SINDH COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION PROGRAM QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT Year VII, Quarter – I, (October 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SINDH COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION PROGRAM QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT Year VII, Quarter – I, (October 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019) Submission Date: January 30, 2020 CMP is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) CMP is implemented by Blumont Engineering Solution (BES) under Contract Award No: AID – 391 – C – 13 – 00006 This report was produced for USAID. Sindh Community Mobilization Program Quarterly Progress Report, Quarter – I, Year – VII Contract Award AID-391-C-13-00006 October 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 CONTENTS Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 2 A. PROGRAM SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 4 B. SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING OCTOBER 1, 2019 – DECEMBER 31, 2019 ............. 5 C. MISSION STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK (MSF) INDICATOR SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 1, 2019 – DECEMBER 31, 2019 ............................................................................................................................... 7 D. STATUS OF ACTIVITIES AS PER COMPONENTS .............................................................................. 9 Component 1: Increase Communities’ Involvement in the GOS Reform of Merging, Consolidating, and Upgrading Schools ......................................................................... 9 Component II: Improve Community and District Government Coordination for Increased Girls’ Enrollment ......................................................................................... 11 Component III: Improve Child Nutrition in Selected Communities and Government Schools through Research that Informs Innovation and Good Practices................ 18 Component IV: Launch of Education Management Organizations ................................. 21 Documentation Outreach and Communication ............................................................... 25 E. STATUS OF ACTIVITIES AS PER CROSS CUTTING THEME ............................................................. 27 Gender Mainstreaming ........................................................................................................ 27 F. OPERATIONS ............................................................................................................................... 29 G. OVERCOMING OBSTACLES .......................................................................................................... 29 ANNEX I. Success Stories ....................................................................................................................... 31 ANNEX II. INDICATOR BASED SUMMARY REPORT ................................................................................ 35 Annex III: MAJOR MEETINGS AND ATTENDANCE LISTS ........................................................................ 38 ANNEX IV. FINANCIAL REPORT .............................................................................................................. 41 P a g e 2 | 41 Sindh Community Mobilization Program Quarterly Progress Report, Quarter – I, Year – VII Contract Award AID-391-C-13-00006 October 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 ACRONYMS CMP Sindh Community Mobilization Program COR Contracting Officer Representative DEO District Education Officer DRR Disaster Risk Reduction EMO Education Management Organization GBSS Government Boys’ Secondary School GGPS Government Girls Primary School GOS Government of Sindh IEC Information, Education, and Communication MSF Mission Strategic Framework NOC No Objection Certificate PMIU Program Management and Implementation Unit PPP Public Private Partnership PRP Pakistan Reading Program PSE Private Sector Engagement PSF Project Support Fund PTA Parent-Teacher Association RFP Request for Proposals RSU Reform Support Unit SBEP Sindh Basic Education Program SELD School Education and Literacy Department SEMIS Sindh Education Management Information System SIP School Improvement Plan SMC School Management Committee SOW Scope of Work TER Technical Evaluation Report TFEC Technical and Financial Evaluation Committee USAID United States Agency for International Development USG United States Government WATSAN Water and Sanitation P a g e 3 | 41 Sindh Community Mobilization Program Quarterly Progress Report, Quarter – I, Year – VII Contract Award AID-391-C-13-00006 October 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 A. PROGRAM SUMMARY The status of education, generally in Pakistan and particularly in Sindh province, has been facing a plethora of challenges. The government has signed commitments, initially under Millennium Development Goals and later under Sustainable Development Goals and has made some progress. In order to improve education in Sindh, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Government of Sindh (GOS) signed an activity agreement to implement the comprehensive Sindh Basic Education Program (SBEP). The program is one of the major bi-lateral initiatives that supports the government’s efforts of ensuring access to quality education for every child. The emphasis of SBEP is to increase and sustain students’ enrollment in primary, elementary, and secondary grades. Initially, the program was designed for five years and limited to seven districts in the northern part of Sindh province, namely Dadu, Jacobabad, Kamber-Shahdadkot, Kashmore, Khairpur, Larkana, and Sukkur; and five towns of Karachi, including Bin Qasim, Gadap, Kemari, Lyari, and Organi of Karachi in Sindh province, however the program’s success attracted attention from all stakeholders. GOS and USAID decided to extend the program duration until August 2021 and the geographic span was expanded to all 29 districts of Sindh province with increased targets. The Sindh Community Mobilization Program (CMP), one of the major components of SBEP, is implemented by Blumont Engineering Solutions. CMP, a cornerstone of SBEP, has four key components: 1) Increase communities’ involvement in the GOS reform of merging, consolidating, and upgrading schools; 2) Improve community and district administrations’ coordination for increased girls’ enrollment; 3) Improve child nutrition in selected communities and government schools through research that informs innovation and good practice; and 4) Pilot component: Launch of the Education Management Organizations (EMOs). In addition, CMP has three Cross-Cutting Themes that add significant value to these objectives: 1) gender mainstreaming of program activities; 2) water and sanitation: improving facilities, knowledge, and practice; and 3) Disaster Risk Reduction: improving awareness, knowledge, preparation, and practice. Additionally, CMP has provided small grants to 300 neighboring schools to address needs identified and prioritized in school improvement plans. The program’s key objectives are to: facilitate coordination among the community and other stakeholders in aspects related to construction, merging, consolidation, and upgrading of SBEP schools and empower communities. The initial scope focused on 409 schools (106 construction schools and 303 non-construction schools, also termed as ‘neighboring schools’ due to proximity to construction schools); the program aimed to increase students’ enrollment, particularly girls’ enrollment, and retention in 409 selected schools through strengthened linkages between communities and District Education Departments and meaningful community involvement in day-to-day school management and local decision making. However, under the revised scope of work, CMP will work in 750 schools— existing SBEP targeted schools and an additional 350 GOS identified priority model schools. CMP’s inclusive community activities are designed to make these educational improvements sustainable by increasing communities’ support for their local schools and advocacy for better educational provisions. P a g e 4 | 41 Sindh Community Mobilization Program Quarterly Progress Report, Quarter – I, Year – VII Contract Award AID-391-C-13-00006 October 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 B. SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING OCTOBER 1, 2019 – DECEMBER 31, 2019 At the beginning of the seventh year of Sindh Community Mobilization Program (CMP), there were many key accomplishments involving community empowerment and strengthening community coordination with the Government of Sindh (GOS). CMP continued to mobilize communities and provide technical assistance to nine communities and schools in preparing feasibility reports and implementing consolidation indicators at the notified schools. Beside the school consolidation, in order to facilitate construction related activities, CMP coordinated community meetings with the Program Management and Implementation Unit (PMIU), where community members shared their concerns and Halcrow Pakistan, being a construction component partner acknowledged as well as assured their support to get address the issues pertaining to construction. In this quarter, CMP actively engaged with communities to strengthen their coordination with EMOs, PMIU, and other stakeholders through four joint quarterly progress review workshops, 10 school management committee (SMC) meetings, and periodic school visits to identify issues that could be highlighted and resolved at relevant forums. CMP also assisted communities in updating their 106 already developed School Improvement Plans (SIPs) and also helped communities track the implementation of 138 SIPs.