pronounce the sounds of the letters/syllables correctly while teaching students. During this quarter, recordings of 25 audio lessons have been completed. Urdu scope and sequence has been followed to prioritize letters/syllables for audio lessons. While developing the audio lessons, efforts have been made to make them simple and easily understandable for teachers. A good number of related words have been used for each letter/syllable to help teachers understand its correct sound. Table 11 provides details of letters/syllables for which audio phonic lessons have been developed.

Table 10: Urdu letters/syllables for which audio phonic lessons have been developed

ت پ ب ا Introductory م ن ﻧﺎ ر آ گ ش ﮐﮭ ﺑﮭ و و ه س ل چ ﯾﺎﺋﮯ ﻣﺠﮩﻮل ی ک د دا

1.1.3.4 Procurement of Tablets and Memory Cards

During this reporting period, tendering process for procurement of tablets has been completed and purchase order will be processed in the next quarter.

Sub-component 1.2 Pre-service Teacher Training

1.2.1.1 Professional Development of 29 New TTI Faculty on Practicum

The Foundation Modules are designed to support teacher educators in implementing ADE and B.Ed. (Hons.) degree programs. One of the modules is about the new practicum, the most critical element of the B.Ed. (Hons.) program. Practicum provides an opportunity to student teachers to get hands-on experience in schools. The Practicum Module broadens the vision of faculty members and practicum school teachers on the significant features of the practicum and offers guidance for its productive implementation. The module orients teacher educators and teachers in practicum schools to their roles and responsibilities. During this quarter, 86 faculty members (47 male, 39 female) from 271 TTIs participated in these sessions.

1 One TTI from ICT did not start B.Ed. (Hons.) program and one TTI from Sindh did not participate in the session due to engagement of faculty in other activities.

21 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Table 11: Summary of faculty of new TTIs trained in practicum

Region Date Number Number of TTIs Participants Male Female of Sessions AJK Feb 10-15, 2015 1 1 10 2 8 Balochistan Feb 16-21, 2015 1 1 15 11 4 FATA Jan 12-17, 2015 1 2 5 5 0 ICT Feb 23-28, 2015 1 1 7 3 4

KPK Jan 12-17, 2015 1 4 8 5 3

Punjab Mar 2-7, 2015 1 3 11 4 7

Sindh Jan 12-17, 2015 1 15 30 17 13

Grand Total of All Regions 7 27 86 47 39

1.2.1.2 Orientation Sessions for 29 New TTIs on Semester Courses

The objective of the orientation sessions is to explore the content of different courses along with teaching and assessment strategies in ADE & B.Ed. (Hons.) programs. The orientation session for semester courses helps faculty to review the objectives, learning outcomes, weekly distribution of content in the syllabus and course guides for ADE and B. Ed (Hons.) programs. They also identify school based activities for student teachers. A handout is developed with instructions for facilitators to lead the orientation session. These guidelines help facilitators to conduct the session effectively.

In this quarter, 142 faculty members (77 male, 65 female) from 25 TTIs participated in semester orientation sessions. One orientation session for 3 TTIs of Punjab was completed in July 2014 and one TTI in ICT did not start the B.Ed. (Hons.) program.

22 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Table 12: Semester orientation sessions with new TTIs

Region Date # of # of Participants Male Female Sessions TTIs

AJK Mar 19-20, 2015 1 1 12 3 9

Balochistan Mar 20-21, 2015 1 1 7 5 2 FATA Mar 28-29, 2015 1 2 13 12 1

ICT Mar 20-21, 2015 1 1 7 2 5

KPK Jan 12-17, 2015 1 4 17 10 7

Punjab Already completed in July 2014. Feb 12-13, 2015 1 5 24 10 14

Sindh Mar 4-5, 2015 1 3 18 9 9

Mar 10-11, 2015 1 3 27 14 13

Mar 13-14, 2015 1 5 17 12 5

Total Sindh 4 16 86 45 41 Total for all 9 25 142 77 65 Regions

1.2.2.1 Reading Syllabi Outline Development Workshop

One of the objectives of the Pakistan Reading Project is to integrate reading curricula in existing ADE/B.Ed. (Hons.) courses. PRP and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) agreed to integrate a reading component in the existing five courses of ADE and B.Ed. (Hons.) including teaching literacy, teaching of Urdu, teaching of English, assessment and practicum. In addition to this, HEC suggested designing a reading specialization as a discipline course that will be offered in years 3 & 4 of the B.Ed. (Hons.) program. The figure below shows the intended integration of reading curricula in existing ADE and B.Ed. (Hons.) courses and reading specialization as a discipline course.

Teaching Foundation Literacy Reading

Teaching Teaching Reading Assessment of English Integration of of Urdu Practicum of Reading Reading in Reading existing as a ADE/B.Ed. (Hons.) discipline courses

Teaching Reading Classroom of Practicum Difficulties Assessment Reading

The project team has worked closely with the Higher Education Commission and did some foundation work, including gap identification in the existing reading curricula, focus group

23 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015) discussions with teacher educators, school teachers teaching early grades, and student teachers studying in B.Ed. (Hons.) to initiate the designing work on the reading curricula.

The project team identified writers for the reading course with the collaboration of HEC on the following agreed criteria:

o Course writers are from universities offering ADE/B.Ed. (Hons.) program o Course writers are teaching one of these subjects: Teaching of Urdu, Assessment, Teaching Literacy, Teaching of English o Course writers involved in course designing process in previous USAID Teacher Education Project (TEP)

In this quarter, the project in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission conducted a reading curricula outline development workshop. 22 (7 male, 15 female) teacher educators from universities, elementary colleges and apex institutions participated in this session. PRP staff, with the support of international experts, conducted a comprehensive professional development session on reading, its components, and best practices Photograph 7: Participants during a reading curricula development workshop of reading courses from around the world.

The session was divided into two parts; in the first three days, faculty integrated reading component in five of the courses: Teaching of Urdu, Assessment, Teaching Literacy, Teaching of English and practicum.

In the next three days, the faculty designed an outline of the reading discipline course. The faculty worked in four groups. Groups were assigned topics for each discipline course (Reading Foundations, Teaching Reading, Reading Difficulties and Assessment). Using a variety of course syllabi from successful pre-service reading programs and other resources, the faculty drafted an outline of core content for each course. These outlines were critically analyzed by international and national PRP teams. By the end of the workshop, the tasks for developing course guides were assigned to each faculty member of the workshop. These tasks will be presented in the writer’s workshop in April 2015.

Table 13: Number of faculty that participated in reading curricula workshop

Institution Male Female Total Universities 5 10 15 Colleges & Apex Institution 2 4 6 Author of Oxford Reading Series 0 1 1 Total 7 15 22

1.2.2.2 NCRC Review/Approval of Syllabi

The NCRC review/approval workshop will be held in the next quarter on the direction of the Director General, HEC academics division. He suggested holding the NCRC meeting after the finalization of the reading curricula outline development workshop. However, 8 NCRC

24 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

members (5 male, 3 female) are invited to the writer’s workshop in April 2015 to orient them about the reading courses and syllabi strengthening and integration efforts.

1.2.4 Provide 1,695 New and 1,954 On-going Scholarships2

The scholarship program was established by USAID under the Teacher Education Project (TEP) and is continued under PRP. Pakistan Reading Project is working with 3,649 (1,216 male, 2,333 female) scholarship recipients. PRP has been encouraging female participation in ADE and B.Ed. (Hons.) degree programs. Out of 3649, 2,333 scholarship recipients (61%) are female.

So far, 688 students (668 ADE and 20 B.Ed. – Hons.) have received all the installments for their degree program. The disbursement of installments of 2,682 recipients is in process.

1.2.4.1 Disbursement of 1,197 on-going ADE scholarships (365 male, 832 female)

During this quarter, PRP distributed installments to 283 scholarship recipients (104 male, 179 female). 94 from Balochistan, 36 from FATA, 123 from KP, and 23 from Sindh received their last installments whereas 7 students from KP received 3rd installment of the ADE on- going scholarships.

Photograph 8: An ADE student receiving her second scholarship installment in Peshawar

1.2.4.2 Disbursement of 447 On-going B.Ed. (Hons.) Scholarships (129 male, 318 female)

We distributed installments of B.Ed. (Hons.) on-going scholarships to 185 students (49 male, 136 female) - 26 from Balochistan, 95 from KP and 64 from Punjab. 20 students from KP received all installments of their scholarship program while 165 students received different installments (5th, 6th or 7th installment out of a total of 8).

“The USAID scholarship helped me financially thus enabling me to carry out my studies. Without this support, I would not be able to complete my studies. I am thankful to USAID for their support as it made me confident and increased my interest in studies.” Sana Tabassum, IER, University of Peshawar

“Scholarship is a motivational factor for me in continuation of my education. I spent my previous scholarship money on my education and for books and also to buy a tablet for myself. It was a little help for my parents and it solved my financial problem.” Aneeqa Hameed, GCET-F, Muzaffarabad

2 New scholarships mean the scholarships initiated by PRP. On-going scholarships mean the scholarships initiated by the Teacher Education Project.

25 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Table 14: Summary of on-going B.Ed. (Hons.) scholarships awarded

Region Total Male Female Balochistan 26 0 26 KP 95 47 48 Punjab 64 2 62 Total 185 49 136

1.2.4.3 Disbursement of 1,257 New ADE Scholarships (495 male, 762 female)

During this quarter, PRP distributed 2nd & 3rd installments to 717 students (273 male, 444 female) of ADE in Balochistan, FATA, KP and Sindh.

Table 15: Summary of new ADE scholarships disbursed

Region Total Male Female Balochistan 221 84 137 FATA 64 44 20 KP 418 135 283 Sindh 14 10 4 Total 717 273 444

1.2.4.4 Disbursement of 418 New B.Ed. (Hons.) Scholarships (164 male, 254 female)

We distributed 2nd and 3rd installments to 230 students (94 male, 136 female) of B.Ed. (Hons.) in Balochistan, FATA, ICT, KP and Punjab.

Table 16: Summary of new B.Ed. (Hons.) scholarships disbursed

Region Total Male Female Balochistan 40 17 23 FATA 9 5 4 ICT 9 3 6 KP 109 64 45 Punjab 72 11 61 Total 230 94 136

1.2.4.6 Scholarship Recipients of 111 TTIs Receiving Mentoring Support (On-going)

During this quarter, we organized mentoring sessions in 18 TTIs in AJK, FATA and Sindh. This was attended by 191 scholarship recipients (77 male, 114 female). These sessions provided an opportunity to scholarship recipients and faculty advisors to better coordinate with one another. The following table provides a summary of TTIs that received mentoring support.

26 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Table 17: Summary of TTIs that received mentoring support

S. No Region Month Number of Number of TTIs Scholarship recipients sessions Male Female Total 1 AJK Feb, March 5 5 17 43 60 2 FATA Feb 1 1 15 0 15 3 Sindh Feb, March 12 12 45 71 116 18 18 77 114 191

It is worth mentioning that during the hiring process for the School Support Associates, 25 ADE and B.Ed. graduates (11 ADE and 14 B.Ed. - Hons.) in AJK, GB, ICT, KP and Sindh successfully competed in the hiring process and are now part of the PRP team.

A Journey for Education Comes Full Circle

Muhammad Arif’s journey began in a remote village called Kinderik Kharmang, nestled in the beautiful mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan. While he got his primary education from a government school in his village, he had to move to Skardu for his secondary education. And then came college, for which he moved to Karachi for a pre-engineering F.Sc. degree, working part-time to support himself.

After completing his intermediate, back home for a summer vacation, Arif came across an advertisement in a local newspaper for admission into the ADE program. Intrigued, he scrolled the internet for more information and had lengthy discussions with his family and friends about pursuing a career armed with a teaching degree.

Asif was successful in not only getting into an ADE program in Skardu but also in qualifying for a USAID funded scholarship. Without the added stress of having to manage his finances, Asif was able to concentrate completely on his education resulting in a first position with a 3.89 CGPA.

“While I was waiting for my final result, I saw a job opportunity for School Support Associates in the USAID- funded Pakistan Reading Project and realized that there was no experience required for ADE degree holders. So, I applied for the position. After just a few days, I got a call from the office in Gilgit to come for an interview.” Asif aced the interview and soon after got an offer to join the Gilgit office as a School Support Associate.

“I’m proud to start my career as a teacher trainer and am really looking forward to this new challenge.”

1.3.1. Procurement and Distribution of Office Equipment and Furniture for Selected TTIs

The USAID Teacher Education Project had committed to provide office equipment and furniture to 104 selected teacher education institutes (17 universities and 87 colleges) and five provincial apex teacher education institutions in all provinces/regions. However, due to

27 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

the closeout of the project, this commitment could not be materialized and USAID requested PRP to provide this material.

During this quarter, furniture and IT equipment was delivered to 88 TTIs.

Table 18: Furniture and IT equipment provided to TTIs

Furniture and Equipment detail Region Chairs Interactive board Multimedia projector Wall mounted projector screen AJK 280 - 10 - Balochistan 910 3 18 1 KPK/FATA 90 2 15 4 GB 185 2 3 - Punjab 165 12 10 8 Sindh 770 6 25 7

28 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Component 2: Improved Policies And Systems For Reading

The overall objective of component 2 is to promote adaptation and implementation of policies that promote quality teaching, especially in regards to teaching and assessments of reading, and to promote the sustainability of PRP through policy changes.

One major result of the work of PRP will be that policy-makers and program planners will base their decisions regarding teacher-training programs on information gathered and analyzed through improved information systems developed through technical assistance provided by the project. We also anticipate that participating provinces/regions will have developed and implemented reading improvement strategies that will eventually lead to better reading skills among primary school children. As a result of PRP’s assistance, the provincial/regional governments will have approved frameworks and policies conducive to improving reading and reading assessment.

The following sections present details about component 2 activities undertaken during this reporting quarter.

2.1.1.1: Conduct need assessment of provincial/regional assessment centers

Reading assessment helps to determine not only what students understand from reading but also how they use what they understand. Since reading is not taught in schools per se, formative assessment of students’ language skills is being done through reading passages. Reading assessment is a pre-requisite to measure the learning achievement of students’ reading skills. Unfortunately in Pakistan, reading assessment is not an integral part of formative or summative assessments in early grades.

In order to justify and solicit the required approvals from the education departments through PRP’s steering committees, we developed an assessment tool this reporting period and administered it in the assessment units of AJK, GB, FATA, Balochistan and KP. The assessment tool includes questions on the current status of assessment centers, their staffing patterns, organizational structures and their policies on formative and summative evaluations with specific focus on reading. Based on the initial feedback received on this tool, we will develop a situation analysis report during the next quarter and submit it to the steering committees for their approval.

2.2.2.1: Identification and selection of technical assistance (TA) to review existing legal framework, resources, potential areas of cooperation, NGOs, accountability system, etc. of PPP in various provinces/ areas

PRP has selected the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) for providing technical support on Public Private Partnerships (PPP). This will include developing guidelines and manuals for PPP in consultation with the government and validation of situation analysis reports. A formal agreement with PCP was signed during this quarter. Some key topics for capacity building include PPP methods and techniques, shared value approaches, adoption of PPP international best practices and PPP policy reforms.

2.2.2.5: Selection of potential private sector players to build partnerships for investment in the programs of PRP without cost-sharing

29 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

To promote the public private partnership, PRP is working with Rotary Club, HUBCO and Laraib Energy for investment in early grade education throughout Pakistan. Accordingly, a draft MOU has been developed and sent to these organizations for review and feedback before it is signed by the concerned parties. Possible areas of collaboration include the provision of early grade reading books, tablet computers, Pico-projectors and refurbishment of classrooms. These interventions will assist PRP in achieving the objectives of resource generation and ensuring sustainability of PRP’s interventions.

2.2.3.1: Designing of collaborative proposal with Lion's Club

2.2.3.2: Approval from USAID

Lions Club in consultation with PRP has developed a matching grants proposal, indicating the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders, implementation strategy and budgeting for establishing class room libraries, in Sindh and KP provinces targeting 50 PRP schools. The proposal has been submitted to USAID for approval.

2.2.4.1: Conduct need assessment of each of the apex institution responsible for in- service training

Improving the quality of in-service teacher education is easier said than done because there is no permanent structure in placed that ensure funding and sustainability of efforts and initiatives in this important area of reform. PRP will provide technical assistance to each province and regional education departments to support the apex institutions already functioning in developing strategic plans to improve their in-service teacher education and training programs in reading.

AJK, Sindh, KP and GB developed need assessment tools to ascertain the capacity and their shortcomings in planning the in-service training for practicing teachers. For example, the tool to assess the capacity of apex institutions includes the institutional environment, governance structure, policy and regulatory framework and available financing. These tools were piloted, finalized and administered in all four regions. AJK and GB have moved further ahead and developed a situation analysis report based on the feedback through the administered tool. The report was discussed in the steering committee of AJK and GB and both have emphasized the need to develop a strategic plan for CPD, which will include reading as well.

2.3.1: Nomination of government officials for the Observational Study Tour

In order to provide exposure to relevant government officials on the importance of reading standards, its assessment, CPD and relevant policies being practiced internationally. PRP is planning to organize an observational study tour of a country where reading instruction and assessment activities are successfully practiced. PRP followed with the education department of all regions and provinces, not only to seek nominations of officials but also completing the necessary formalities for the study tour to be organized in April, 2015 in Egypt. Based on our discussions with USAID, there was a consensus that Egypt would be an ideal location for this study tour due to its exemplary experience of implementing and scaling up of early grade reading programs. The objectives of the study tour are to expose participants to successful reading models in Egyptian schools, see firsthand how the Egyptian Government has focused on ownership of these programs and learn about implementation challenges and solutions.

30 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

2.3.2: Pre-departure orientation workshops

2.3.3: Study tour for GOP officials and PRP staff to expose them to effective reading instruction

Study tour was planned for March 2015 but rescheduled for April 2015 due to a delay in the visa process. However, PRP completed all logistic arrangements.

2.4.1: Provision of leadership through need-based steering committee meetings

Project Steering Committee is one of the highest policy decision-making bodies located in each education department and is chaired by the respective education secretary. In the reporting quarter, steering committee meetings were held in AJK, FATA, GB, ICT and Sindh. The major policy agenda was approval of the reading instructional time in the early grade of primary classes. In Sindh, early grade reading instruction and assessment time allocation is planned for the next steering committee meeting.

2.4.2: Strengthening of oversight systems through need-based advisory committee meetings

Provincial / regional advisory committee is the highest technical body where relevant officials with specific expertise meet together to provide necessary technical feedback to any PRP intervention before its finalization and submission to the Project Steering Committee. Accordingly, KP, Balochistan, GB (steering and advisory joint meeting) and FATA (steering and advisory joint meeting) advisory meetings were held in the reporting quarter to provide technical feedback on the agenda items of the steering committee, especially on time allocation, tools for CPD and assessment centers.

2.5.1.1: Review existing national education policy and identify gaps and strengths supportive of reading instruction and assessment

Based on the provincial/regional policy scan, national education policy scan document has been developed within the parameters of Pakistan Reading Project. The policy document describes the various intervention of USAID funded Pakistan Reading Project to support the improvement of reading instruction. The policy document outlines the context; current situation, policy initiatives and activities supported by PRP along with the approach to the sustainability of various PRP interventions. The policy scan document is attached as annex 2.

2.5.2.4: Standard setting for reading at grade 1 & 2 - Urdu, Sindhi and Pushto

Standard setting is critical for reforming the education system and improving the teacher learning process. It is also considered an integral part of the student assessment process. Establishing reading standard and benchmark is a significant part of the PRP reading reform process. PRP envisage reforms that will result in a national improvement in early grade reading outcomes. Though, the national curriculum does include targeted learning outcomes for Urdu but there are no reading standards for fluency, comprehension etc. in the current scheme of studies. Realizing this situation, consultation with the PRP and the government officials were held to emphasize the importance of developing a reading standard for early grade of primary classes. It was agreed by the secretary of national curriculum council to have a preliminary meeting of the technical committee comprising of technical experts in standard setting in May, 2015 after completing a mapping exercise pertaining of standard benchmarking already completed by the provincial / federal government. During the

31 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

steering committee meetings, the decision makers were briefed on the reading situation / environment based on the EGRA and ASER of their respective province and regions for them to comprehend the current situation.

2.5.3.1: Analyze classroom timetable and allocate specific time for reading instruction in primary classes

In Pakistan, lower primary curriculum consists of four core subjects with varying number of forty minutes lessons a week per subject. Urdu and English language classes each have seven, forty minutes lessons per week. There is no specific time allocation for reading. Pakistan will have to address two critical issues in the implementation of reading policy; i) finding time to allocate in the school day within the framework of scheme of studies, exclusively for reading; ii) ensuring that allocated time is actually spent on reading instruction. Accordingly, a technical paper based on the review of existing scheme of studies, classroom observations and international practices was developed and discussed in the provincial / regional steering committees except Sindh. Steering committees of AJK, FATA, GB, KP and ICT approved specific time of approximately 40 minutes duration on reading instruction and reading components within the framework of existing scheme of studies. The AJK government has notified the implementation of reading time allocation.

32 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Component 3: Community Based Support for Reading

3.1 Complementary Reading Program (CRP) Grants

3.1.1.1: Thematic areas development for CRP grants

During this reporting period, we identified the following two thematic areas in consultation with IRC’s technical unit for the solicitation of the CRP grants:

1. Gender 2. Children with special needs

These thematic areas were shared with USAID and will be finalized following their feedback.

3.1.1.2: Request for Application (RFA) development on the basis of thematic areas

Instead of drafting two RFAs as per the work plan target for this quarterly activity, a single RFA was drafted (attached as Annex – B) covering both the identified themes.

3.1.1.3: RFA approval from USAID

A single RFA covering the two themes was drafted and submitted to USAID for approval.

3.1.1.11: Collaborative work with Lions Club

Please refer to activity 2.2.3

3.2: Community Engagement

3.2.1.1: Solicitation/publicizing of grant fund

As advised by USAID, solicitation/publicizing of grant funds was put on hold till the modification is approved.

3.2.2: Mobile Bus Libraries

3.2.2.1: Compilation of book list and procurement of books for mobile libraries

This activity was completed and the relevant government authorities approved a total of 501 titles.

3.2.2.2: Procurement of vehicles for mobile libraries

Further to the tender advertisements published during the previous quarter for mobile libraries, we procured four mini trucks (two for Karachi and two for Islamabad) during this reporting period. We also obtained tax exemptions this quarter. (Annex D – Trucks Procurement Documents) & (Annex E – Tax Exemption for Trucks).

3.2.2.3: Design and refurbishment of four mobile libraries

To design and refurbish the four mobile libraries, PRP engaged a consultant this quarter. Based on several design options developed by the consultant, we finalized a design. Based on this final design, we published a tender advertisement this quarter for refurbishment of

33 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

the mobile libraries. We anticipate that a purchase order will be published early next quarter.

3.2.2.4: Identification of schools/communities for the mobile library program

During this reporting quarter, we sent a letter to the Director of Trainings, Federal Directorate of Education for ICT region, requesting them to identify schools/communities that the mobile libraries will visit.

Based on this request, the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) approved 100 schools for the mobile library program. These schools have been selected from the list of approved schools for Teacher Inquiry Groups (TIGs) for ICT region.

Similarly, the Academic and Training Education Department of the Government of Sindh also approved 103 schools for the mobile library program. (Annex G – Approved List of Schools)

3.3: Radio Shows

3.3.1: Radio Shows (Guloona – Flowers)

The radio series is based on a Pashto language radio show “Guloona” which features songs that assist children in learning new words, concepts and popular stories that stimulate children to learn new words. The intent of the radio series is to improve reading skills of children through synchronized teaching and promoting a culture of reading.

Production and broadcasting targets of radio shows for this quarter were achieved for all the regions, except FATA where 12 radio shows remained unaired due to relocation of the Bannu radio station. These will be aired in the next quarter. Regional and language bifurcation for radio episodes broadcasted during this quarter is given in table 17.

Table 19: Summary of radio shows broadcasted

KP Balochistan ICT Punjab AJK GB FATA Urdu Pashto Urdu Pashto Urdu Urdu Urdu Urdu Pashto 3 2 3 2 3 3 13 13 1

34 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Gender

4.2.1 Development of Gender and Conflict Sensitivity Manual

A Gender and Conflict Sensitivity manual was developed during the previous quarter in consultation with the regional offices. The manual is designed specifically for the staff of the project, its partners and various committee members, including the material development and steering committees, parent teacher associations and advisory groups, to use for further trainings with government representatives, policy-makers, grants partners and communities who are not experts on gender issues, but who, nonetheless, are charged with the day-to- day responsibility of gender mainstreaming. This becomes particularly important when it comes to teaching and school-based learning. What happens in the teaching and learning processes in the classroom plays a big role in determining how well girls and boys participate in education and whether they stay in school and do well in their studies. Because teachers are central to the teaching and learning processes, their understanding and awareness of gender is key to the effective participation of girls and boys in the learning processes. The manual thus contributes to the ongoing debate on how to improve the situation of gender- based discrimination and its impact in conflict situations, especially through the provision of quality education.

During this reporting period, the manual was piloted in Islamabad with PRP staff and the regional gender focal persons and the feedback received was incorporated into the final version. Some of the feedback received suggested using education statistics, including a detailed section on the gender policy scan and increasing training time.

4.2.2 Development of brochure and posters on girl friendly approach

Following the development of three posters and one brochure on gender sensitivity and girl- friendly approaches to education during the previous quarter, PRP shared this material with the material review committees during this reporting period. The feedback received from committee members was incorporated. We will print and distribute this material in the next quarter.

4.3.2 Development of Gender Sensitivity Integration Guidelines

A gender sensitivity guideline was developed this quarter and will be shared with USAID in the next quarter.

4.4 Training of PRP gender focal staff on gender and conflict sensitivity

The Pakistan Reading Project organized a national level gender and conflict sensitivity training in Islamabad during this quarter. 18 PRP staff members attended the training. The purpose of the training was to:

• Enhance participant’s knowledge on gender sensitivity and equality approaches and the link between men’s role in addressing gender stereotypes. • Equip participants with practical skills to understand conflict sensitivity and empower them to replicate this training with other individuals in their respective region. • Help participants developing understanding of syllabus and curriculum role in addressing gender discriminations.

35 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

• Assist participants in developing basic understanding of conflict sensitivity and its links with gender based discriminations

We plan to organize similar trainings in all PRP provincial/regional offices.

Additional gender-related activities

• TIG modules were reviewed from a gender perspective. A module on gender (Discrimination in Education) was also developed and integrated into the TIG modules. This module will be rolled out for all teacher trainings. Similarly, the first part of the ‘big book’ was also reviewed to ensure gender sensitivity. • PRP compiled existing gender issues by consulting national and international organizations and compiled a list of issues, which will be explored in the next quarter by organizing and conducting a national gender study.

36 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Communications and Reporting

5.1.1. Branding of venues and material developed by PRP

PRP oversaw the branding and marking, as per USAID guidelines, of all material developed by project components and implementing partners to ensure conformity to the Branding and Marking Plan.

All training material, like TIG Modules, training manuals for face-to-face trainings, as well as material developed for teaching reading, like workbooks, big books, lesson plans, decodable readers and flash cards, was branded as per the guidelines and approved by the USAID Department of Outreach and Communications (DOCs) office.

Branding was also done for the face-to-face trainings and meetings such as the Material Review Committee meetings in the form of standees, notepads and pens.

Branded stationery for trainings, workshops and other official meetings, as well as new letterheads for the project were designed, approved, printed and disseminated to all provincial/regional offices this quarter. Soft templates for PowerPoint presentations, and official correspondence were also shared with project offices nationwide.

5.2.1. Major public event

A major public event overseen by PRP this quarter was the inauguration of the Department of Teacher Education building at the University of Karachi. Ambassador of the United States, Richard G. Olson and Sindh Senior Minister for Education, Nisar Photograph 9: U.S. Ambassador Richard Olson and Sindh Education Ahmad Khuhro Minister Nisar Khuhro unveiling the inauguration plaque at University inaugurated the newly of Karachi constructed building on February 28, 2015. PRP was responsible for organizing the event, as well as designing all the branding and promotional material at the venue, including backdrop, banner, invitation card, standees, stage and hall branding.

Another major event was to be the inauguration of the Faculty of Education building at Hazara University, Mansehra and while all the arrangements had been finalized for the event, it was called off due to the unavailability of government officials.

5.2.2. Printed and electronic promotion and media coverage of project initiatives

37 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Media coverage was ensured wherever needed. There were media mentions regarding the inauguration of the new Department of Teacher Education building at the University of Karachi (please see annex 3). Social media coverage consisted of 10 tweets on Twitter and 7 updates on Facebook. 7 print advertisements were published in selected national dailies for job opportunities, procurement of tablets, net books, refurbishment of mobile bus libraries, and printing and distribution of publications for cohort 1.

5.3.5. Photography/videography of project activities

Photographic record of all major events and project activities is ensured as and when needed and includes all major events, as well as smaller activities like trainings, workshops and high-level meetings. 62 photographs were submitted to USAID this quarter. Videography was done for 6 teacher training events in Islamabad, Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and AJ&K for cohort 1 teachers.

5.4.1. Monthly, Quarterly and Annual Reporting

The project produced and submitted three monthly reports in this quarter. Weekly reports were also started in the last week of March.

38 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

6.1.1 Review and revise Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) based on modification through series of consultations with technical leads

6.1.2 Finalize and submit PMP to USAID

USAID provided feedback to PRP on the modified version of technical narrative this quarter, which included the draft PMP and results framework. Based on the feedback received, PRP reviewed and revised the PMP. The revised PMP matrix and results framework was then submitted to USAID for its review and feedback. The PMP will be finalized following the approval of PRP’s modification.

6.3.1 Prepare M&E manual for data management and documentation systems

An initial draft of the M&E manual for data management and documentation systems has been developed and will be finalized in the next quarter. The draft M&E manual includes guidelines on data collection tools, guidelines for data collection, practices for evidence collection/verification and management related to DMS and M&E- IS.

6.3.2. Development and implementation of online M&E Information System (M&E- IS)

During this reporting period, a concept note for the scope and implementation of M&E-IS was further refined and a detailed requirement analysis and work flow for TIG module was completed.

The monitoring system consisting of various functional modules including; work plan progress tracker, PMP results matrix, participant training Programs, pre-service student teachers (enrollment, graduation, scholarship) and grants monitoring being developed. • TIG schools modules of M&E-IS have been developed to facilitate the data collection, data entry and analysis of grade level Urdu language teachers and student enrollment in selected TIG schools. This database will be upsized to capture all TIG related progress and TIG session’s participant tracking. • Participant Training Program (PTP) module has been developed and integrated with TIG module to capture information of all trainings and workshops including TIG face to face trainings and related monthly sessions. • Scholarship module has been developed to capture process and report scholarship data for all new and on-going ADE & B.Ed. (Hons) scholarships. All scholarship recipients and related financial records are already organized in offline database and being migrated to web-based system.

6.3.4. Development of online Document Management System (DMS)

Document Management System (DMS) for year 2 has been enhanced and minimum documentation criteria for the activities of revised work-plan has been drafted and is being

39 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

populated in DMS. This will be linked with progress tracking module of M&E IS to organize evidences of completed activities.

6.3.5. Training of component based focal staff on M&E

During this reporting period, PRP organized two training to train regional/provincial M&E, assessment and component staff on Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).

6.3.6. Support to project/M&E staff in tracking progress against Work plan & PMP

Data related to various project activities was reconciled with technical narrative and we ensured that the evidences were collected against progress reported during the quarter.

PRP’s M&E team also provided support to in-service teacher training team in finalizing TIG teachers and TIG schools data for all 7 regions/provinces. Similarly, the scholarships team was provided support to manage data for awarded scholarships and the related transition.

6.3.7. Updates on USAID Info

Progress for the relevant MSF Indicators was collected and complied from all regional/provincial offices. USAID Info portal was updated against the relevant MSF indicators. Three MSF indicators include: 2.1a. Number of Universities/TTIs offering new degree and graduate programs 4.2.2c. Number of teachers enrolled in new degree program 4.2.2b. Number of teachers/educators/ teaching assistants who successfully completed pre- service training or received intensive coaching or mentoring with USG support 4.2.2d Number of textbooks and other teaching and learning materials provided with USG assistance 6.4.1. Design and conduct baseline surveys

During this quarter, PRP collected data on student enrollment for ADE and B.Ed. Hons programs and entered it into the M&E software. The results of data collected will be reported to USAID Info.

Survey designs for PMP indicators pertaining to student enrollment and language mapping surveys were revised in line with the modified project design. Regional and provincial M&E staff was oriented on modified versions of both surveys. Since schools in cohort-1 will open in April 2015, therefore, the data would be gathered during April-May 2015.

6.5.1. Workshops to develop student assessment tools for Urdu and Sindhi languages

The process of hiring master trainers and enumerators for student assessment baseline was initiated and logistic arrangements were finalized this quarter. Sample districts and schools of cohort 1, 2 and 3 were finalized. PRP’s regional assessment managers verified schools for cohort 2 and 3.

40 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Performance against proposed indicators

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015

Project Goal: Improved reading among 595,000 students and bring 340,000 students to reading grade level

1. USAID MSF TBD Indicator 4.2c. Number of primary school students who show improved reading skills due to USG Interventions

Type: Impact

2. Custom TBD Indicator: Proportion of students who, by the end of 2 grades of primary school demonstrate that they can read and understand the meaning of grade level texts

Type: Impact 3. USAID MSF TIG schools 5,408 teachers 5,408 teachers Indicator 4.2.2a. 1,949,270 information on trained (2,911 male trained (2,911 teachers, students, and 2,497 female) male and 2,497 Number of learners etc. have been during first face-to- female) during receiving reading collected from all face training. first face-to-face interventions at seven training. AJK=1,297 primary level provinces/regions for AJK=1,297 cohort - 1 trainings. Bal=993 Type: Impact The data entry is Bal=993 GB=505 completed in MS GB=505 Access and the data ICT=565 cleaning and ICT=565 finalization of schools KPK=1,853 KPK=1,853 for cohort - 1 Sindh=195). trainings is in Sindh=195). progress.

41 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015

4. USAID MSF 5% point Baseline survey Staff oriented on Staff oriented on Indicator 4.1a. decrease design on student data collection tool data collection Change in number from enrolment finalized on student tool on student of learners enrolled baseline and will be initiated in enrolment. Data will enrolment. Data in primary, Q3 after face to face be collected in April will be collected elementary & training of teachers. 2015 in April 2015 secondary USG- assisted schools or equivalent USG assisted non-school based settings

Type: Impact 5. USAID MSF 5% point Baseline survey Baseline survey Indicator 4.1b. decrease design on student design on from drop-out finalized student drop-out Percent change in baseline and will be initiated in finalized and will drop-out rate in Q3 after face to face be initiated in USG-assisted training of teachers. Q3 after face to schools face training of teachers. Type: Impact Component 1: Improved classroom learning environment for reading 1.1. USAID MSF 660 93 academic 93 academic Indicator 4.3.2a. supervisors (59 supervisors (59 male and 34 male and 34 Number of female) trained / female) trained / administrators and oriented. oriented. officials successfully trained with USG support AJK=30 AJK=30

Type: Output ICT=10 ICT=10 KPK=53 KPK=53 1.2. Custom 60% Indicator: Percentage of primary school teachers who demonstrate application of reading instruction methods in classroom teaching.

Type: outcome

42 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015

1.3. Custom 70% Indicator: Percentage of student-teachers who demonstrate increased knowledge of reading instruction methods promoted through Pakistan Reading Project in ADE and B.Ed. (Hons) programs

Type: outcome 1.4. USAID MSF 50310 The teachers will The teachers Indicator 4.2.2-b. start coaching or will start Number of teachers/ mentoring support coaching or educators/teaching visit in April mentoring assistants who support visit in successfully April completed training or received intensive coaching or mentoring with USG support

Type: Output 1.5. Custom 9 3 Material Review Material Review Material Review indicator: Committees (MRCs) Committees Committees Number of Material re-notified in AJK, (MRCs) re-notified (MRCs) re- Review Committees FATA and ICT. in GB, KP, Sindh notified in all (MRCs) formed and and Baluchistan provinces/region functional. Process has been s. National Material initiated in other Review Committee National Type: Output provinces/regions (MRC) meeting Material Review held. 21 Committee participated (16 (MRC) meeting male and 5 female) held. 21 from all provinces participated (16 except FATA. male and 5 female) from all provinces except FATA.

43 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015

1.6. 4.2.2d MSF 10 TIG modules 7343 (4016 male 7343 (4016 indicator: 1,774,076 developed and 3327 female) male and 3327 Number of provided teaching female) textbooks and other Initial draft of scripted and learning provided teaching and lesson plan template materials teaching and learning materials for grade 1 learning 10 TIG modules provided with USG developed in English. materials developed. assistance Template for Urdu 10 TIG modules scripted lesson plan developed. Type: Outcome will be finalized in 23 (15 male and 8 next quarter in light of the USAID female) TIG feedback. modules distributed 23 (15 male and to reading 8 female) TIG Initial draft of grade 1 specialists. modules distributed to activity book 434 (240 male and reading developed in English 194 female) TIG specialists. and shared with modules distributed USAID. Urdu grade 1 to mentors. 434 (240 male activity book is being and 194 female) 1385 (791 male developed in light of TIG modules and 594 female) the feedback distributed to modules distributed received from mentors. USAID. to head teachers. 1385 (791 male 93 (59 male and 34 and 594 female) Scope and sequence female) TIG modules for Urdu grade 1 modules distributed distributed to developed to academic head teachers. supervisors. Classification of 93 (59 male and

letters and words for 34 female) TIG decodable readers 540,8 (2911 male modules completed w.r.t and 2497 female) distributed to scope and sequence. TIG modules academic distributed to supervisors. Text for flash cards teachers. developed w.r.t the grade 1 scope and 540,8 (2911 sequence. male and 2497 female) TIG modules distributed to teachers. 1.7. Custom 23800 indicator: Number of classroom based corner libraries established

Type: Output

44 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015

1.8: Custom 29 44 new TTIs 7 sessions on 7 sessions on Indicator: identified in Practicum Practicum Number of TTIs consultation with conducted for 27 conducted for strengthened in education officials for new TTIs, one in 27 new TTIs, initiating ADE & new degree each AJK, one in each B.Ed. (Hons.) programs (28 Baluchistan, FATA, AJK, programs colleges and 16 ICT, KP, Punjab Baluchistan, universities). and Sindh. Total 86 FATA, ICT, KP, Type: output faculty members Punjab and 30 new TTIs notified (47 male and 39 Sindh. Total 86 female) were faculty members Detail: trained. (47 male and 39 female) were AJK: 1 TTI identified trained. and notified Balochistan: 1 TTI identified FATA: 2 TTIs identified and notified ICT: 2 TTIs identified and 1 notified. KP: 5 TTIs identified and 4 notified Punjab: 15 TTIs identified and 9 notified Sindh: 18 TTIs identified and 13 notified 1.9: Custom 111 Indicator: Number of TTIs strengthened in adoption of reading instruction curricula

Type: Output 1.10. Custom 3339 1,581 ADE and B. Ed 947 ADE and B. Ed 1,603 ADE and indicator: new scholarships are new scholarship B. Ed new Number of host in process. installment scholarships are country individuals disbursed. in process. receiving US-funded 1,235 ADE and B. Ed scholarships to on-going access ADE & B.Ed. scholarships are in 468 (153 male and 1,626 ADE and (Hons.) Programs in process. 315 female) ADE B. Ed on-going Pakistan and B. Ed on-going scholarship ADE bridging scholarship installments Type: output scholarship 1st and installments disbursed. 2nd installments disbursed.

disbursed to 20 in- service teachers in ADE bridging AJK scholarship 1st and 2nd 391 ADE on-going installments

45 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015 scholarships disbursed to 20 completed; AJK-65, in-service Bal-98, GB-70, KPK teachers in AJK 77 and Sindh 81 391 ADE on- going scholarships completed; AJK- 65, Bal-98, GB- 70, KPK 77 and Sindh 81

1.11. USAID MSF 5% points indicator 4b. increase Percentage of from graduates from baseline USG-supported tertiary education programs reporting themselves as employed

Type: outcome 1.12. Custom 29 44 new TTIs 44 new TTIs indicator: identified in identified in Number of consultation with consultation with universities/ teacher education officials for education training institutes new degree officials for new (TTIs) offering new programs (28 degree degree and colleges and 16 programs (28 graduate programs universities). colleges and 16 universities). Type: Output 30 new TTIs notified 30 new TTIs Detail: notified AJK: 1 TTI identified and notified Detail: Balochistan: 1 TTI AJK: 1 TTI identified identified and FATA: 2 TTIs notified identified and notified Balochistan: 1 ICT: 2 TTIs identified TTI identified and 1 notified. FATA: 2 TTIs KP: 5 TTIs identified identified and and 4 notified notified Punjab: 15 TTIs ICT: 2 TTIs identified and 9 identified and 1 notified notified. Sindh: 18 TTIs KP: 5 TTIs identified and 13 identified and 4 notified notified Punjab: 15 TTIs

46 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015 identified and 9 notified Sindh: 18 TTIs identified and 13 notified

1.13. Custom 111 One national level One national indicator: orientation workshop level orientation Number of TTIs held and HEC invited workshop held offering the new the educationists and HEC invited degree programs from all regions to the (ADE and B.Ed. discuss reading educationists Hons) that instruction curricula from all regions incorporate reading to be incorporated in to discuss instruction curricula. new degree reading programs (ADE and instruction Type: output B. Ed Hons). Total curricula to be 28 education officials incorporated in participated (14M & new degree 14 F) from all regions programs (ADE of Pakistan. and B. Ed Hons). Total 28 One national education workshop held to officials develop reading participated basic curricula. 24 (14M & 14 F) (11 M & 13 F) from all regions participated. of Pakistan.

One national workshop held to develop reading basic curricula. 24 (11 M & 13 F) participated. 1.14. USAID MSF 6660 8,584 students (2,838 11,896 students 11,896 students indicator 4.2.2c. M & 5,746 F) enrolled (4,038 M & 7,863 F) (4,038 M & 7,863 Number of teachers and studying in degree enrolled and studying F) enrolled and enrolled in new programs (cumulative in degree programs studying in degree numbers). (cumulative programs degree program numbers). (cumulative Note: Total cumulative numbers). Type: output enrolment minus the Note: Total

47 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015 students graduated cumulative enrolment Note: Total during the reporting minus the students cumulative quarter and Punjab graduated during the enrolment minus colleges are also reporting quarter. the students excluded. graduated during Detail: the reporting Detail: quarter. AJK: 1,101 (283 M & AJK: 770 (182 M & 588 818 F) Detail: F) Balochistan: 2,449 Balochistan: 1,733 (662 (1,024 M & 1,425 F) AJK: 1,101 (283 M & 1,071 F) FATA: 201 (149 M & M & 818 F) FATA: 201 (149 M & 52 52 F) Balochistan: 2,449 F) GB: 715 (142 M & (1,024 M & 1,425 GB: 449 (93 M & 356 573 F) F) F) ICT: 22 (11 M & 11 F) FATA: 201 (149 M ICT: 22 (11 M & 11 F) KP: 2,278 (862 M & & 52 F) KP: 1,744 (663 M & 1,421 F) GB: 715 (142 M & 1,081 F) Sindh: 3,044 (1,271 573 F) Punjab*: 2,025 (297 M M & 1,773 F) ICT: 22 (11 M & & 1,728 F) 11 F) Sindh: 1,640 (781 M & * Data could not be KP: 2,278 (862 M 859 F) collected from 30 & 1,421 F) elementary colleges Sindh: 3,044 * Data could not be of Punjab (1,271 M & 1,773 collected from 30 F) elementary colleges of Punjab * Data could not be collected from 30 elementary colleges of Punjab Component 2: Improved policies and system for reading 2.1. Custom 6 Indicator: Number of provinces that adapt the standardized reading assessment tools for primary grade 1 & 2.

Type: Outcome 2.2. USAID MSF 80% EGRA analysis is in Indicator 4.3.2b process and its document will be Percentage of ready in quarter 2. districts adopting The workshop is the improved planned to be held in education March, 2015. assessment systems (e.g. EGRA)

Type: Outcome

48 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015

2.3. Custom 7 An introductory Policy papers in Policy papers in indicator: meeting on seven seven Number of assessment and provinces/regions provinces/region provinces with reading improvement developed. Policy s developed. Reading strategy (RIS) was recommendations Policy Improvement held with education pertaining to recommendatio Strategies (RIS) officials from FATA reading instructions ns pertaining to approved. time approved in reading An introductory five instructions time Type: Output meeting on provinces/regions(A approved in five assessment and JK, FATA, GB, ICT provinces/region reading improvement and KP) s(AJK, FATA, strategy (RIS) was GB, ICT and held with education KP) officials from FATA.

One hour reading notification issued by the Department of Education FATA to all primary school who will be earmark with one hour reading in their daily time table to develop reading culture and improve reading skills of the primary school’s students. 2.4. Custom 100% indicator: Proportion of provinces implementing and monitoring RIS.

Type: Output 2.5. Custom 7 indicator: Number of Apex institutions dealing with the Continuous Professional Development of Teachers that adapt TIG model.

Type: Output

49 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015

2.6. USAID 5 The policy initiatives indicator: reflected under PRP Number of laws, have been analyzed policies, regulations, within the framework or guidelines of NEP 2009. developed or modified to improve Policy matrix and primary grade policy scan reading programs or document have been increase equitable developed for all the access regions / provinces. 6 advisory committee Type: Output meetings were conducted to share, review and finalize the matrix and policy scan with the provincial / regional government officials / decision makers (AJK, FATA, GB, ICT, KP and Sindh) 2.7. USAID 42 Policy papers in Policy papers in indicator: seven seven Number of new provinces/regions provinces/region policies to which developed. Policy s developed. USG-supported recommendations Policy organizations have pertaining to recommendatio contributed reading instructions ns pertaining to time approved in reading five instructions time provinces/regions(A approved in five Type: Output JK, FATA, GB, ICT provinces/region and KP) s(AJK, FATA, GB, ICT and KP) 2.8. Custom 7 SC notified for all SC notified for indicator: provinces/regions. all Number of Steering provinces/region Committees As per the direction s. established and of Additional Chief functional at Secretary Education As per the provincial / regional separate steering direction of levels for Pakistan committee for PRP Additional Chief Reading Project was not established Secretary instead PRP is made Education Type: Output a part of existing separate Sindh Basic steering Education program committee for Forum. PRP was not established instead PRP is made a part of existing Sindh

50 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015 Basic Education program Forum.

2.9. Custom 5 Initiated meetings Initiated indicator: held with meetings held Number of stakeholders in GB. with provinces with Concept of teacher stakeholders in teacher certification licensing shared in GB. Concept of and licensing advisory committee teacher systems established meeting except AJK, licensing shared Sindh and Punjab in advisory Type: output committee National Consultative meeting except Workshop held,19 AJK, Sindh and govt. officials Punjab participated. National To initiate the Consultative teacher licensing and Workshop certification process, held,19 govt. a meeting was held officials with DCTE participated. Abbottabad officials at resource centre in To initiate the KP. A total of 5 teacher DCTE officials (4 licensing and male and 1 female) certification participated. process, a meeting was held with DCTE Abbottabad officials at resource centre in KP. A total of 5 DCTE officials (4 male and 1 female) participated. 2.10. Custom 111 Accreditation fee Accreditation indicator: from 8 GCETs fee from 8 Number of Teachers submitted to NACTE GCETs Training Institutes , four GCETs were submitted to (TTIs) that obtained provided on job NACTE , four accreditation of their support to prepare GCETs were teacher education their documents for provided on job programs NACTE support to prepare their

51 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015 Type: output documents for NACTE

2.11. Custom 10 Eight provinces have Draft MoU has Eight provinces Indicator: completed the PPP been developed have completed Number of Public situational analysis and send to Rotary the PPP Private Partnerships for AJK, Bal, FATA, Club for review and situational (PPP) established to GB, ICT, KP, Punjab feedback. A analysis for promote reading at and Sindh. meeting has been AJK, Bal, FATA, early grade. held with HUBCO GB, ICT, KP, Identification and and Laraib Energy Punjab and Type: output selection of technical for potential PPP in Sindh. assistance (TA) Balochistan and Draft MoU has completed. AJK respectively. been developed Agreement with One TA hired. and send to identified institution Rotary Club for to award to contract review and is under process. feedback. A meeting has been held with HUBCO and Laraib Energy for potential PPP in Balochistan and AJK respectively. One TA hired. 2.12. Custom 25 PRP has requested Nominations Nominations Indicator: to provincial/regional received from all received from all Number of host- education secretaries provinces / regions provinces / country individuals for the nomination of and documentation regions and who completed government officials completed. The documentation USG-funded for study tour. study tour will completed. The observational study commence in April study tour will tour 2015. commence in April 2015. Type: Outcome Component 3: Community Based Support for Reading 3.1. Custom 20% point Indicator: Change increase in percent of parents who express confidence in the school system in USG focused

52 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Life of Achievement for Cumulative Achievement till Indicator Type Project Current Quarter achievement Dec. 2014 Target (Jan. - Mar. 2015) till Mar. 2015 district.

Type: Outcome

3.2. Custom 35 Two thematic areas Two thematic indicator: identified for areas identified Number of reading upcoming grants. for upcoming enhancement grants. One RFA covering initiatives awarded two thematic areas One RFA to Pakistani civil developed for CRP covering two society grants and thematic areas organizations submitted to USAID developed for

for approval. CRP grants and Type: Output submitted to USAID for approval. 3.3. Custom 100% indicator: Proportion of reading enhancement initiatives completed by Pakistani civil society organizations (CSOs)

Type: Output 3.4. MSF Indicator: 20 Number of PTAs or similar school governance structure supported

Type: Outcome 3.5. Custom 300 Procurement 210,000 books 210,000 books indicator: Committee meetings procured for mobile procured for Number of conducted, financial bus library. The mobile bus communities with & technical bids service will start in library. The access to mobile evaluated and the next quarter. service will start bus libraries Purchase Order (PO) in the next of 04 mini trucks quarter. Type: Output issued to finalized vendor.

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Issues and Challenges

Security:

Pakistan’s volatile security situation continued to have an effect on PRP’s activities and implementation. Throughout the reporting period, staff travel had to be restricted due to various security advisories. The Matta circle had to be dropped from the project area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa owing to a particularly volatile environment. Due to the on-going military operation in the country, Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) are active, particularly in KP and FATA, and expect detailed information regarding travel plans and itinerary. In some areas, a police escort is also essential as per the security guidelines. Catering to all of this is a time consuming process. To counter this, PRP teams hold detailed meetings with security agencies, informing them of their plans beforehand and making sure that all required documentation is complete.

FATA No objection certificate (NOC):

As an on-going issue, which restricts PRP’s implementation, obtaining an NOC in FATA still remains a challenge. After a lot of effort, discussions and meetings with the Secretary, Additional Secretary and Director Education, it was agreed that PRP may carry out activities, such as advisory and steering committee meeting, in other locations, for instance Peshawar or Islamabad. Trainings were therefore carried out for smaller groups in Peshawar. However, field level activities may only be initiated after issuance of FATA NOC and proper security clearance.

NOC in other areas:

In other areas also, requirement of NOC hampers project activities and accomplishment of targets, such as the requirement of NOC for each visit to District Swat, Malakand and Lower Dir (KP). In order to overcome this challenge, the operations team has started applying for the NOC before expiry of the previously issued one and strives to build a rapport with the concerned department, and use personal contacts where possible.

Modification of project:

Since the modification of PRP was not approved this quarter, we had to seek prior approvals from USAID for implementation of activities. This increased time and pressure of the project.

Other commitments of training participants:

Mentors are chosen in consultation with the government and district education officials from the government ranks. Many mentors, teachers and head teachers were assigned other duties when the trainings were planned. For instance, annual examinations of primary and secondary grades were being held in some areas, or, in Mirpur, AJK by-elections were scheduled for mid March. PRP worked with the concerned government departments to ensure their participation in the trainings where it could and staggered the trainings in other places keeping in view the availability of participants.

Trainings in harsh environments:

Due to unseasonably heavy rains, landslides and small-scale floods in some areas of AJK blocked the roads that made it very difficult for participants to access the training venues. In

54 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

district Muzaffarabad, some areas were completely inaccessible for many days due to heavy snowfall. Therefore, teacher training at two venues had to be postponed till the last week of March. Organizing training at remote centers of District Skardu and Astore was challenging because of extreme weather conditions and remote geographical locations. There was more than two feet of snow at Rattu training center of District Astore during training on 20-24 March 2015 and some high altitude mountain areas (e.g. Minimarg Valley) were cut off due to avalanches and heavy snow, resulting in the absence of teachers in training. In spite of it all, project staff continued to push forward and met all the targets.

Transfers:

Frequent transfers within the government system also present a challenge to project activities. For instance, senior committee members of advisory and steering committees are frequently transferred, especially in FATA and Balochistan and ICT. PRP regional offices stay in constant touch with the government counterparts and ensure that in case of a member being transferred, another official is assigned to the post. Education Department GB started transfer of teachers and officials in District Astore and Skardu during TIG Cohort 1 roll out phase. Therefore, some trained teachers who were recently transferred were not available in schools where they were selected. As a result, the training of academic supervisors was postponed after consulting government counterparts and a new schedule of training was finalized once the Education Department had completed transfers of supervisors.

55 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Annexures

1. Material review checklist

2. Policy scan document

3. Press releases from inauguration of Department of Teacher Education, University of

Karachi

56 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Annex 1: Material Review Checklist

Material Review Checklist

Title of the material:

Review Date:

Province/region:

Standard Indicators: Indicators Yes No N/A Remarks if Any Curriculum: • The content is aligned with the National Curriculum. Content: • The units/chapters are graded according to the complexity

• The content focuses on the components of reading ((Phonemics, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, Comprehension) • The activities are interesting, engage learners and encourage questions • The content is contextually appropriate • The content is gender sensitive and respects diversity Pedagogy: • Methodology supports peer learning approach. • Facilitates independent learning • Material engages learners to reflect at their own learning. • Methodology considers different learning styles. • Content of material reflects learner centered approach Assessment: • Material includes on-going assessment, reflective tools, and peer assessment • Material has well defined tasks with clear objectives.

General Attributes: • Material includes table of contents with heading and sub headings. • Material is user friendly(Information and instructions are clearly written and free of error) • Easy to read with appropriate language/s • It cites the references of the material used from

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Indicators Yes No N/A Remarks if Any other resources. • Glossary of terms is available

• Material carries illustrations to enhance learners’ comprehension.

Any specific comments/suggestion (Please add more rows to the table below if needed) S # Page # Row # Comments and suggestions

Reviewed by: S # Name Designation Institution Signature

58 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

Annex 2: Policy Scan Document

1. Introduction

The USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project (PRP) is a five year program managed by the International Rescue Committee, Creative Associates, World Learning and Institute of Rural Management. The project is working to address Pakistan’s most pressing education issues. It works closely with public sector organizations, including provincial/regional education departments, to improve reading and its assessment systems, set reading standards and benchmarks, implement reading improvement strategies and the use of supplementary reading and instructional material, and also to create innovative public private partnerships to promote reading among early grade children. PRP is also geared towards effective, evidence- based articulation of policies pertaining to continuous professional development and other policy initiatives on teacher education for their integration in the mainstream of the public education system.

This Policy Scan highlights PRP’s interventions within the framework of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2009 and the Curriculum Framework 2006 to improve the quality of teaching of reading and its assessment by supporting improvements in pre-service teacher education, providing a model for teachers’ continuous professional development for in- service teachers, developing reading improvement strategies (RIS), increasing classroom instruction time on reading and promoting the adaptation, implementation and integration of PRP policy initiatives within the overall public education system of Pakistan.

The strategy for achieving the objectives of PRP interventions is to make connections between policy changes in support of reading instruction, and continuous professional development, pre-service teacher education and the institutions that implement these policies to create a sustainable framework for improving reading skills among children in each province aligned with the NEP, 2009. The strategy also focuses on working closely with provincial and regional education departments, Higher Education Commission, Provincial Institute of Teacher Education (PITE) and Bureaus of Curriculum (BOC) in developing and implementing reading related policies.

2. Situation Analysis

Reading is a fundamental component of learning. Students who do not achieve a certain level of reading by the end of grade 1 tend to fall behind in all other areas of cognitive development. The gap between the academic achievements of students, who do not learn to read by grade 1 and those who do, grows exponentially every year. This gap often results in students with low early grade reading skills dropping out of the school system. Therefore, reading is not only important for high academic excellence; it is also a key factor / indicator for economic growth. The students who fail to exploit their academic potential are often less able to contribute positively to the economy. As such, reading is the foundation for a country’s development.

The Annual Status of Education Report, 2013 (ASER) indicates that most Pakistani students are not learning to read on grade level in primary school. Forty-nine percent of grade 3 children could not read sentences in the language of instruction in their schools (Urdu, Pashto and Sindhi) and 45% of grade 5 children could not read grade 2 stories in their language of instruction in schools. These findings were further reinforced by the 2014 EGRA

59 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

results that also indicated low student achievement in Urdu reading skills. Less than 4% of grade 3 students could read a grade level passage with at least 80% comprehension and only 18% of grade 5 children read the passage of grade 3 with at least 80% comprehension. EGRA results also indicate that the majority of the children in grade 3 are not comfortable with letter word recognition and sound knowledge.

There are several issues that contribute to low reading outcomes among children in the early grades. The major factor is the absence of a reading curriculum. Learning to read is a part of language curriculum. Consequently, reading skills, such as phonics, phonemic awareness, coding and de-coding are not managed in a classroom environment and students are expected to move from learning letter words to reading text by grade 1. Low reading outcomes and poor teaching methodologies are linked to the absence of a reading policy and a system at national and sub-national levels to support reading instruction. There is no policy supporting a reading curriculum, time allocation for reading in the classroom environment, reading standards and reading improvement strategies. Additionally, poor pre-service teacher preparation for reading instruction and the lack of sustainable mechanisms for continuous professional development for practicing teachers to teach reading in early grades of primary schools contributes to low reading outcomes. Outside of schools, parents and communities have few opportunities to assist their children in learning to read.

The paragraphs below describe the various interventions of the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project (PRP) to support the improvement of reading instruction. They outline the context, current situation, policy initiatives and activities supported by PRP and the approach to sustainability of various PRP interventions. The paper also highlights the provisions of the National Education Policy, 2009 (NEP) and other policy documents to demonstrate that PRP is working within the overall framework of the national education priorities.

3. Reading Improvement Strategy (RIS)

Introduction

The Government of Pakistan has, over the years, allocated a proportionately large part of the national budget to education. As a result, and especially following Pakistan’s commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All (EFA) goals, enrolment has risen tremendously. However, the same cannot be said about the quality of the pupils’ reading skills.

The purpose of developing Reading Improvement Strategies (RIS) at various levels of the educational system is to highlight important policy and regulatory issues that need to be addressed to improve early grade reading. The RIS will provide roadmaps for implementing policy and other reforms needed to improve the teaching and learning of reading in the lower primary classes in Pakistan. According to global research findings, six key institutional and policy factors need to be considered while developing and implementing a program/strategy to improve reading in the early grades:

• Adopt a reading skills-based approach within the lower primary school reading curriculum to help pupils to develop the five basic reading skills

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• Maximize time during which lower primary pupils are actively engaged in learning to read • Introduce children to reading in the language they are most familiar with on arrival in school • Provide in-service training and continuing professional support for teachers on the components of literacy acquisition, appropriate pedagogical skills, and the appropriate use of teaching-learning materials • Use textbooks with adequate and appropriately graded reading texts and supplementary material for pupils to practice reading, and • Conduct learning assessments using tools that focus on the essential and teachable reading skills-- letter recognition, phonemic awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency, listening and reading comprehension—to obtain reliable, easy-to-understand data on pupils’ achievement in reading and therefore to help teachers, schools and their communities to work on improving how pupils learn to read.

Current Situation

A study of the literature on reading reveals six key institutional and policy issues that need to be considered in developing and implementing a reading strategy aimed at improving reading. According to Amber Gove and Peter Cvelich (2011) and Dorothy DeStefano (2012), the six issues involve (1) the reading curriculum, (2) instructional time, (3) language of instruction, (4) teacher training and continuing professional support for teachers, (5) reading textbooks and other teaching-learning materials, and (6) assessment. In Pakistan, there is no national reading curriculum for the early grades. Moreover, the lack of a coordinated plan, i.e. a written strategy or roadmap at the provincial, district or school levels, has impeded efforts to improve early grade reading outcomes. An analysis of the status of reading, especially in early grades, with regard to the foregoing six essential factors, revealed several areas of concern. These include:

• The Reading Curriculum: The curriculum focuses on a language skills integration approach, with reading being one of the components (the others are listening, speaking, and writing) and with language development as the ultimate aim of the existing language curriculum.

• Instructional Time: According to the Scheme of Studies, 2006 there is no specific timetable for teaching reading at early grades.

• Language of Instruction: The New Education Policy (NEP) 2009 underscores the teaching of Urdu as the national language that connects people across Pakistan and is a symbol of national cohesion and integration. The teaching of English is recognized as vital for being competitive in the global economy. In addition, the NEP recognizes the mother tongues/local vernaculars of the country, which are the source of ethnic and cultural richness and diversity. However, many teachers are ill prepared to teach in local languages in the early grades and the existing curriculum for reading does not support their efforts.

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• Teacher Training and Continuing Professional Support for Teachers: There has been insufficient focus on reading in the pre-service teacher education program and little in- service education and training for practicing teachers on reading.

Textbooks: There has been insufficient use of textbooks with adequate and appropriately graded reading text for pupils to practice reading.

• Assessment: There is no institutional mechanism in the assessment skeleton to assess the reading skills among the early graders.

PRP Policy Initiatives and Activities to Support Reading Improvement Strategies

The process of developing provincial-level RIS will follow a bottom-up approach including classroom observations, focus group discussions and interviews with teachers, head teachers, education managers and stakeholders from Teacher Training Institutes (TTIs), Ministry of Education, Bureau of Curriculum and Higher Education Commission. The information gathered through this process will form the basis for developing a reading improvement strategy for each province (and later at the district and school levels) to address the concerns noted above. Provincial Steering Committees will serve in an advisory role in developing the RIS and support is through the approval process at a national level workshop.

The RIS will serve as a roadmap for each province to achieve its self-identified goals for reading improvement. In close coordination with the department of education, the PSC will lead the time bound provincial RIS with extensive PRP support. PSCs will translate policies into clear guidance on the implementation of specific provincial, district, and school level strategies to improve early grade students’ reading. The RIS will primarily focus on the six key institutional and policy issues noted above to strengthen the capacity of provinces, districts, and schools to formulate, implement, and monitor successful reading programs in public schools.

Sustainability

The sustainability of the RIS for early grade readings will be safeguarded by involving the PSC and advisory group forums and relevant stakeholders from HEC and public education system in the process of its development, policy approval, putting in place administrative guidelines essential for its successful implementation and monitoring its progress.

4. Reading Instruction Time

Introduction Increasing reading instruction time in the classroom is crucial to enhancing students’ reading skills. The basic components of skills that reading instruction time has to cater for are: 1. Phonemic awareness, which refers to focusing on, manipulating, breaking apart and putting together sounds orally;

62 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

2. Phonics, or linking written letters to their sounds and forming spelling patterns; 3. Fluency, which refers to achieving speed, accuracy, and expression in reading; 4. Vocabulary, which refers to knowing words and their meaning; 5. Comprehension or understanding what one reads or hears ; and 6. Writing and print concepts

International experience shows that adequate time to practice reading is crucial in learning how to read. The data available from Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Rwanda indicates relatively more time spent on language lessons per week. Most successful reading programs allocate 60 minutes to daily reading lessons. However, even when adequate time for reading lessons is provided for on the official timetable, actual reading learning time could be lost through teacher and/or pupil absenteeism and poor use of classroom time. Research has shown that with all other things being equal, students who spend more class time on a learning task perform better than students who spend less time (DeStefano, 2012). In addition, research has shown that children who arrive at school less prepared to learn require more time to reach a desired achievement level. This is the case with many Pakistani children with regard to learning how to read, as they come from non-literate backgrounds and enter grade 1 without any pre-school education experiences. It has also been noticed that the children come to the school with little to no skills in the language of instruction, which puts them at a disadvantages. Consequently, there is a need to be concerned about the time pupils spend actively engaged in learning how to read, as this is not the same as the time that a teacher and pupils are in class. Time for active engagement in learning to read could be lost through time spent on other language skills, class management issues, and other non-learning activities.

Current Situation

In Pakistan, the lower primary (grades 1 to 2) curriculum consists of four core subjects, with varying numbers of 40 minute lessons a week per subject. Urdu and English language classes each have seven 40-minute lessons per week. Whatever teaching time is available is primarily focused on language teaching, as such how to read is not the goal-reading for content understanding is the goal of reading in the existing curricula. Reading is treated as only one component of language teaching. Besides the relatively limited instructional time available, the wastage of instructional time is very high due to teacher and pupil absenteeism among other reasons. More time needs to be allocated to reading instruction and ensuring that the time is actually spent helping lower primary school pupils learn the technical and complicated skill of how to read.

PRP Policy Initiatives and Activities to Support Increased Instructional Time Pakistan allocates less time to the teaching of language than other countries. As there is no national standard, a policy is needed at provincial levels establishing a practice of a minimum one hour per day for the teaching of reading. To support an evidence-based policy decision, PRP will collect classroom observation data to learn the amount of time spent on the teaching of different reading skills in lower primary classrooms. The provincial teams will select sample schools in their respective areas to visit and gather the required information to establish a baseline for the actual time currently spent teaching reading.

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With regard to allocation and use of adequate time for the teaching and learning of reading in the lower primary classes, Pakistan will have to address two critical issues in the implementation of a provincial policy: (1) finding time in the school day to allocate to reading instruction, and (2) ensuring that time allocated to reading instruction is actually spent on helping lower primary school pupils learn to read.

PRP will work with policy and decision makers at the provincial/regional education departments to propose a suggested timetable based on international standards and the data collected in each province to earmark a reasonable and acceptable amount of time for reading instruction at the primary level with proper academic supervision.

Additionally, ensuring that the time allocated to reading instruction is actually spent on the teaching and learning of reading will require effective quality assurance mechanisms. The department of education in each province/region has an elaborate infrastructure with education managers available at provincial, district and tehsil levels. Each A.E.O/D.D.E.O needs to supervise approximately 200 schools. D.D.E.O/A.E.Os need to be motivated and trained to ensure quality control in monitoring and managing the reading instruction time in schools.

Sustainability

The development of provincial polices that establish the minimum instructional time to be allocated to the teaching of reading will help to institutionalize new practices that support reading instruction. PRP will support provincial education departments to mobilize the directorate of school education, district education offices and head teachers to resolve administrative and procedural issues such as strict adherence to instructional time in their time table, supervision and monitoring by supervisory staff to ensure the implementation of this policy at school level.

5. Reading Assessment

Introduction

Reading assessment helps to determine not only what students understand from reading but also how they use what they understand. The NEP 2009 (Ref. 6.4, PA-2) stated that a National Authority for Standards of Education shall be established. It further emphasizes that “Student performance shall be based on assessing competence in a specialized area that requires a given skill set. There shall be periodic reviews of the assessment system.” Moreover, the NEP 2009 added that “Multiple assessment tools in addition to traditional examinations shall be explored, to ensure the right balance between the uses of formative assessment approaches combined with the summative approach of high-stakes examinations.” The main objective of reading assessment under PRP is to focus on interpretation and reproduction of orthography (written symbols); and linking the sounds of the language to its symbols in an automatic way, i.e. reading fluency, instead of emphasizing language phonology and mastering the rules of language.

Current Situation

64 Pakistan Reading Project – Quarterly Progress Report (Jan-March, 2015)

The public education system in Pakistan has a system of formative, summative and diagnostic assessments to measure student learning outcomes. Formative reading assessment is done by teachers while teaching languages (Urdu and English) though it depends on teachers’ initiatives as there are no prescribed guidelines available. This assessment is generally performed at the end of language units which also include reading assessment but should also be conducted throughout the learning process. The most common methods are based on conventional teaching and assessment (reading aloud, rote/vocabulary memorization, etc.). The summative assessment is a holistic assessment generally carried out at the end of the academic year by the examination units of district education departments. The diagnostic assessment, to some degree, is carried out by the National/Provincial Education Assessment Systems (NEAS/PEAS) at an interval of two to three years to assess the efficiency of the public education system. Neither of the two major systems, the National Education Assessment System (NEAS) nor the Provincial Education Assessment System (PEAS), carries out early grade reading assessments. Both lack the professional and institutional capacity to do so which is why, to date, such assessments have been carried out only by implementing partners and NGOs supported by donor agencies. National level reading assessments, such as the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA 2014) and the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2013) are the two mechanisms through which reading assessments have been carried out in Pakistan. There is no policy on developing and institutionalizing standardized reading assessment systems or tools.

PRP Policy Initiatives and Activities to Support Reading Assessments

PRP will work with NEAS/PEAS/Assessment Units through provincial Steering and Advisory Committees to develop staff capacity in reading assessments and to contribute to the reading assessment process for grades 1 & 2 children. This will also enable the staff to routinely provide data on student reading outcomes that policy makers and educators need to adjust training and other support systems to improve student reading and measure progress against standards. This model of capacity building links assessment policy to field practice so that staff can immediately apply what they have learned. With substantial support to education departments, it is hoped that reading assessment will become an integral part of the assessment system in Pakistan.

To build the capacity of the departments, PRP will engage the technical and administrative decision- makers and staff at multiple tiers at different developmental and implementation stages so as to make reading assessment an integral part of the educational process. The process will consist of various steps to: a) assess needs and prepare needs assessment report of the assessment unit/PEAS/NEAS; b) share findings of the needs assessment with provincial/regional Advisory Committees for feedback; c) seek approval of the needs assessment report from regional/provincial Steering Committees; d) build the capacity of NEAS/PEAS/Assessment Unit staff in developing a reading test items bank and reading assessment administrative and implementation plan; e) build the capacity of Urdu teachers to use formative/summative assessments more systematically; f) seek approvals and notifications of the respective regional/provincial governments to execute reading assessments at early grades of primary level; g) facilitate the development of a monitoring mechanism for early grade reading assessment activities in the field, once in the project cycle.

Sustainability

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An early grade reading assessment system will be sustained by engaging relevant stakeholders in the public education system in the process of developing appropriate policies and procedures and establishing the necessary administrative structures in the context of existing assessment mechanisms.

6. Standard Setting for Reading

Introduction Standard setting is critical for reforming the education system and improving the teaching and learning processes. It is also considered an integral part of the student assessment process. PRP envisages reforms that will result in national improvement in early grade reading outcomes. Establishing reading standards and benchmarks is a critical part of this reform process. The National Curriculum Framework 2006 emphasized the need to have standard benchmarks for every subject. Accordingly, the standard worked out for language reading is “All students will search for, discover and understand a variety of text types through tasks which require multiple reading and thinking strategies for comprehension, fluency and enjoyment”. The NEP 2009 also addressed the issue of standards in proposing national standards for educational inputs, processes and outputs, to improve the quality of education at all levels. The rationale for national standards is to reduce the differences in quality across regions. It recommended that assessment processes be standardized and become uniform across the Boards over time, so that students appearing in examinations under different Boards are assessed against standardized benchmarks. To that end, the NEP 2009 also proposed establishing a National Authority for Standards of Education.

Current Situation Though the national curriculum does include targeted learning outcomes for any national or regional language, there are no national reading standards. A National Authority for Standards of Education has not been established. There is no policy institutionalizing national reading standards. Recently the federal government has notified National Curriculum Council which has been mandated to develop minimum quality standards of education as envisaged the national education policy 2009.

PRP Policy Initiatives and Activities to Support Reading Standards Through consultative meetings to raise awareness on the importance of standards, PRP will engage policy makers and legislators through an institutional mechanism such as the National Curriculum Council to develop reading standards and benchmarks and provide guidance for their implementation in the public education system. PRP will facilitate the process of establishing standards that define reading performance and that will serve as the foundation for comprehensive reading reform. It will solicit technical inputs from members to be nominated by the provincial and regional governments with expertise in standards and assessment, reading and curriculum as well as practicing teachers in grades 1, 2 and 3. PRP will also work with technical experts in the provincial/regional education departments to analyze the reading standard data and develop a consensus on standards and benchmarks for reading. These standards will provide a basis to measure reading skills among early grade readers. A national workshop will be organized with participants from USAID, senior policy makers from the provincial/regional education departments and international experts on standard setting to develop national reading standards drawing on the data and information developed at the provincial levels as well from international experience and evidence. PRP will support provincial level departments of education in developing appropriate policies to adopt the national standards and benchmarks.

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Sustainability

The establishment of clear standards and benchmarks for reading that are supported by appropriate policies and procedures at the provincial level combined with capacity building on the development and use of standards will contribute to sustainability. Standards for early grade reading will be sustained by involving relevant stakeholders of the public education system in the process of their development, policy approval and also in establishing the necessary administrative structure and mechanisms to monitor and support the use of competency standards in reading for the early grade children.

7. Curriculum, textbooks, and supplementary materials Introduction In the reading instruction process, teachers need to convey information to students in an appealing way and communicate an interest and passion for reading. Along with text books, supplementary materials are a key element in the teaching and learning process. Using supplementary materials can make classes more interesting and motivating if materials are appropriately selected when planning lessons. Supplementary materials can promote creativity among the students and enhance their language and communication skills.

The Government of Pakistan developed and ratified a National Textbook and Learning Materials Policy in 2007. The policy does not talk that support learning to read. The objective of the policy was to improve the quality of education at all levels through better quality textbooks at affordable prices and the provision of other learning materials for promoting Pakistan as a knowledge-based society. The NEP 2009 also emphasizes the importance of supplementary materials. Baluchistan, Sindh and KP governments have developed their respective Education Sector Plans. All three provincial governments highlight the importance of developing quality learning and instructional materials for children and teachers. They also put a value on improving the reading skills of children in early grades and developing grade-level reading books and supplementary materials.

Current Situation

In Pakistan, the role of textbook development rests with the provincial or regional textbook boards, and private publishers have also started developing textbooks. These boards and private publishers publish the textbooks according to the guidelines provided in the national curriculum. Supplementary materials and other resources are absent from the curriculum and the components of reading are not addressed in government-issued textbooks. There are no other materials (e.g. decodable or leveled readers in Urdu) and text books do not provide a systematic approach to the component skills of reading.

After the devolution of powers to the provinces in 18th amendment, provincial/regional textbook boards will be in charge of the development of supplementary reading materials and their implementation in the school learning process.

PRP Policy Initiatives and Activities to Support Supplementary Materials PRP will form Material Review Committees (MRCs) in each province, comprised of representatives from apex institutions, bureaus of curriculum, and textbook boards, to help review both teacher training and student learning materials to address critical resource gaps. All materials developed by PRP will align the project’s overall learning -to- read

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approach, ensuring that learning/teaching materials, teacher skills strengthening, and teacher support strategies mutually reinforce one another to improve student reading skills.

Going forward, MRCs will be reoriented as materials and will actively participate with PRP on the material review process. The role of the MRCs will be to ensure all learning and teaching materials are specifically designed to provide practice in the component skills of reading. They will be aligned with teacher in-service training modules and developed with Pakistani teachers and students in mind. The materials will be introduced in the face-to-face trainings led by Reading Quality Managers appointed by the PRP for quality assurance of the training programs. Mentors (public servants) will offer follow up support through Teacher Inquiry Group (TIG) meetings and school visits, ensuring large scale distribution and teacher familiarity with the materials for their use in reading lessons.

In addition to the activity books and readers, PRP will provide teachers with a variety of supplemental materials for reading instruction. The package will include alphabet strips, letter and sight word flash cards, and big books for whole-class read aloud. Big books for teachers to use during read aloud will recycle words in decodable and leveled readers so that what teachers read aloud complements and reinforces what students are learning to read independently. Teachers will learn to use these materials effectively during face-to-face trainings, TIG meetings and videos, as well as through supervisory support.

In addition, PRP, in consultation with the MRCs will select culturally and developmentally appropriate, gender sensitive, reader friendly and level- specific titles, and ensure the provision of 50 books and a bookshelf for each school. These supplementary books for children’s reading (fiction and non-fiction) will form the basis of a classroom corner library for each Urdu classroom, and in select locations, for Pashto and Sindhi. In addition, five sets of the decodable and leveled reader’s series will also be provided. Teachers will learn strategies for managing students’ use of the library materials and for integrating these resources into their daily lessons. Head Teachers will also be oriented to library management and will actively engage parents/community members on library use and maintenance support. School Associates will monitor library management and use, troubleshooting challenges as they arise. PRP will encourage daily independent reading time (approximately 10 minutes per day) for all students. Moreover, the students will be encouraged to borrow books to read at home.

Sustainability Supplementary materials to be provided by the PRP will have to be reviewed by the MRC and its subsequent approval will be solicitude from provincial /regional education departments. This will encourage ownership by the government. Attempts will also be made to build public private partnerships by involving the provincial/regional governments in an institutionalized manner. These partnerships will provide an opportunity for public schools to get supplementary materials through private sector support. Furthermore, the policy makers shall be convinced to provide the cash resources to the school for the purchase of the reading materials on a regular basis.

8. Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

Introduction

The quality of teacher education in Pakistan has been a long-term issue of concern. Neither pre- nor in-service teacher education has adequately addressed the teaching of reading.

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Until recently, pre-service teacher education consisted of two certificates for primary school teachers - Primary Teaching Certificate (PTC) and Certificate in Teaching (CT). Later, the Diploma in Education (DIE) was initiated but phased out soon after its introduction. The PTC and CT were often criticized as being ineffective in preparing teachers. With low entry requirements, a short duration (1 year) and an outdated assessment mechanism, as well as inadequately-qualified teacher educators delivering these courses, the PTC and CT have become obsolete (Pre-STEP, 2010) and have already been phased out in most teacher education institutions. Specifically, these certificates were eliminated in all colleges that are under the control of provincial governments and that are affiliated with universities. However, AIOU, the university that produces the largest numbers of teachers continues to enroll students in their CT and PTC programs; a fact that has been widely criticized by educational experts in Pakistan. The NEP 2009, acknowledged the shortcomings in pre- service teacher education, including the vast number of low-grade programs and stipulated the following reform:

A Bachelor’s degree, with a B.Ed., shall be the requirement for teaching at the elementary level. A Masters level for secondary and higher secondary, with a B.Ed., shall be ensured by 2018. PTC and CT shall be phased out through encouraging the present set of teachers to improve their qualifications, while new hiring shall be based on the advanced criteria. (p. 42)

In-service teacher education and continuous professional development have been largely absent in Pakistan. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Aga Khan Foundation have developed short-term programs for in-service teachers, but these programs have not been formalized or scaled up throughout the country except Punjab where Directorate of Staff Development (DSD) Punjab launched Continuous Professional Development (CPD) frame work in 2007 for twelve (12) districts in Punjab. A policy framework for in-service teacher education exists but has not been fully realized. The NEP 2009 highlighted the importance of in-service teacher education for improving the quality of education in schools. The policy actions of NEP 2009 included the following except reading as that should have been emphasised:

• All teachers shall have opportunities for professional development through a program organized on a three-year cyclic basis. Progress in teaching careers shall be linked to such professional development. • In-service teachers training in mathematics shall be given with due attention to developing conceptual understanding, procedural knowledge, problem solving and practical reasoning skills. • In-service teacher training in science shall be based on real life situations, use of science kits and provision of science kits to all primary and middle schools. • Institutionalised and standardised in-service teacher training regime shall be established in those provinces where it has not already been done. • In-service training shall cover a wide range of areas: pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge; subject content knowledge; testing and assessment practices; multi-grade teaching, monitoring and evaluation; and programs to cater to emerging needs like trainings in languages and information and communication technology. • Training needs shall be assessed on the basis of research and training programs. • In-service teacher training institutions shall pay emphasis on developing the capacity of teachers and school managers for school development plans to overcome low achievement scores.

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Current Situation

Improving the quality of in-service teacher education is easier said than done because there is no permanent structure in place that ensures funding and sustainability of efforts and initiatives in this important area of reform. Professional development initiatives for teachers in Pakistan remain under-funded and hindered by logistical challenges. With the exception of several donor-supported reading programs in recent years, there has been little focus on the teaching of reading in in-service programs. No CPD policy framework exists, except in Punjab. There are no approved policies requiring mandatory CPD for teachers or linking teachers with CPD/in-service programs with the accredited teachers’ training institutions’ course credits or certification/degree programs. CPD is not linked with teachers’ career development or their promotions although some financial benefits are allowed for some higher degrees.

Every province has its own apex body in charge of in-service teacher education. Provincial apex bodies such as Directorate of Staff Development (DSD) in Punjab, Bureau of Curriculum (BoC) in Sindh and Baluchistan, Directorate of Curriculum and Teacher Education (DCTE) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA, and the Directorate of Education Extension working with the Directorate of Curriculum and Research Development in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) are responsible for professional development of in-service teachers in their respective provinces. Provincial Institutes for Teacher Education (PITE) were established in all the provinces to provide an infrastructure for in-service teacher education but only a few of them operate at full capacity. Even though the apex bodies are put in charge, there is no proper, permanent and consistent mechanism for in-service teacher education in the provinces. In general, provincial governments do not allocate adequate funds for professional development of practicing teachers in provincial annual budgets except Punjab.

PRP Policy Initiatives and Activities to Support CPD PRP will provide technical assistance to each province and regional education department to support the apex institutions in developing strategic plans to improve their in service education and training programs in reading. The plans will focus on a) adopting/adapting Teacher Inquiry Group (TIG) approaches by apex bodies for CPD; b) developing an incentive framework through pre service credit for in service CPD; c) creating career ladders and progression within a CPD support structure; and, d) paying for professional development for practicing teachers. PRP will work with the provincial education team (advisory/steering committees) to align the goal of the provincial level strategic plan for CPD with the provincial goals for in service teacher education. PRP will engage all stakeholders including apex bodies, the Higher Education Commission and the provincial advisory/steering committees in developing a strategic plan for CPD and also for its approval.

The PRP program is based on the Teacher Inquiry group (TIG) model. This in-service program combines the benefits of face-to-face trainings in the local setting with self and peer study in between TIG meetings where teachers apply what they learn, and reflect on the results. TIGs represent a structure and approach to professional development that is different from that of other forms of professional development. TIGs are a form of collaborative professional development and provinces/ regions may adopt such model according to their own context. TIGs are communities of practice in which a culture of encouragement is promoted. The PRP TIG model is a 17 month program that includes, face-to- face training, three hour TIG meetings, instructional practice, and self and group reflection. TIGs are

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groups of 6-12 teachers from one to five schools. They have a facilitator and a mentor and meet monthly over two years to engage in a supportive, peer learning program that focuses on reading. In between monthly TIG meetings, teachers complete assignments that require them to apply what they learned in the TIG meetings, assessing their instructional practices and student learning, trying new practices with students, and reflecting on the results individually and/or with peers. Teachers assess students at the beginning and end of each month to track learning. The overarching goal of TIGs is to increase student reading levels by improving the quality of reading instruction and assessment in Urdu for early grade students.

Sustainability

To institutionalize and sustain apex bodies’ strategic planning for CPD beyond the life of the project, PRP will work with the faculties of the apex bodies to tie their strategic planning process into those of the provincial education department. This will provide faculties with on-going resources and support and cement their strategic plans with those of their parent institutions. Moreover, efforts will be made to make the TIG model an integral part of the strategic plan. This will facilitate the apex institutions’ adoption of this model for other CPD programs

9. Teacher Certification and Licensing

Introduction Numerous studies and reports have shown that the inconsistent and low quality of teachers in Pakistan affects learning outcomes, particularly in public schools. There are a number of reasons why the issue has not been resolved but perhaps the most important of these is the failure to approach a solution from a systemic perspective.

Teacher certification is the process by which prospective teachers get licensed to teach within a given area after completing required coursework, degrees, tests and other specified criteria. A licensed teacher is one that has been awarded formal recognition of the ability to teach – an age-range, type of education program or provision (e.g. within Special Needs), or a subject. This recognition is usually in the form of some kind of certification (and often registration) with a body or organization accredited or delegated to do so by the province. These teachers are usually registered as evidence of having reached these standards and acquired certain competencies. The license may be for a specific period or, more often, is a permanent one. In most countries, it is mandatory for teachers in public schools to possess such a license. A robust and transparent process for the licensing of teachers has significant value in terms of regulation and control of quality and provision of education. It also delivers confidence for all stakeholders (young people, parents, teachers, unions and educational leaders) in the security and capacity of the profession. It is most effective when supported by appropriate enabling legislation and regulations.

The NEP 2009 supported the establishment of a teachers’ licensing policy stating that “Teacher training arrangements, accreditation and certification procedures will be standardized and institutionalized.”

Current Situation

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In 2011, six provincial governments, with the support of the USAID Teacher Education Project, engaged in long-term strategic planning. Entitled Teacher Education Strategy 2018, the comprehensive strategic plan outlines the provincial governments’ vision and goals for its teacher education system, and the detailed strategies to achieve these goals. Two provinces - Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Sindh - identified licensing teachers as a strategy to assure and sustain the quality of their teaching workforces.

In 2012, the AJK and Sindh governments initiated the process of establishing a licensing system for their teachers. Over the course of six months, an international consultant and project staff worked with each provincial teacher licensing taskforce to begin conceptualizing a teacher licensing policy, engage stakeholders, and determine the necessary resources to implement and sustain the policy. In AJK, prominent education officials and government representatives developed its roadmap and action plan. The action plan proposed that a semi-autonomous body would be required to oversee the teacher licensing system. Thus, a proposal for the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Teacher Certification and Licensing Authority (AJKTCLA) was developed and submitted to the education department for approval. The education department not only approved the proposal but further allocated funds in the government’s development budget to the teacher licensing initiative. In Sindh, as there is already an established authority - the Sindh Teacher Education Development Authority (STEDA) - with the mandate to implement and oversee teacher licensing, the teacher licensing taskforce instead focused on raising stakeholder awareness, developing a long-term advocacy plan, and creating the specific criteria for a teacher licensing policy. A policy proposal for an advocacy working group, and terms of reference for a teacher licensing department within STEDA were approved by the education department.

Both the governments of AJK and Sindh are planning to license all teachers (public and private) and begin at the elementary school level. The new Associate Degree in Education (ADE) and Bachelor’s in Education (Honors) graduates will be licensed first and then practicing teachers will be phased in as their competencies are assessed.

The development of a teacher’s licensing policy is at the initial stages of formulation in Punjab. The DOE has faced opposition from teachers’ union and private schools and has also lacked the institutional capacity and political will to develop and institutionalize the licensing system. Other provinces have made no significant progress.

PRP Policy Initiatives and Activities to Support Certification and Licensing PRP will provide necessary technical assistance to the provincial and regional education departments to strengthen certification and licensing systems. The consultant will work with the provincial/regional government through a consultative process involving advisory and steering committees to develop a flexible framework of certification and licensing to accommodate all groups of teachers. The process will include: a) a proposal from long term advocacy campaign; b) specific criteria with complete terms of references for teacher licensing; and, c) a roadmap and action plan for a licensing regime.

Sustainability Licensing is sustainable when it’s an integral part of the articulated policy of the government for teacher education and development. Since PRP will be working with provincial education departments which formulate policy for teacher education and development, therefore it is hoped that provincial education departments will own it and support its development. The function of teacher licensing as a tool for regulating the quality of the workforce will have

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the most impact when it is under the management of an agency/body dealing with overall teacher education and development. The structure and capacity of the agency/body will need to be adequately resourced and funded in order to sustain this.

10. Teacher Recruitment and Service Rules

Introduction Recruitment and service rules guide the initial hiring of teachers. They describe the qualifications required for entry into the profession and the salary grade at which an individual will start. An amendment in the service rules is mandatory to ensure that a teacher with a qualification of ADE and B.Ed. (Hons.) can be recruited into the teaching profession. Provincial education officials are under pressure to continue hiring less qualified teachers who have either a degree in certificate teaching (CT) or primary teacher certificate (PTC) because the existence of ADE and B.Ed. (Hons.) is not yet recognized in the official hiring policy. PRP does not have the authority to stop them from doing this. The NEP 2009 and the provincial sector plans both emphasize that the recruitment of less qualified teachers having a degree of CT and PTC should be phased out by 2018.

Current Situation Under the USAID Teacher Education Project (TEP), all provincial and regional governments, except ICT and FATA, were provided technical assistance for amending their recruitment and service rules. The consultant worked closely with the education department, provincial steering committees and other stakeholders in the provinces and regions, including the law and finance departments, except in FATA, ICT and KP. As a part of recruitment rules, all provinces, except Punjab, proposed to raise the entry level salary for ADE and B.Ed. degree holders. This will benefit future teachers, but those in practice are not likely to benefit, as making changes that include the current teacher’s workforce are potentially very costly and unlikely to be approved. PRP will follow up with the provinces and regions, especially AJK and Baluchistan, to get the approved amended service rules notified. PRP will also work with the provincial and regional governments to counter these pressures by amending the existing service rules so that hiring of elementary school teachers with CT or PTC qualification at lower salary is eventually phased out

PRP Policy Initiatives and Activities to Support Recruitment and Service Rules Although the ADE and B.Ed. (Hons.) programs have been officially accepted by ICT and FATA and also introduced to all TTIs of FATA and ICT, the existing recruitment rules, however, have not yet changed to reflect the new degree qualification. PRP will provide technical assistance to ICT, FATA and KP to amend their existing recruitment and service rules by incorporating the new qualifications as a requirement for entry into the teaching profession. This initiative will allow the new pre-service degrees to be recognized as qualification and allow the new graduates to be recruited into the teaching profession. In the case of KP, the rules were partially amended as one of the qualifications for recruitment of teachers; however, B.Ed. (Hons.) was not included. Accordingly, PRP proposes technical assistance to KP as well to help them to amend the rules to include B.Ed. (Hons.) as one of the qualifications for recruitment into the teaching profession. Through this support, PRP anticipates the sustainability of USAID investment in the ADE and B.Ed. (Hons.) program.

Sustainability

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PRP will work closely with provincial officials to develop realistic policies pertaining to teachers’ recruitment through participation in the development, support and local buy-in, with the active participation of the provincial advisory and steering committees. This process is likely to ensure the sustainability of teachers’ recruitment initiative.

11. Public Private Partnership (PPP) Introduction In the field of education, PPPs have long existed in many forms, especially at the local level, but without any legal framework, guidelines or government ownership of the relationships. The NEP 2009 recommends promoting public-private-partnerships, particularly in the case of disadvantaged children, and allocating an agreed percentage of the education budget as grant in aid. The GOP acknowledges that not all children in Pakistan have access to basic education, while those who do enroll in school generally receive a poor quality education, particularly in reading instruction. Recognizing this fact, the government has recently started to encourage the private sector to fill the gap. One example of government support to private sector engagement in education is through PPPs with national and provincial level foundations. These foundations have developed various programs and schemes to increase education offerings, i.e. adopting schools, providing vouchers, reimbursing costs per pupil, and providing grants in aid. Advantages of PPPs include speedy, efficient and cost effective delivery of services; creation of added value through synergies between public authorities and private sector companies, in particular, through the integration and cross transfer of public and private sector skills, knowledge and expertise; alleviation of capacity constraints and bottlenecks in the economy through higher productivity of labor and capital resources in the delivery of products; accountability for the provision and delivery of quality public services through a performance incentive management/regulatory regime; and, innovation and diversity in the provision of public services with private sector support.

Current Situation Provincial Education Foundations already exist at provincial/regional levels and at the national level. These (public) education foundations are engaged in building PPP through grants and other educational promotion activities. In addition, some local and international NGOS are also involved in PPPs in basic education. Almost all the regional and provincial governments have developed and passed a Public-Private Partnership Act, which mainly focuses on infrastructure related projects. The Act unpacks the PPP project delivery process in general. However, there are no proper guidelines or procedures specifically for education- related PPP projects. Moreover, it is often difficult to identify credible and sustainable partners. Rigid government regulations and lengthy bureaucratic approval processes also affect the PPP process. In addition, current private sector involvement in the education sector is also inadequate.

These Acts do not address primary education and reading specifically in their public private partnership guidelines and methods. The involvement of communities and SMCs, and their involvement in education-related PPP projects are missing from the Acts. The Boards of Governance have insufficient numbers of participants from the private sector. The roles and responsibilities of all the concerned stakeholders are not elaborated clearly. There are difficulties in identifying credible and sustainable partners. Although, the Acts highlight the importance of opening a separate PPP unit/node but its function/terms of reference within the education ministry/department is missing. The Acts do not specifically address the

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monitoring, accountability and output based performance mechanisms for education and reading (social sector) related PPP projects.

PRP Policy Initiatives and Activities to Support PPPs PRP, in consultation with the regional and provincial governments, will constitute a separate task force on PPP wherever it is required and approved by the respective regional and provincial governments. This taskforce will include representatives from different government departments such as the departments of education, planning and development, women’s development, finance and members from the chambers of commerce, civil society, private organizations and NGOs. This taskforce will provide guidance and support to the project and government on policy recommendations and its implementation through public- private partnerships in primary education with a focus on reading.

PRP will carry out a current PPP situation analysis within each region and province. It will conduct research to identify: a) existing Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and alliances as well as any regulatory frameworks, policies, legislative acts, and other potential PPP resources at the local, provincial and national levels; b) local and international organizations, associations, foundations, for-profit organizations, donors and national and provincial governments, which have been, or are currently Textbox 1: Potential PPP engaged, in alliances or partnerships in the education Contributions sector; c) corporate social responsibility (CSR) and • Classroom libraries social investment programs targeting formal • School library at cluster level education, out-of-school education, reading and • Connectivity through solar reading assessment, and girls’ access to education. panels The situational analysis will also include a qualitative review of the PPP programs within the country, • Internet/SMS connections analyzing their success, sustainability and impact. • E-learning through provision of tablets PRP will develop PPP guidelines/toolkits on how to • Donation of books & identify, design, implement, and evaluate supplementary materials partnerships, alliances, and cost-sharing activities. • Developing videos and tutoring These guidelines/toolkits will support a systematic materials and cohesive approach throughout the project and • Supporting PRP mobile library will also put in place mechanisms to identify innovative and scalable initiatives as well as corrective actions to be addressed with PPPs in the project. The PRP team along with its partners will conduct capacity building sessions for local and national governments, private sector agents, and other relevant stakeholders on the use of these toolkits. PRP will also work with the provincial education departments to develop policies on transparent and clear procedures for PPPs taking care of the conflict of interest of different parties..

PRP will identify sustainable alliances, ad-hoc cost-sharing opportunities, and strategic private sector partners (i.e. corporations, foundations) at community, provincial, and national levels and align and/or design activities to leverage such resources and partners. PRP will continue to identify and meet relevant private sector stakeholders and build potential partnerships with them, which are aligned with the PRP activities. Textbox 1 identifies possible PPP contributions.

Sustainability

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By building partnerships with the private sector, both corporate and foundations, PRP will promote a culture of support for continued improvements in education, with a particular focus on improving reading outcomes. PPPs can help to leverage the investments made by PRP with USAID support.

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Annex 3: Press releases

http://tribune.com.pk/story/845874/new-dept-set-up-at-ku-with-aid-worth-1-9m/ http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-304300-Teachers-training-institute-opens-at- KU-with-US-support http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/sindh/01-Mar-2015/new-teacher-education-building-at-ku- inaugurated http://www.thefrontierpost.com/article/246387/ http://pakistan.onepakistan.com.pk/news/education/355300-olson-opens-teacher- education-building-at-ku.html

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