Pakistan

Program document

The $50.6 million grant supports Punjab’s “Transformation in Access, Learning, Equity and Education Management” (TALEEM) program, which addresses key challenges in equity, efficiency and learning as identified in the sector plan. The program has 7 components:

1. Rethink teachers’ development through:
• A 5-year continuous professional development program focusing on imparting core teaching competencies followed by advanced teaching and leadership skills
• developing the capacity of Assistant Education Officers as effective mentors
• training teachers via e-learning and AEO mentoring
• making use of digitized Classroom Observation Tool
• Mentoring teachers through monthly classroom observations, use of improved lesson plans, instructional videos, handbooks and regular follow-up.
2. Inclusive education initiative in two districts with the highest number of children with disabilities:
• Make schools premises accessible to children with mild disabilities
• Train teachers on inclusive learning techniques (differentiated and tiered learning), and classroom management
• Screen children to identify disabilities
• Provide assistive devices depending on the need (hearing aids, visual aids)
3. Enable the differently abled by providing assistive devices for children with disabilities enrolled in 259 special education institutions:
• Screening students to identify special needs
• Provide assistive devices based on their needs (incl. low vision devices, magnifying glasses, hearing aids, wheelchairs, walkers, support sticks/ crutches)
4. Extend formal schooling to out-of-school children aged 5-9 in 12 selected districts with lowest education participation rates:
• Awareness campaign using door-to-door household survey to identify OOSC, sensitize them on education and enroll them
• Train master trainers and teachers in alternative learning pathway
• Provide accelerated learning course to enable OOSC to ramp up their knowledge base and to facilitate their enrollment in formal schools.
5. Establish 1,000 non-formal education institutions for children aged 5-9 in remote areas of four target districts with lowest participation rates, where no formal schools are available:
• Train non-formal education master trainers
• Recruit and train new non-formal education teachers (women)
• Provide basic supplies to support teaching
• Create awareness in communities with highest out-of-school children and generate demand
6. Effective communication to generate demand for education:
• Organize educational events, campaigns, sports, competition of extracurricular activities
• Conduct activities that target the community at large, parents, students and teachers
• Reward high achieving students, teachers, community members
• Engage the media
7. Evidence-based decision making at sectoral level through integrated management information system:
• Integrate data from all concerned departments into a single system
• Identify and collect missing data essential for sector planning and monitoring
• Digitalize data to facilitate users’ access
• Provide an easy-to-use tool for data access/analysis and utilization for decision-making.

Development objective: address challenges in learning, equity, and efficiency, particularly the low quality of teaching, gender disparities and the high number of out-of-school children

Program document

The US$56,112,500 grant is comprised of a US$31,112,500 ESPIG and a Multiplier grant of US$25 million.

The grant supports the Sindh Early Learning Enhancement Through Classroom Transformation (SELECT) program. SELECT aims to improve reading skills of early grade primary students while increasing student retention in primary schools in selected districts.

The SELECT program uses a multipronged approach to improve the quality of teaching and learning practices in primary education, with particular attention to grades 1-3.

The main components of the program are:

1. Transforming teaching practices in the early grades by:
   • Implementing a continuous professional development model to improve literacy skills in the early grades
   • Focusing on behavioral nudges that can positively influence how teachers, students, headmasters, and parents interact to improve learning
   • Providing technical assistance to transform teaching practices.
2. Developing an effective and safe learning environment by:
   • Improving the physical learning environment in selected upgraded primary schools
   • Supporting the improved teaching and learning environment.
3. Improving system capacity for effective school level support by:
   • Establishing a technology-based student attendance monitoring system
   • Providing technical assistance and capacity building for school leadership and local education office management.

Development objective: Improve access, quality, and efficiency of education system in the province.

Program document

The US$23 million GPE grant supports the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Improvement Program.

The program reflects sector policy priorities of the provincial government laid out in its endorsed education sector plan 2020-2025, and consists of three components:

1. Improve evidence-based planning and efficient utilization of resources by:

• Developing a mechanism to evaluate Parent Teacher Council (PTC) effectiveness
• Developing an easy-to-use and accessible dashboard to monitor the implementation of school development plans and fund utilization
• Activating and strengthening PTCs in target schools (to also promote inclusive education, refugee education and gender equality)
• Implementing school development planning in target schools.

2. Improve equity in access to primary and middle-level education by:

• Establishing potential sites for new primary feeder schools in disadvantaged districts
• Identifying primary schools which can house lower secondary classes
• Establishing primary feeder schools
• Establishing second-shift middle schools

3. Transform education quality in pre-primary and primary level by

• Reviewing student learning outcomes and developing schemes of studies
• Designing instructional material and teachers’ guides
• Training master trainers
• Developing a school leaders program
• Training government primary school teachers and school leaders/academic supervisors
• Supporting schools in implementing formative assessments and mentoring systems

The GPE program is composed of a fixed part (US$16 million) and a variable part (US$7 million).