Promoting gender equality in Pakistan through inclusive textbooks

March 5, 2019

By Ashley Williams

3 min read

When 8-year-old Aaliya reads her grade 2 textbook, she sees a future of opportunities ahead. Her favorite chapter is called “People Who Help Us” and, as she flips through the pages, she sees men and women working side by side in interesting professions. Aaliya dreams of taking to the skies and becoming a pilot like the woman illustrated in her book.

A girl in Pakistan pointing at picture of a female pilot in her textbook. — Aaliya points to the female pilot in her textbook.

This increased gender representation in textbooks is a recent phenomenon in Pakistan, and it may have a profound impact.

Women and girls in Pakistan face an uphill battle in and out of the classroom. A mere 43.4 percent of girls make it to secondary school and only 25 percent of the total labor force is comprised of women. Pushing these numbers upward can help make strides across the country on issues like economic development, the health of children and shifting beliefs on the role of women in society.

As part of reading reforms, the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training recently revised the language textbooks that are now being used in all public schools of the Islamabad Capital Territory.

The Pakistan Reading Project provided technical assistance to the government counterparts in the revision process to ensure integration of reading skills and gender equality in the newly developed textbooks.

As a result, women’s representation in grade 1 Urdu textbooks has increased in content (from 33 to 49 percent), illustrations (from 14 to 47 percent) and in leading roles (from 27 to 44 percent). Grade 2 textbooks have seen similar gains.

“These learning materials are far more inclusive than past resources,” explains Dr. Shaheen A. Shah, the project’s Director of Gender, while evaluating the revised textbooks through a gender lens.

It has been observed that by and large textbooks in Pakistan still show gender bias in favor of men, providing greater representation to men especially in leadership positions, illustrations, sports, occupations and a majority show men and women in stereotypical roles.

Nabila Kousar – a public school assistant head mistress who mentors teachers trained by the Pakistan Reading Project – is pleased to see increased inclusivity and diversity in revised textbooks. She believes the most important messages in the book are the ones encouraging a peaceful and respectful world, especially for minorities and women. Kousar says the materials’ images of women in leading positions encourage girls to prepare themselves for leading roles in the future.

Taking inclusive textbooks to scale

The Pakistan Reading Project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development, is implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in partnership with Creative Associates International, World Learning and IRM across Pakistan.

To date, Pakistan Reading Project has reached 1.38 million students and trained 25,049 teachers in reading instruction, of which 48 percent are girl learners and 40 percent are female teacher beneficiaries. It has also developed and distributed 5.3 million new reading learning materials across Pakistan for teachers, students and education officials in Urdu, Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi and Brahui languages for early grade readers.

Dr. Ijlal Hussain, the Project’s Deputy Chief of Party, sees the changes in textbooks as a major milestone.

“Pakistan’s education policies, plans and curricula are fully committed to promote gender equality. However, it is important to make deliberate efforts, since such things are not going to happen automatically,” he says.

By integrating women and girls into all powerful spheres of social and economic development, the materials promote a future where girls like Aaliya can grow up to be pilots – or anything else men can be.

With reporting by Dr. Shaheen A. Shah

What the 3 most lethal elections of 2018 have in common

February 26, 2019

By Jeff Fischer

4 min read

The three most lethal elections of 2018 were the congressional and municipal elections in Mexico (July 1), the general election in Pakistan (July 25), and the parliamentary and district elections in Afghanistan (Oct. 25). In these cases, lethality is measured through loss of life, and each of these elections counted loss of life in triple digits.

Why were these elections more violent than others? Each of these countries had experienced electoral violence before, but why was the intensity of last year’s violence so much greater than in past elections?

We can learn more by examining the unique characteristics of each election and how they compare with each other.

Mexico’s Electoral Violence

By one estimate, at least 48 candidates for congressional and municipal offices and 84 political party officials were assassinated during the Mexican election campaign. These murders occurred throughout the country, in 22 of Mexico’s 31 states, and were not exclusive to any single political party.

These deaths were coupled with at least 543 other incidents including kidnaping, extortion, and other forms of violent intimidation. By one BBC report this was termed “the most violent election campaign in Mexico in living memory”. The incidents largely occurred in the pre-election phase. Mexico’s narco-gangs are seen to be behind the killings in order to maintain local safe havens and transit points for their illicit activities.

Pakistan’s Electoral Violence

In one pre-election bombing claimed by ISIS, at least 149 people were killed at a campaign rally in Tustung. Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies estimates that at least 230 people lost their lives and over 400 were wounded in 22 election-related terrorist attacks in July alone. Suicide bombers also attacked polling stations on Election Day, in one case killing at least 31 people.

While Islamic insurgencies such as the Taliban and ISIS were behind these mass casualty attacks, some violence between political rivals was also experienced with shootings and clashes reported in in Mardan, Rajanpur, Khipro and Kohistan.

Afghanistan’s Electoral Violence

In the pre-election phase, violent incidents included a suicide bombing at a voter registration site on April 22 which killed 57 people, with children among the dead. There was an August 25 bombing near to an election office that killed three people.

In the pre-election phase, most of the target locations were mosques and schools, which were doubling as voter registration sites. However, on October 13, 22 people were killed by a bombing at a campaign rally in Takhar province. Candidates were targeted for assassination.

On Election Day, dozens of people were killed in various attacks on polling stations across the country, with the Taliban claiming to carry out such attacks. Suicide bombings, grenades, improvised explosive devices and rocket attacks were employed against polling stations. Police officers were ambushed in Ghor province, with four officers killed in the assault. Other attacks included kidnappings and forms of intimidation. Nearly a third of polls were closed for security reasons. The Taliban and ISIS have taken credit for the incidents.

This election is seen as the country’s most violent election since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2004.

What do they have in common?

Main perpetrators were not political rivals

In each case, the main perpetrators of this election-related violence were not political rivals (except for some incidents in Pakistan). That is to say that the violence was not being employed as a means to win the election.

In the case of Mexico, it was criminal gangs seeking to control local governance to establish safe haven and transit point for illicit activities and drug shipments. And, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, it was the Taliban and ISIS, who were not seeking to win an election, but to disrupt, discredit, or derail it. While security forces in Pakistan were accused by some parties as manipulating the vote, in none of these cases were security forces complicit in the violence.

Prevention is difficult

Preventing electoral violence by criminal and insurgent perpetrators is a difficult task because their motives reside largely outside of the scope of mediation efforts. Criminals have economic motives and employ violence to continue their operations. For insurgents, their motives lie in extremist ideologies, making them largely unresponsive to mitigation programming.

Tactics align with perpetrator

Among these three cases, it is clear that criminal groups and Islamic insurgents used different tactics. Criminal groups used targeted assassinations of uncooperative candidates. Whereas, while some candidates were targeted in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the insurgencies chose mass casualty tactics and employed bombings at electoral and campaign events. In all three cases, the contests included district-based offices so the number of candidates, and thus targets, was plentiful.

Timing of the violence

In all three cases, the violence took place in the pre-election phase and on Election Day. In this way, the violence was employed to influence turnout, and, if successful, post-election violence was not necessary.

Why did we see so much violence?

Why were these elections more lethal than in other countries that experienced electoral violence, including Sierra Leone, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe? The answer may lie in the profile of the perpetrators.

As discussed, the motives of criminals and insurgents are not to “win” elections. For criminal groups, elections are a means to continue their illicit activities. For insurgents, elections are insurgents to demolish. As a result, these perpetrators do not believe in the institutions of election to determine governance. They do not have a stake in the political stakes in these contests as other actors do.

As a result, while political rivals and ruling parties are the most frequent perpetrators of electoral violence, their stake in the elections as a means to achieve governance may serve as a tempering measure, which, while not preventing electoral violence, can reduce its intensity and lethality.

Jeff Fischer is a Senior Electoral Advisor with the Electoral Education and Integrity Practice Area at Creative Associates International

Public-private partnerships boost education in Pakistan

October 19, 2017

By Noman Manzoor

5 min read

From books and backpacks to classroom rehabilitation, private companies, including South Asia’s largest independent power producer HUBCO, are stepping up to support a culture of reading across the country.

To date, eight companies have formed partnerships with Pakistan Reading Project, an initiative which aims to improve the reading skills of 1.3 million children in grades 1 and 2 in public schools across the country. The project is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The private-public partnerships come at an opportune time when the country seeks to boost the educational outcomes of its millions of public school students.

“Public-private partnership is a pressing need of the time to promote the national agenda of quality education in public schools,” said Talha Saleem, Assistant District Commissioner of Hub, a city in Balochistan province, at the project partnership kickoff event last fall at the Government Boys High School in Lasbela district.

Pakistan Reading Project staff to distribute school bags to students. — Talha Saleem, Assistant District Commissioner of Hub, and Shoaib Baqai, HUBCO Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, join Pakistan Reading Project staff to distribute school bags to students in the Balochistan province.

In the coastal Lasbela district in Pakistan’s most impoverished province of Balochistan, more than 6,200 students in 28 primary schools received new school bags, stationery and supplies through the partnership with HUBCO.

Guiding the Pakistan Reading Project’s public-private partnership strategy, Fayyaz Ahmed, Ph.D., Deputy Chief of Party, says, “Engaging corporations in developing local communities is vital, as it creates a win-win situation for both businesses and residents.”

“Parents are encouraged to send more children to school when support is provided to their kids in one form or the other,” he adds.

The Pakistan Reading Project supports provincial and regional departments of education to improve the quality of teaching and assessment of reading at the early grade level in public schools across Pakistan. It is implemented by the International Rescue Committee, in partnership with Creative Associates International, World Learning and the Institute of Rural Management.

The project is developing alliances, like the one with HUBCO, with private sector partners on behalf of the Government of Pakistan as a way to mobilize and maintain social investment to improve reading outcomes in Pakistan’s public schools.

Leveraging private sector contributions to support education is a key priority of the Government of Pakistan, based on the 2009 National Education Policy.

And that policy priority is reaping practical benefits. To date, more than 19,000 students have benefited from the public-private-partnerships facilitated by the Pakistan Reading Project. Through these partnerships, the private sector has contributed $130,335 toward government schools.

Through trainings, research and taskforces in seven regions and provinces, the project is also working to build capacity among provincial and regional departments of education to continue to develop and sustain these alliances.

The Pakistan Reading Project has also partnered with Intel Pakistan to train 108 public school teachers on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills across five regions/provinces: Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Sindh, Azad Jammu Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. As part of Intel’s Education Initiative, the training was designed to enhance teachers’ competencies in the use of ICT in schools and their daily lives.

Naveed Siraj, Country Manager for Intel Pakistan Corporation, says this public private partnership is making a positive impact in classrooms and communities.

“Intel Pakistan is committed to making a difference in the lives of children and teachers through opportunities and interventions that help enhance their learning capabilities,” he says. “It has been our pleasure to have collaborated with the Pakistan Reading Project team.”

Since its independence, Pakistan has experienced strong economic growth and currently enjoys a robust corporate sector. However, widespread poverty and poor social sector service delivery continue to plague the country.

Many view the role of corporate social responsibility as critical to bridging the gap between the fiscal and institutional capacity of the government and the vast social needs of the country.

Businesses help improve classrooms and equip young learners

By channeling private support to government-operated schools, the Pakistan Reading Project and its partners aim to improve the quality of education within the public school system.

For example, in Balochistan province, another private partner, the Rotary Literacy Mission, is working closely with the education department to provide books for primary and higher grade students and establish and rehabilitate school libraries and classrooms in public schools.

Rotary has donated 2,550 books to the school libraries of 18 public schools in the Lasbela district, benefiting more than 5,000 students.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, other companies are joining hands with the Pakistan Reading Project to uplift public schools.

In the outskirts of Peshawar, City University is developing new classrooms at the government primary school, Garhi Sherdad No. 3, which needed urgent infrastructure improvements.

Pakastani children in front of school. — With support from Pakistan’s private sector, Garhi Sherdad primary school constructed and rehabilitated classrooms, washroom facilities, a courtyard and an overhead water tank.

Working closely with the provincial education department, City University constructed and rehabilitated classroom and washroom facilities, as well as a courtyard and an overhead water tank, benefitting more than 118 primary students.

Head Teacher Shamshad Ahmad, who actively participated in the construction process, expressed his gratitude for the rehabilitation efforts.

“I am excited to see this school transformed into a neat and clean building,” he says. “I would like to thank the Pakistan Reading Project for taking this initiative. More such private sector partners should step forward to help local schools.”

In another initiative in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, private partner Alpha Pipes is providing supplies and materials such as books, stationery, water coolers and shelves to the Government Girls Primary School, benefitting more than 350 students.

With multiple prospective partnerships in the pipeline, the Pakistan Reading Project looks forward to continuing to work with the public and private sectors to improve school environments and quality education for millions of students.

Fayyaz, of the Pakistan Reading Project, says the project is also working to ensure that these partnerships endure and continue to benefit the country’s young learners.

“Once the synergies and systems are established between the department of education and corporations, it’s likely that such support will continue to pour in even after the project closes–contributing directly or indirectly to higher enrollment,” he says.

Noman Manzoor is a Communications and Reporting Manager for the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project.

Scholarship recipient overcomes conflict and poverty to teach in FATA

December 21, 2016

By Noman Manzoor

4 min read

Sami Ullah always wanted to join the teaching profession, like his father, to contribute to the development of his rural village in Pakistan’s Federally Administrated Tribal Area (FATA).

When the Associate Degree in Education program opened in 2013 at the Government College for Elementary Teachers in nearby Mir Ali, he jumped at the chance to pursue his dream.

The degree program and the scholarship Ullah received were thanks to the U.S. Agency for International Development through its Pakistan Reading Project. The project worked with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education Commission to launch the new early grade reading-intensive degree at teacher training institutes across the country.

The five-year Pakistan Reading Project supports provincial and regional departments of education to improve the reading skills of 1.3 million children in first and second grades. It is implemented by the International Rescue Committee and its partners Creative Associates International, World Learning and the Institute of Rural Management.

Despite his enthusiasm, Sami Ullah’s dreams were almost derailed mid-degree by conflict near his village as government forces campaigned against terrorist insurgents from North and South Waziristan. He temporarily put his studies on hold and fled, along with nearly 1 million other residents, to neighboring Bannu.

“I became a temporarily dislocated person, sometimes traveled to different cities, stayed under a shed and even lived under no roof at all,” he recalls.

While several education students in FATA abandoned their studies due to instability or economic pressures, Ullah was determined to continue on. As soon as he could, he returned to his courses, committed to earning his degree so he could help young learners in his area.

In March 2016 at a ceremony in Peshawar, Sami Ullah graduated with an Associate Degree in Education and a record of exemplary grades. He was eager to apply his new skills and knowledge in the classroom.

“I have been fortunate to be introduced to this degree program, from which I came to truly understand the new concepts of teaching,” says Ullah, nothing that he could not have undertaken his studies without the financial support of his scholarship.

“The course has completely changed my thoughts about teaching,” he added. “Where other certification courses don’t allow you to gain in-depth knowledge of this sensitive profession, this new course has allowed me to see beyond the other old-fashioned techniques of teaching.”

Dynamics of the FATA region

Sitting at Pakistan’s northwest border with Afghanistan, the FATA region has experienced terrorism and insurgency for over a decade. It has historically lagged behind the rest of the country in socioeconomic development in general and education in particular.

With fewer opportunities for education due to ongoing conflict, quality education is considered a great asset, especially in light of an insurgency of violent extremism. Educators like Sami Ullah are critical to bringing quality education, especially in early grade reading, to boys and girls across this conflict-affected region.

“Pakistan needs more well-trained teachers to ensure quality education for all. In areas like FATA that are affected by militancy with comparatively inadequate resources there is an even stronger demand for quality teachers,” says Naeem Sohail, Deputy Chief of Party for the project.

Scholarship program shapes stronger future teachers

A significant component of the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project is to provide financial support to bright and ambitious students like Sami Ullah who want to pursue careers in teaching.

These merit-based scholarships are inclusive of women, minorities and geographically distributed to provide fair opportunities for higher education across Pakistan. In total, the project will award 123 scholarships to students of the FATA region, including 112 for the two-year associate’s degree in education and 11 for the four-year bachelor’s degree in education—many of which have already been distributed.

The two new degree programs encourage a change in teaching approach from a teacher-centered to learner-centered outlook, a cornerstone of the project’s successful early grade reading methodology.

The USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project aims to increase enrollment in the two programs in an effort to produce better teachers for future generations. The project works closely with teacher training institutions and universities.

These new degree programs were initiated in partnership by the Higher Education Commission, which aims to meet goals set out in the 2009 National Education Policy. The Policy states that by 2018 all teachers in Pakistan’s classrooms should have a bachelor’s or associate’s degree. The notification also states that after December 2017, no new teachers will be hired based on the old requirement of one year of teacher training.

“I am very hopeful that these young teachers will have a far-reaching impact on education in Pakistan and help to improve student learning across Pakistan for generations to come,” says Sohail.

Noman Manzoor is the Communications & Reporting Manager for the Pakistan Reading Project/Creative.

New policy brings designated reading time to Pakistan schools

November 30, 2016

By Noman Manzoor

4 min read

Over 227,000 young readers from 8,180 schools are getting more support and practice than ever before thanks to a new policy that designates reading time in public schools.

With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Pakistan Reading Project, provincial and regional education departments have agreed to allocate specific reading instruction time in project intervention schools. This policy initiative will facilitate school management to use this time for imparting reading skills to early grade children.

The USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project aims to support the provincial and regional departments of education throughout Pakistan to improve the reading skills of 1.3 million children in first and second grades. The Pakistan Reading Project works through three components – teacher education, policy reforms and community engagement – to support children in acquiring reading skills.

The project, implemented by the International Rescue Committee and its partners, Creative Associates International, World Learning, and the Institute of Rural Management, has equipped teachers with best practices and tools for teaching reading and has provided culturally sensitive Teaching and Learning Materials to enhance student reading skills.

Aligned with international best practices, the Pakistan Reading Project advocated for the inclusion of time specifically devoted to reading instruction. The project worked with each provincial and regional government to issue official notifications to school authorities to implement an average of 30 minutes of reading time daily.

“The project team is encouraged to realize that thousands of children across 38 districts of Pakistan will now have the opportunity to improve their reading skills at school on a daily basis,” says Naeem Sohail, Ph.D., Deputy Chief of Party for the project.

To ensure success and sustainability, the project intervention is carried out by the government of Pakistan from the policy level to the community —involving the Secretaries of Education, regional and district education officers, head teachers and primary school teachers.

Education officials are avidly supporting the new reading time policy and working to ensure its success.

“I ensure that reading time allocation will be implemented in the entire district, and Mirpur will be the model district in terms of achieving project targets efficiently,” says Rashid Turab, District Education Officer of Mirpur.

To ensure successful implementation of the new reading time policy, the project team conducted school visits to monitor how allotted reading time is observed on the ground.

The government of Pakistan plans to integrate reading time into the scheme of primary studies to ensure that it is universally practiced in all classes. With this process, the project team hopes that primary students will continue their education and will not drop out of the system because of reading deficiencies.

Research proves reading time makes a difference

Research from around the world on reading shows that adequate time to practice reading is crucial for learning how to read. Most countries with high literacy rates allocate up to 60 minutes per day for reading lessons.

Developed by teachers who believed that not all children learn in the same way, the Four Blocks Literacy Model suggests that teachers should practice four areas of reading instruction—guided reading, self-selected reading, writing, and working with words—for better learning in early grades.

Recent research emphasizes the significance of reading and has declared reading time a sixth component of reading in addition to the five existing components—phonemic awareness, phonics, reading vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

While reading time in schools and independent free reading have both been found to correlate with better performance, both have been a challenge in Pakistan.

While grade one and two students have typically received six 40-minute language lessons periods per week, learning how to read has not been the primary focus of this time. To date, reading has been treated as only one component of language instruction.

Outside of school, few students have access to books to practice reading. In impoverished areas where many students live, there are no libraries and there is often no culture of reading.

Big changes in the classroom

Schools in all six Pakistan Reading Project target regions and provinces – Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu Kashmir – have now started implementing allocated reading time, prominently displaying reading timetables throughout the classrooms and halls. Since the new reading time policy began, young readers are reporting some exciting changes in their classroom routine.

“This is the best time we wait for!” says Alia, a second grade student in Islamabad. “I love reading! I have watched many animated movies, but I always wanted to read them. Now I get the opportunity to read.”

Teachers are also noticing some significant differences in their students and a boost in student learning across reading skill areas.

“Now students are taking more interest in phonics, and their identification of letters has improved. They wait for Urdu reading period and are showing keen interest,” says Abdul Qadeer Mughal, a primary school teacher at Mosque School, Kacher Paira in Hattian district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

In the new designated reading instruction time, teachers are re-energizing reading instruction and assessment, and bringing in techniques and skills gained through project trainings to get students more engaged in reading.

“Now we are much more focused on reading in the allocated time,” says Muhammad Umer, a teacher at Government Boys Primary School, Shafee Shah Street, Quetta in Balochistan. “Students all across wait for this period as they love reading aloud, sky writing and tapping exercises.”

Noman Manzoor is the Communications & Reporting Manager for the Pakistan Reading Project/Creative.

Hundreds from remote villages in Pakistan’s Sindh Province attended reading festivities

November 16, 2016

By Noman Manzoor

3 min read

One sunny afternoon in September, the Government Boys Primary School in the remote Thano Bullah Khan village transformed itself into a reading extravaganza.

Hundreds of children, teachers, government officials and parents from the village, along with 20 surrounding schools and communities, flocked to the primary school to take part in games, activities and performances focused on boosting literacy and promoting a culture of reading.

“You would not believe how much children from all schools have enjoyed themselves here. I have no words to explain their excitement,” said Tara Sharma, a teacher at the Government Girls Primary Main School in Thano Bulla Khan.

Attended by more than 1,000 students, the Sept. 8 International Literacy Day event was organized by Kohistan Readers Network, a group of more than 35 educators in the region dedicated to promoting sustainable literacy in the community.

The teachers were inspired to create the group after receiving early grade reading teacher trainings from the Pakistan Reading Project, a nationwide project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

This five-year project aims to support the provincial and regional departments of education throughout Pakistan to improve the reading skills of 1.3 million children in first and second grades. It is implemented by the International Rescue Committee and its partners Creative Associates International, World Learning and the Institute of Rural Management.

First-of-its-kind celebration

As a first-of-its-kind event in the region, the reading festival also caught the attention of senior government education officials, many of whom joined in the activities.

“This is first time in the history of Thano Bullah Khan that such kind of event has been organized for students. It is wonderful and very successful!” said Faqeer Dad Khoso, Member of the Sindh Provincial Assembly.

He congratulated the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project team for its work and their dedication towards promoting a culture of reading.

The event organizers at the Kohistan Readers Network were also encouraged by the outcomes festival, which included read aloud sessions, story making, eyesight testing, teacher lesson demonstrations and more.

“This is the very first time in my 29 years of service that such a huge reading festival is held in our town,” said Muhammad Bachal, head teacher at a nearby school and leader of the Kohistan Readers Network.

Bachal added that in addition to rallying the community around the cause of reading through the festival and other campaigns, the Pakistan Reading Project has provided him with new methods for teaching early grade that are having a profound effect on student learning.

“I adore the teaching methods of [the project] as it’s having great output in student learning…. I even try to convince teachers from non-project intervention schools to adopt these new methods,” he said.

Teachers take ownership

With support and inspiration from the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project, similar reading festivities have also taken place in other districts of Sindh including Matiari, Shaeed Benazriabad and Karachi.

In the Tando Allah Yar district, for example, 14 teacher support groups, known as Teacher Inquiry Groups, from 44 schools gathered for a mega-festival featuring 30 stalls hosting reading competitions, storybook writing and other activities and games.

The event was attended by more than 1,200 children, teachers, project mentors, government officials and community members, among them a large number of female learners, educators and community members.

This high rate of engagement of girls and women in the Tando Allah Yar district festival was commended by the district’s education office, including Tabasum Pathan, Taluka Education Officer.

“This is a great opportunity for the teachers to showcase their learning. I am seeing that many female teachers of my region have worked hard for the event,” she said.

She added that among male and female teachers alike, the educators’ energy and commitment to carry forward education reforms and new teaching methods introduced by the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project is a positive sign that these gains in early grade reading will be sustained.

Story festival in remote Pakistani village promotes literacy with 500+ books

May 20, 2016

By Noman Manzoor

4 min read

But its walls have never been as colorful as they were covered from top to bottom with over 500 stories handwritten and illustrated by the school’s students.

On one special day, more than 200 students, parents, teachers, Ministry of Education officials and the media gathered for the school’s first “Story Mela”—a festival of books and reading highlighting tales authored by educators and learners in third through fifth grade.

“There has never been such a Mela in the history of this school since its inception 26 years ago,” said second grade teacher Akbar Ali at the January festival, standing by his seven-year-old daughter, Sadaf, who beamed as she greeted visitors arriving at the event.

The Story Mela was organized entirely by teachers at the Dargah Dur Mohammad Shah Primary School. They were inspired to launch the initiative after training with the Pakistan Reading Project, where they learned techniques focusing on read-aloud activities, and story-making and storytelling to enhance reading skills.

The U.S. Agency for International Development-funded Pakistan Reading Project is a five-year project with the objective to support the provincial and regional departments of education throughout Pakistan to improve the reading skills of 1.3 million children in first and second grades. It is implemented by the International Rescue Committee and its partners Creative Associates International, World Learning and the Institute of Rural Management.

To date, the project has implemented reading interventions in more than 1,900 schools in six districts of Sindh, reaching more than 121,000 children in the region. Across Pakistan, more than 501,000 children from 8,100 schools have benefited from this project.

Engaging communities, and cultivating a culture of reading is one of the major objectives of the project. The Matiari Story Mela is one of many community-driven, sustainable initiatives to support reading that have been sparked by its teacher training component.

Literacy initiatives like this are especially critical in Sindh, where students perform worse than their peers in any other region of the country. Research has shown that reading is the foundation of learning and, when taught in their mother tongue, students have an easier time learning a second language.

Inspired by collaboration & new reading techniques

After six months of implementing the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project in their classrooms, teachers at Dargah Dur Mohammad Shah Primary School volunteered to arrange a Story Mela on their own.

“I learned a lot from the Pakistan Reading Project’s training,” said Abdul Karim, a first grade teacher at the school. “When I shared sample stories for the Mela and started working with a few kids, many other students approached me and volunteered to be a part of this activity. Team work has enabled us organize this colorful Mela.”

The Story Mela planning effort was led by head teacher Mohammad Ismail Waryiah, who was trained in a three-day orientation for head teachers. Mohammad Ismail was highly inspired by the project’s activities.

One key component of the project’s methodology is to support ongoing teacher professional development and support through collaboration among educators. This is often done through regular Teacher Inquiry Group meetings, where teachers work together to improve their lessons and the culture of reading within their school.

“Unlike other projects, the Pakistan Reading Project has a unique methodology. It not only conducts teacher trainings but also follows up regularly. Teacher Inquiry Group meetings ensure that activities learned by teachers and allied staff, are actually practiced in the classroom,” says second grade teacher Akbar Ali.

Ali says that these meetings provide teachers with the feedback they need to improve their lessons and boost opportunities for students to read and learn. The Story Mela grew out of this collaborative effort and guidance from the project, he says.

Books growing in the courtyard

Among the crowds of young readers and their families, Ministry of Education Officials were among those touring the storybook gallery—a walk through the school courtyard where hundreds of handmade stories hung on display.

Impressed by the gallery walk, District Education Officer Mohammad Akbar Memon said that the need for the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project and these types of literacy events in Sindh is great.

“Students of Sindh who still can’t read well are promoted to grade six or seven. Low enrollment, dropouts, poor standard of education, and issues of quantity versus quality—all of these are related to the basic issue of reading,” he said. “By addressing these we can solve many problems and kids will be happy to go to schools.”

Around the corner from the gallery walk, students were busy creating and displaying fresh stories. Other young readers demonstrated their skills through a read-aloud activity, using a variety of reading techniques, including probing, phonemic awareness, comprehension, and more.

Witnessing the gains in literacy among the school’s students, due in large part to the USAID-funded Pakistan Reading Project, and the dedication of its educators to literacy education, Taluka Education Officer Abdullah Mallah commended the project.

“I consider the Pakistan Reading Project a backbone for children’s education as well as for teacher training, “he said, noting that the project methodology improves reading skills and creates confident and independent learners.

Students’ reading success fuels a desire to learn more and succeed, he said.

“Better understanding leads to motivation and happiness, and urges students to learn and read more. The Pakistan Reading Project is a wonderful project for [grades one and two] students and teachers alike.”

Pakistan – Reading Project

Program

1 min read

The Pakistan Reading Project was a national program aimed at improving the quality of reading education in more than 23,000 public schools. It was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Under the International Rescue Committee’s purview, along with 10 local and international partners, Creative delivered high-quality pre-service teacher education, training and professional development with an explicit focus on teaching reading. It improved management throughout the education system through policy support and enhanced information, planning and monitoring systems.

Complementing education initiatives by the Pakistan government, USAID and other international partners, the Pakistan Reading Project promoted a culture of reading nationally by improving organizations’ abilities to promote educational research, advocacy and reform, as well as expanding the number of colleges and universities offering rigorous teacher training and specialized education degrees.

The Pakistan Reading Project advanced and developed the reading instruction skills of 94,000 teachers over five years and reached 3.2 million boys and girls with improved reading programs. The program targeted underserved rural communities where access to elementary education is limited.