MILLION KIDS TO SCHOOL MONTHLY BULLETIN

Have a peek into the nation's largest intervention for out-of-school childrenThe monthly bulletin provides updates and useful information on the Educate A Child (EAC) program implemented by ALIGHT Pakistan in collaboration with the Government of Pakistan and Education Above All (EAA) Qatar. It includes updates on national seminars, enrolment campaigns, meetings, events, and new partnerships that occurred during November.

It is time to share the highlights of ALIGHT's Educate A Child's project in Pakistan through November 2019. With the end of the year approaching, November was busier than the usual months. A core activity was our matching grants transfer towards improvement of school infrastructure with the development and implementation of School Development Plans (SDP). In November alone, ALIGHT successfully implemented 150 SDPs in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with a cumulative 350 schools benefitting through SDP implementation.

ALIGHT's online teacher training program achieved another fantastic landmark too, with eleven teachers graduating from the program just this month. We have received 1578 nominations for training in the program in total so far.

Towards its mission to raising education awareness, ALIGHT organized two advocacy seminars in Quetta and Peshawar with consultation, coordination, and participation of a number of key local stakeholders, including local departments of education, UNICEF, UNHCR, various partners, civil society groups, and regional education experts. The seminars probed the barriers OOSC children face, specific to their region, and the solutions that address these critical obstructions. The fourth and final seminar is to be held in Karachi in December 2019. Using the input of experts who attended and participated in panel discussions in these seminars, ALIGHT will develop a policy paper.

Parent schools provided assistance to 65 feeder schools through the Non Salary Budget (NSB) with furniture, including chairs, tables, desks, sitting mats, white and black boards, school bags, notebooks, water coolers, fans, uniforms, attendance registers, chalk boxes and charts.

Moving on to work with partners, Water Aid trained nine ALIGHT STAR School teachers with its 'Clean Green School Programme'. The next step is to replicate the training with our students. Partner organization PAGE's Global Girls Ambassador and actress, Ms. Aamina Sheikh inaugurated an Alight STAR School in Karachi's Korangi district. The non-formal school currently has a cohort of 42 students who are residents of the industrial hub's Mehran Town.

Happy reading!

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Message from the Deputy Chief of Party

Zabardast Khan BangashDeputy Chief of Party

In this Issue UNHCR team, German Embassy delegation 2visits STAR School

Teacher Training Program by the numbers 2

STAR Schools inaugurated by MPAs 3

Balochistan Advocacy Seminar 3

Encouraging Incentives 3

Inauguration of NCHD School & Supplies 3 Distribution

Star Visitor to Korangi NFS 4

District Steering Committee Meeting 4

Joint Monitoring Visit with NCHD Officials 4

Thar Education Festival 5

Partnerships and Initiatives 6

Supplies Distribution 6

Refugee Education 6

Mobilizing Local Partnerships 7

Incentives for Education 7

Snapshot of Targets Achieved 8

Case Study 8

Success Story 9

Educating One Million Out of School Children

, ,formerly American Refugee Committee

Volume I, Issue VII November 2019

Ÿ A UNHCR and German Embassy delegation visited an ALIGHT STAR School in Islamabad's I-12 on November 6, interacting with students and getting a firsthand look at the innovative non-formal set-up.

Ÿ The Islamabad team enroled 19 children in 22 schools between ALIGHT and FDE. The total number of students enroled by the team in various schools through the city now stands at 763!

Ÿ The online teacher training program continues well under way. Five teachers graduated this month, taking the city's total to eight.

Ÿ Water Aid trained nine teachers in Islamabad under its 'Clean Green School Programme'. They were given training on topics such as hand washing, waste management, and tree plantation.

UNHCR, German Embassy delegation visits Star School

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ICT NEWS

Teacher Training Program by the Numbers

Nomination

Enrolment

Graduates

289 81 23

ICT

Nomination

Enrolment

Graduates

174 114 65

Punjab

Nomination

Enrolment Graduates

878 86 24

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Nomination

Enrolment Graduates

74 09 04

AJK

Nomination

Enrolment Graduates

76 19 04

Balochistan

Nomination

Enrolment

Graduates

77 05 02

Sindh

Nomination

Enrolment Graduates

10 02 0

Gilgit Baltistan

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In November, ALIGHT inaugurated two non-formal schools with partner PAGE. Members of the Balochistan Provincial Assembly, Ahmed Nawaz and Malik Naseer Shahwani, visited the schools in Balochabad and Chiltan Colony, respectively, with local community members present. The MPAs interacted with the students and appreciated ALIGHT's campaign in the province.

BALOCHISTAN NEWS

MPAs inaugurate STAR Schools

Balochistan Advocacy SeminarOn November 14, ARC-ALIGHT held the Balochistan Advocacy Seminar which invited experts on the region's out-of-school children issue. It was attended by the Secretary for Sports, Environment and Youth Affairs for Balochistan, Muneer Ahmed Badini, Deputy Chief Advisor, JICA-Aqal Project, Mr. Abid Hussain Gill, and Secretary Social Welfare, Mr. Rauf Baloch. Approximately 100 people were in attendance, along with formerly-OOSC children whose cases were highlighted by Aiza Abdullah, member of ALIGHT Balochistan

The seminar highlighted ALIGHT, JICA, and the government's efforts to enrol disadvantaged, marginalized children in the province and improve local education. Mr. Badini talked about the necessity of education for individual development. ALIGHT's Deputy Chief of Party, Mr. Zabardast Khan Bangash, noted that Pakistan has the world's second-highest number of out-of-school children and said that similar seminars are also to be held in other provinces, to be culminated finally in a national-level seminar. In the panel discussion, experts talked about existing issues and innovative solutions.

ALIGHT's Quetta team procured incentives for orphan and disabled students. The program team distributed incentives among orphan students in District Quetta, Killa Abdullah, Washuk, Sibi Panjgur, and Khuzdar.

Encouraging Incentives

Inauguration of NCHD School and Supplies Distribution

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On November 3, partner organization PAGE invited its Global Girls Education Ambassador and actress, Ms. Aamina Sheikh to inaugurate an ALIGHT STAR School in Korangi, Karachi. This NFS provides free, quality education to 42 children who reside in the industrial hub's Mehran town, learning basic numeracy and literacy skills. School supplies from partner organizations were gifted to the school, including school bags, notebooks, and floor mats.

STAR VISITOR TO KORANGI NFS THAR EDUCATION FESTIVAL

SINDH NEWS

On November 9, the Sindh ALIGHT team organized the Thar

Education Festival in collaboration with Thar Education Alliance

at Thar Institute for Information and Technology Stalls

displayed IEC material about the education project in the

province’s eleven districts. Mr. Molani, Chairman Municipal

Committee, Mithi, other officials of education department, civil

society activists, and students visited the set-up.

A district steering committee meeting was held in Sukkur on November 21. Project officers shared progress of school supplies delivery in NCHD schools. Committee members expressed appreciation of ALIGHT’s campaign in the region.

MEETING

JOINT MONITORING VISITA joint monitoring visit was conducted with Mr. Muneer Memon, Director Operations, NCHD Sindh, and Mr. Javed Mangi, GM NCHD Sukkur on November 21.

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PUNJAB NEWS

Ÿ ALIGHT and Taleem Foundation (TF) held a joint meeting with Ms. Irum Bukhari, Secretary SED Punjab, to discuss the EAC project and the upcoming interactive smart classrooms that are to be run in a joint venture between ALIGHT, Taleem Foundation, and SED. Alight will provide smart boards in identified schools of SED Punjab while TF will provide technical assistance in the functioning of these classrooms. The Punjab team also met with Ms. Amtal Qadus, DG Quaid-e-Azam Academy for Educational Development, Punjab and briefed her on the online teacher training program. DG QAED will review the draft MoU and training modules and will get back for further course of action.

Ÿ The team held various provincial steering committee meetings with representatives from SED, Literacy & NFBE, and Labor and Human Resource departments. They were joined by partners JICA, BISP, NCHD, FFC, Akhuwat, BLCC, Muslim Hands and various other NGOs and INGOs who are implementing education projects in the region. EAC project progress was shared and parties reiterated their commitment to Article 25-A which pertains to primary education of all children of the country. Participants also agreed towards building an Education Forum in Lahore to enhance coordination and synergies among the actors. ALIGHT will share draft ToRs of the forum with participants for their feedback.

Ÿ In collaboration with District Education Authorities, NCHD, Literacy & NFBE Department, BLCC, and FFC, we celebrated Universal Children's Day in Multan, Rahimyar Khan, and Bahawalpur.

Ÿ In collaboration with BISP, we conducted nine awareness raising seminars in Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Bahawalpur, and Rahimyar Khan, which were wholeheartedly attended by children, local leaders, local communities, media, and government line departments.

Ÿ 333 new school development plans were developed while implementation was successfully completed in 40 schools.

Ÿ 1192 students were selected from government schools for incentives. 342 of these will receive uniforms and shoes in December.

Ÿ We received 190 nominations of teachers for our online teacher training program! These teachers are presently being registered in our program.

Ÿ 116 Non-formal schools with 4,240 students are now fully functional in four districts including Lahore, Multan, Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalpur.

PARTNERSHIPS AND AWARENESS RAISING INITIATIVES

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The ALIGHT KP-North team led a busy month in coordination meetings. The team met with Aman Ullah Nasrat, Director, Principal Council Afghan Schools, regarding distribution of school supplies in KP. He assured his support and coordination during distribution of supplies to Afghan Refugee schools. A meeting was held with to Assistant Director P&D KP-ESEDdiscuss enrolment data collection and the upcoming advocacy seminar in Peshawar. He suggested a joint visit to target districts to brief local teams on enrolment data distribution.

The team conducted mass coordination with 35 refugee school administrators/principals at the Commissionerate Peshawar. KP Commissioner Abbas Khan and his staff also participated in the meeting. Points were raised about the scarcity of resources and school facilities. The commissioner emphasized additional resources mobilization to address school issues. He emphasized increased enrolment to address the education gap

in the region. Administrators appreciated ALIGHT's support with provision of school supplies in the region and assured cooperation with efforts to increase enrolment.

With the upcoming advocacy seminar at the end of the month, we made sure to invite all the stakeholders we met to the event!

KP–NORTH NEWS

REFUGEE RELIEF

SUPPLIES FOR SCHOOLS FOR REFUGEESThe team held a supply distribution ceremony at the KP

Commissionerate office, with the Education Attache from

Afghan Consulate participating. Commissionerate and DG

Afghan Refugees (CAR) KP, and the Attache distributed

suppl ies among the principals of refugee schools.

Adminstrators came from Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera,

Haripur and Mansehra to attend, thanking ALIGHT and CAR for

the intervention for refugee education, noting they received

school supplies after a gap of 15 years. The supplies will benefit

more than 8,000 refugee students in five districts.

EDUCATION FOR ALLWe met with IQRA University Peshawar on efforts to provide sanitation services at a local refugee school, in collaboration with CAR and UNHCR. ALIGHT also invited the team to the upcoming seminar and requested a town hall with volunteers and students to discuss how to increase OOSC enrolment in the region.

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How do you mobilize your local stakeholders? We met with the University of Peshawar to talk about the possibility of OOSC enrolment through their student's volunteers as well as their participation in the seminar at the end of the month. The university has a dedicated society for OOSC enrolment and generously offered their conference hall for the seminar. We also had a productive meeting with the Vice Chancellor of Hazara University, Syed Manzoor Hussain Shah, with a detailed discussion on OOSC, gaps when tackling the issue, and solutions towards successful implementation of projects.

MOBILIZING LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS

INCENTIVES FOR EDUCATIONWe provided 14 wheelchairs, 5 hearing aids, 10 uniforms, and a walk to disabled students in schools in Mansehra. It was delightful to see the children's face - some of them orphans, light up. The event was attended by DPO Mansehra, Zebi Ullah Khan, Alight's team, and some media. Efforts to enrol every OOSC, with special attention to disabled children, is critical to the success of our intervention

K-P ADVOCACY SEMINARA seminar was held to highlight issues pertaining to out of school children and seek solutions through recommendations. The event was held in Peshawar on November 27. A number of parliamentarians, representatives from the KP Education Department, UN agencies, including UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR, Private Schools Regulatory Authority (PSRA), Private School Association (PSA), Centre for Governance and Public Accountability (CGPA), international NGOs, philanthropists and civil society representatives, education sector experts including local universities' vice-chancellors participated. More than 120 people were present.

Mr. Zia Ullah Bangash, Advisor to Chief Minister on Education KP, was the Chief Guest of the event. Mr. Shaukat Yousafzai, Information Minister KP, also graced the occasion. The seminar highlighted government and development sector organizations

efforts to enrol disadvantaged, marginalized children in schools in the province.

Mr. Zia Ullah Bangash Advisor to Chief Minister KP on Education highlighted government priorities with innovative approaches towards OOSC enrolment. The government has devised a st ra te g y fo r a c c o m m o d a t i n g O OSCs by i m p rov i n g infrastructure with further arrangements of hiring private buildings for second-shift schools in the endeavor towards making KP a zero OOSC province by 2021. He added that allocation of additional resources to uplift the education system in KP is planned.

Mr. Shoukat Yousafzai, Minister Information KP, highlighted that the KP government with support of potential actors in education sector is materializing the vision of the Prime Minister for a literate Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and that the government is determined to allocate additional resources for the education sector.

24 year-old Muhammad Zubair is a social worker and activist living in Karachi's Gadap town. He has energetically contributed to the local education campaign with identifying feasible locations for establishing non-formal schools in the locality. With his help, ALIGHT established its 14th NFS under the Educate A Child project in May this year in the remote village of Mano Chano.

The village is among the most deprived residences in the city. Most of the community is dependent on earnings from day-to-day labour and deprived of access to primary schools, safe drinking water, electricity, and basic health facilities. According to our data, 95% of the community is illiterate, so much so that a teacher had to be arranged from another school to teach at a school in this

Out-of-School Children Enroled

495,458265,110 230,348

Village Education Committees

09 12Trained

Children Enrolment Drives 10

Developed

Implemented

School Development Plans

1364 244

Non-Formal Schools Established 04

Reactivated

Trained

School Management Committees

0 1472

Snapshot of Targets Achieved

CASE STUDY

Every once in a while, we come across stories which are equally heartbreaking and heartwarming. The strength of this story lies in the perseverance of this ten-year-old who lives in Balochistan's remote village, Killi Karam Khan. Zair Shah has faced more obstacles than most of us, from more privileged backgrounds, will ever face.

Zair's father died when Zair was very young, leaving the responsibility of providing for his family on the young boy's hands. The family of nine, with six sisters and two brothers, is dependent on this young boy who exudes composure and poise when one meets him in person.

Zair's day begins with spending the morning studying at a government school - and his teachers tell us he is a brilliant student - and then going to pick salvageable plastic from trash to sell to make an earning. This money goes towards rent of the family house.

What keeps Zair going? It isn't the toys or candy he can't get from the money he earns, but the satisfaction of making it easier for his siblings to not have to worry about monthly expenses and go to school with a more peaceful state of mind, knowing they have a guardian angel in their brother.

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A TALE FROM BALOCHISTAN

WHERE THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY

SUCCESS STORY

This is the story of Allah Rakha, a child living in a Haripur neighbourhood that is completely dependent on begging. Many in the community are heavy drug users and most have never had any sort of schooling.

Literacy mobilizer, Tabassum Rehman, had a chance visit to the slum community. She came across Allah Rakha, meeting with his family to convince them to send the child to school, but they refused. Tabassum remained unwavering, vowing not to give up. She was determined to educate what would be the first generation of the slum community.

Tabassum continued her visits to the slum community, delivering sessions on the importance of education in the effort to mobilize special attention on Allah Rakha, who had shown, again and again, a desire to go to school.

With time, some members of the community became convinced of the need of Allah Rakha’s schooling, asking Tabassum to convince local elders to prioritize education for the local children. This is no easy task as many of the children

are actually called professional beggars for the amount of time they’ve put in, in begging. Many were not ready to trade off the immediate earning for an investment that would show once the children would be in school for many years. While education is an investment in human capital, the earnings do not show immediately.

The literacy mobilizer held a series of meetings and awareness sessions with the community, finally succeeding in getting permission to establish a local school for the children. This was really, in most ways, the permission to educate the first generation.

Now Allah Rakha and 15 other boys and girls go to the school established in March 2019. Support from partner organization PAGE provided students with school bags and notebooks. The local ALIGHT team mobilized local resources for the school, with a board, a teacher chair, a carpet to cover the ground, a water cooler, and even clothes for the children for Eid. This story is an example of how continued perseverance can start a much needed change in the most overlooked of communities.

locality.

With his passion, Zubair connected with different philanthropists and persons of influence to provide school uniforms and shoes to the students. A philanthropist donated towards 40 uniforms and shoes for students of this school in Mano Chano.

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ALIGHT PakistanP. O. Box No. 571, Islamabad, PakistanP: +92 51 2820437-40 F: +92 51 2820436E: info@ alightpakistan.org

alightpakistan

alightpakistan

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www.alightpakistan.org

Legal Status: ALIGHT, (formerly ARC) is registered with the Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Interior vide letter No 4/17/2016-PE-III dated 24th March 2016 that allows it  to undertake work for the socioeconomic development of Pakistan.

Contact:Azka Zia | Communication & Liaison Officer E: azkaz@arcrelief.org

A FIRST GENERATION’S EDUCATION