|
|
|
|
6 million Pakistani children out of school
Islamabad, Dec 17, 2007: Over six million children are out of school in Pakistan. This
puts Pakistan as the country with the third highest number of out-of-school
children in the world. This was revealed in UNESCO's EFA Global Report 2008. The
theme for the report is 'Education For All: Will we make it?' It reveals a
hopeful but extremely worrisome picture of the state of education in Pakistan.
According to recent statistics, less than 60% of the total adult
population in Pakistan, along with India and Bangladesh, can read and write with
understanding. On a more positive note, the report finds that Pakistan is among
36 countries where the survival rate (not enrolment rate) of girls to the last
grade of primary school is higher than boys.
There are many factors that
hamper quality education in Pakistan, including crowded classrooms, poor school
infrastructure, inadequate learning environments, shortage of teachers and even
greater shortage of trained teachers. These are some of the main reasons high
dropouts rates, especially at the primary school level. UNESCO's EFA Global
Monitoring Report, 2008, mentions that the ratio of pupils to trained teachers
in primary education in Pakistan is less than 50%. That is, there are half as
many students as trained teachers. Put simply, there are not enough trained
teachers to meet the needs of the students. Despite the many problems
confronting Pakistan's education system, Pakistan is among 24 countries whose
public expenditure on education amounts to less 3% or less of GDP.
This
is the context in which Children's Resources International, (CRI) Pakistan is
raising the country's literacy rate and quality of education.
Through an
inter-generational literacy initiative or 'Family Literacy Programme,' CRI is
giving meaning to the lives of those denied the basic right education. What's
more is that it is instilling in them the desire to learn more. The programme
enhances the literacy skills of its adult learners, most of who are women, and
contributes to the empowerment of Pakistani women.
Through educating
adults, the literacy programme benefits children's education. Research has shown
that families have the greatest influence on their children. The more educated
they are, the more apt they are to give their child's education priority, and to
extend learning in school into the home.
CRI, Pakistan's Chief Executive
and Founding Director Mahnaz Aziz recently introduced the organization's
innovative Family Literacy Programme to fourteen countries in the region at
UNESCO's Regional Conference in Support of Global Literacy held in New Delhi,
India, from November 29th -30th 2007.
First ladies, Education and
Literacy Ministers, United Nations Goodwill Ambassadors, international NGOs and
research institutions, universities, and private and public donors attended the
conference.
Aziz was one of two representatives from Pakistan at the
conference. The federal government will be launching this report in February
after the elections, in collaboration with UNESCO, UNICEF, and
CRI.
During an exclusive interview upon her return from
New Delhi, Aziz said that Pakistan's programme was highly appreciated at the
conference because it was large-scale, innovative, and systematic.
Aziz
said: "We are working in 400 public schools in Islamabad and about
200 schools outside Islamabad. Our literacy approach is activity-based and our
strategy is quite different from other programmes because it engages parents in
meaningful literacy. The majority of the participants in our literacy classes
are mothers, and their learning is tied to the learning of their children.
Parents are made literate in the context of being involved in children's school
activities and creating an educational learning environment at home."
"Due to frequent dropouts in rural areas, we have amended CRI's
methodology to the extent that interest is being created in teaching." CRI
Pakistan currently has 95 literacy centres in select schools in Islamabad,
Rawalpindi and Karachi. Since its inception in 2002, the organization's adult
literacy experts have trained over 400 teachers as adult literacy educators;
these teachers have educated over 5,500 adult learners in basic math and
literacy. "We expect to train 270 adult literacy trainers in the next year and
enroll 3,780 new adult learners," said Aziz.
The Chief Executive said
that literacy is a global challenge and should be tackled as such. Since some of
the highest illiteracy rates come from the region of South and South-West Asia,
Aziz suggests that the region's combined initiatives to address literacy
challenges, thereby 'contributing to global sustainable human development and
poverty reduction,' CRI Chief Executive said that now we are not in the position
to change our stance with the change of government. "Within Pakistan, we cannot
afford to have a different literacy scheme for each government.
We must
follow and work on one reform agenda in order to achieve the Education For All
(EFA) goals and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The nationalistic picture
should be contributing to one goal. Moreover, there should be strict
accountability for every government initiative." CRI is doing its part to
contribute to the global literacy agenda. She said that the Family Literacy
Programme of CRI aims to make parents literate by linking their learning with
their child's learning, a strategy that motivates them to complete CRI's
year-long literacy classes. The objective of the programme is to generate
parents' interest in education and thereby avoid dropouts.
The programme
targets non-literate parents, grandparents and older siblings of children in CRI
partner schools. The sessions cover 100 lessons in basic literacy in math
developed by international literacy experts. The way the Family Literacy
Programme is that CRI's adult literacy experts train primary school teachers as
adult literacy educators. These teachers then conduct evening literacy sessions
in two-six month phases for 1.5 hours twice a week. Parents receive certificates
upon completion of each six-month phase. The News
|
|
|
|
 |
| Post your Comments/ Views about the news. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Education News | | Updated: 23 May, 2012 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
