People's School Program (PSP) Dawn Supplement

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DAWN TUESDAY JULY 19, 2022

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2 DAWN TUESDAY JULY 19, 2022

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Sindh Education Foundation: empowering through education About Sindh Education Foundation The Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) was established in 1992 as a government organisation through the Act, with a mandate to promote & develop education. Over the years, the Foundation has evolved to be an impact-driven organisation engaged in multi-stakeholder partnerships to serve the communities at the most grass-root levels and in the most challenging areas across Sindh.

Foundation Assisted Schools (FAS) The Foundation had evolved numerous educational programmes over the years which have been recently restructured under the Foundation Assisted Schools. In pursuance of the direction of the Chief Minister Sindh / Chairman SEF Board of Governors and despite the challenges of Covid-19, the Foundation, in 2021-22 almost doubled its portfolio in the last year with inclusion of more than 900 new Foundation Assisted Schools to reach out to around 300,000 additional un-served children of far-flung areas. The Foundation has also been focusing more and more on post-primary education and for the academic year 2022-23, the Foundation has upgraded 175 Foundation Assisted Schools to support middle and secondary classes benefitting around 12,000 students including around 40pc girls who will pursue post-primary education in these schools.

Adolescents and Adults Learning & Training Programme (AALTP) SEF is also providing educational opportunities to adolescents and adults through Literacy & Non-Formal Education (NFE) and vocational skills. These are the learners who missed the first opportunity in their early childhood and through this non-formal stream coupled with vocational skills, SEF offers them accelerated learning pathway to acquire marketable vocational skills along with the knowledge of conventional subjects. Currently the Foundation’s portfolio of NFE under Adolescents and Adults Teaching Learning Program (AALTP) impacts the lives of around 9,000 learners through 105 non-formal education centers across Sindh. Given the challenged of the out-of-school children in Sindh, the NFE portfolio of the Foundation is also expected to grow to cater another 20,000 learners. Recently, the Foundation under this Program got around 3,800 learners certified on Primary Level Equivalency in collaboration with the Directorate of Non-formal Education, Sindh.

Sindh School Education Scholarship Programme (SSESP) Under the fully funded Sindh School Education Scholarship Programme (SSESP) of SEF, 3623 girls and boys from rural areas of Sindh are currently demonstrating their academic excellence in secondary and higher secondary grades at pres-

tigious institutes like; Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan Academy Islamabad, Sukkur IBA Community Schools and Colleges, Public School Hyderabad, Public School Mirpurkhas, Public School Gadap, and NJV Higher Secondary School, Karachi.

These meritorious scholars have emerged as ambassadors of change in their respective communities across the province.

Recently, the Foundation has also partnered with notable Cadet Colleges in Sindh including Bakthawar Cadet College, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Girls Cadet College Larkana, Cadet College Khairpur and Cadet College Sanghar for scholarship of meritorious students hailing from Government and SEF Schools and qualifying the merit criteria. Currently, Foundation is supporting total 95 students in Cadet colleges.

March, 2022. In addition to this, the Foundation also conducts researches through its Research Unit. Last year, the Foundation conducted a research study on ‘Issues of Girls Education in Sindh’ for the Provincial Ombudsman (Sindh) which was launched by the Honorable Chief Minister Sindh and published the Provincial Ombudsman (Sindh) to address the issues at policy level.

Adopt-a-School Programme for government schools The Adopt-a-School Program of the Government of Sindh is housed at the Foundation which is aimed at value addition at Government Schools. Under the Adopt-a-School Programme (AASP), currently 129,744 students are studying in 527 government schools adopted by notable civil society members and organizations. Adopters like the Zindagi Trust, Akhuwat Foundation, Kiran Foundation, Zafar Sultan Trust, SEED Pakistan, Care Foundation and many others are making a notable impact in improving Public Sector Schools.

Development of digital resources The Foundation has also developed a learning application and digital content which is available free of cost on SEF’s official YouTube channel. The Foundation has also entered into strategic partnerships with the likes of Microsoft Pakistan and Noon Academy who are offering many of their products & services, free of cost to the teachers and students of Foundation Assisted Schools and Centers.

Professional development & technical support The Foundation offers a range of Professional Devel­ opment & Technical Support services for its Partners and Stakeholders. Some of the services offered by the Foundation are highlighted below.

Training of Teachers and Head Teachers SEF has also made concerted efforts towards the Continuous Professional Development of Teachers and Head Teachers of Foundation Assisted Schools.. Earlier this year, the Foundation organized 14 days training workshop on focused on the theme of governance and management in education to more than 2600 Head Teachers under the title “21st Century Schools and Effective Leadership”. Before that, the Foundation also offered a comprehensive in-service program on ‘Early Childhood Care & Education’ for around 2000 teachers of Foundation Assisted Schools.

Classroom observation & academic support The Foundation has also initiated the Classroom Observation and Support Initiative to help improve academic outcomes at Foundation Assisted Schools (FAS). This year, the Foundation extended this support to 150 schools in

Management Trainings of Partners Last year, the Foundation organised a customised training workshop for its Partners (Individuals and Organizations) focused on governance and management in education. Around 1,200 Partners of the Foundation attended this workshop.

Quality Assurance Testing The Foundation conducts annual ‘Quality Assurance Tests’ in form of Annual Assessment of Students. The Assessment is designed in-house by the highly qualified team of SEF’s Assessment Unit and executed by third party. The result compiled by the third party becomes the basis for the accountability and gauging the performance of institutions supported by the Foundation.

Monitoring & Evaluation The Foundation also has a robust Monitoring and Evalu­ ation (M&E) Framework. The independent Monitoring Unit of the Foundation carries out uninformed monitoring visits at schools and centers. During last year, the M& E visits were conducted 04 times including the non formal education centers.

Cross-cutting initiatives Apart from the mainstream programs of the Foundation, SEF has also evolved multiple initiatives to address different cross-cutting areas in education.

Teach for Change Giving impetus to quality components, the Foundation has also initiated the Teach for Change program through

which the Foundation engages fresh graduates for teaching and mentoring at Foundation Assisted Schools. In the first phase, the Foundation engaged 77 Teaching Support Associates under the Teach for Change initiative in 2016-17.

Now the Foundation is engaging around 300 Teaching Support Associates across Sindh to add more value to the Foundation Assisted Schools.

Gender Equity In order to promote Gender Equity, the Foundation has a dedicated Gender Unit which focuses on evolving gender responses policies and initiatives in new as well as existing programs of the Foundation. It also plays a pivotal role in promoting and ensuring a more conducive working environment for females at SEF. Life Skills SEF has partnered with Join Hands International, based on the United Kingdom, for the ‘Care for Life Project’ through which the concept of humane education in form of care for all other living beings is being introduced through a pilot program. The Foundation exclusively executing this program and offering Training for Teachers as well as Learning Material for roll out.

Youth Education & Empowerment The Sindh Education Foundation in collaboration with United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has launched the ‘Youth Education, Empowerment & Employment Project’ (YEEEP) focused on instilling marketable skills in 15,000 youth of the province through different partners & experts and providing market connectivity for employability and entrepreneurship for the youth enrolled in this project. n

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The portfolio The Government of Sindh is making consistent efforts to enable every child to attain their basic right to education.

Sindh Education Foundation, being a major arm of the Government of Sindh is sharing this responsibility. Today the Foundation has a diverse portfolio of 2640 quality-driven schools, having around 21,000 teachers with more than 2,600 Head Teachers. The Foundation also has a very elaborate non-formal education programme having 105 centers across Sindh. Currently, the Foundation has an enrollment of around 850,000 students enrolled under its formal and non-formal education programmes.