NARRATIVE INTERIM REPORT January – December 2014 Dubai Cares Code: PITA0020 Written by Baela Raza Jamil, Imtiaz Nizami and Farwa Fatima NARRATIVE INTERIM REPORT January – December 2014 1 Narrative Interim Report For the period of January to December 2014 (One Year) Improving learning outcomes, enrolment and transitions from Project Title ECE to primary education especially for girls and vulnerable groups in Pakistan Dubai Cares Code: PITA0020 Donor Dubai Cares Punjab: Muzaffargarh & Dera Ghazi Khan Locations Sindh: Sukkur, Shikarpur, Karachi Balochistan: Lasbela, Qila Saifullah and Quetta Duration (start date as per 03 Years (January 1st, 2014) project document) 1. Early Childhood Education (ECE) in government schools 2. Combining Access/Learning for Out of school children through Chalo Pharo Bharo (CPB) and School Improvement: Learning for Access (L4A) program (10- 20% Low cost private schools) 3. Teachers without Frontiers - unique outreach through Key Project Components trainers and e-enabled platforms in far flung areas of Pakistan 4. Learning Assessment (Learning Metrics Task Force/ASER) 5. Children‟s Literature Festival 6. Evidence Based Advocacy NARRATIVE INTERIM REPORT January – December 2014 2 Contents I. Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 4 II. Situation Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 5 III. Project Objectives and Design ......................................................................................................... 9 3.01 Project Components ................................................................................................................ 9 3.02 Project Beneficiaries ............................................................................................................. 15 3.03 Project Districts ..................................................................................................................... 18 IV. Project Achievements: ................................................................................................................... 20 4.01 Pre-proposal Activities:......................................................................................................... 20 4.02 Post-proposal Activities: ....................................................................................................... 21 V. Progress by Components: .............................................................................................................. 22 5.01 Component 1: “Early Childhood Education (ECE) .............................................................. 22 5.02 Component 2: Learning for Access (L4A) ........................................................................... 27 5.03 Component 3: Teachers Without Frontiers (TWF) ............................................................... 38 5.04 Component 4: Learning Metrics Task Force (LMTF) .......................................................... 39 5.05 Component 5: Children‟s Literature Festival (CLF) ............................................................. 40 5.06 Component 6: Advocacy and Policy Influencing ................................................................. 41 VI. Challenges ..................................................................................................................................... 44 VII. Upcoming Activities ...................................................................................................................... 45 VIII. Annexure ................................................................................................................................... 55 8.01 Annex 1-A: MoU with Balochistan - Education Department ............................................... 56 8.02 Annex 1-B: MoU with Sindh – Education and Literacy Department ................................... 70 8.03 Annex 2: List of Staff Members for the project .................................................................... 80 8.04 Annex 4: List of Tehsils and Union Councils Selected ........................................................ 83 8.05 Annex 5: Summary of OOSC and schools selected in each district ..................................... 84 8.06 Annex 6: List of schools for ECE and L4A .......................................................................... 85 8.07 Annex 7: List of Para Teachers hired for ECE and L4A ...................................................... 90 8.08 Annex 8: ECE Learning Material ....................................................................................... 100 8.09 Annex 9: CPB Learning Material ....................................................................................... 101 8.10 Annex 10: Impact Evaluation Research Framework .......................................................... 102 8.11 Annex 11: Teachers Without Frontiers (TWF) First Meeting Concept Note ..................... 108 8.12 Annex 12: TWF Strategy Partner-Document ...................................................................... 112 8.13 Annex 13: TWF Training Online Portal Information and Navigation Guideline ............... 126 8.14 Annex 14: TWF Training Strategy and Teachers Enquiry Form ........................................ 165 8.15 Annex 15: LMTF Report .................................................................................................... 169 8.16. Annex 16: CLF Report from Jan‟14-Dec‟14 ......................................................................... 177 8.17. Annex 17 Regional Conference Agenda and Karachi Consensus Statement ....................... 180 8.18. Annex 18: Meeting with Gordon Brown- London June 10, 2014 ...................................... 192 8.19. Annex 19: (GEM) Muscat Oman- Session Summary: ........................................................... 196 NARRATIVE INTERIM REPORT January – December 2014 3 I. Executive Summary The project specifically targets early childhood education, enhanced enrolment and learning outcomes of out of school children, children at risk in school and transitions from early childhood education to primary and post primary education for especially girls and vulnerable groups in Pakistan. It is as much informed by the provincial education sector plans as it is by the national/global commitments towards MDGs/EFA and current debates to finalize the post 2015 development agenda, goals and targets. On the one hand, the scope of the project is intensively focused on Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab for all components, whilst on the other selected elements and advocacy are being conducted nationwide. The project is close to finishing its first year with notable appreciations in each of its components. There are over 180 early childhood education classrooms functioning and around 201 Chalo Parho Barho (CPB) camps set up; enrollment of out of school children (OOSC) has significantly increased in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. With targets such that each ECE classroom has at least 60 children enrolled, the results reveal that enrolment has significantly increased from mid till the end of the year with 62% of the target met. For CPB camps, the targets include enrolment of atleast 40 OOSC children (who fall outside the ECE category) per camp and 15 in-school children at the risk of dropping out. The results show that 90% of the target enrolment of in-school children and almost 70% of the target enrolment of OOSC has been met. The remaining targets are forseen to be met as phase 1 for component 1 and 2 ends in May 2015. With the incorporation of a creative curriculum to deliver quality education in camps, 15-day assessments have been conducted to assess the improvement in the learning levels of young children. Results reveal transition of a considerable number of children from the base category to higher categories of learning for all three subjects: Urdu/Sindhi, Math and English. However, the number varies across districts, reflecting a response to the differing geographical and socio-economic conditions of the districts. Alongide, government teachers have been selected and received subject-based training sessions while students have been slected to form clubs and help their schools, teachers and other fellow students with different initiatives. For the third component, an online portal for universal access to teachers is being designed and material is being uploaded. Mentors are being identified to conduct teacher training sessions due to start soon. The fourth component of learning metrics task force has conducted two meeting with the selected Learning Champions in Pakistan and is underway to design tools for assessment practices in Pakistan. The fifth component of Children‟s Literature Festival has reached out to thousands of children, setting new benchmarks.The 3rd Teachers‟ Literature Festival was recently held in Lahore and was attended by around 5000 teachers from all across Punjab. It was followed by the Children‟s Literature Festival which was successfully credited as the biggest CLF to date with an attendance of more than 35000 children, teachers and parents from all across Punjab Component 6 is reaching out to influence policy through advocacy. In this regard, ITA has partnered with A World At School (AWAS) and is taking initiatives to build a team of Education Youth Ambassadors from across Pakistan, collecting 3 million signatures for the Up4School Campaign,