Progress Report


Quality Education Program (QEP)
December 2003 to January 2004
.


Society for Community Support
for PrimaryEducation in Balochistan (SCSPEB)

3-A, Ahmed zai colony, sariyab road Quetta.
Tel. 081-440732_fax.081-440694,
E-mail: SCSPEB1@hotmail.com

Introduction:
The Quality Education Program (QEP) seeks to address the prevalent problem, that the existing system of teacher capacity building has not been effective in producing an improvement in the quality of education in Balochistan. A great number of teachers are trained every year; the trainings themselves are often not need based. Moreover, the system of monitoring and support to teachers appears to lack efficiency and a systematic nature.

As a result, the main goal of the Quality Education Program is to enhance existing teacher capacity to provide quality education. The program also seeks to create an efficient system of training, monitoring and support, which is interlinked with and supports the existing government system. This will be done by introducing cluster-based trainings with the help of lead teachers, whose capacity will be built to train, monitor and support other teachers. Subsequently, the lead teachers will serve as a source of support for the Education Field Office, particularly the Learning Coordinator.

The Project would be implemented in Lasbela and Loralai districts of Balochistan including 1000 primary school teachers, 100 lead teachers, and 45 Learning Coordinators. Distance education would be introduced through the local radio channel. Linkages would be developed with Community Learning Centres (CLCs) for the enhancement of community capacity.

Objectives:
• Build capacity of 1000 primary school teachers (500 Lasbela and 500 Loralai), 100 (50 Lasbela & 50 Loralai) lead teachers and 45 learning coordinators (27 Lasbela and 23 Loralai).
• Strengthen government system of monitoring and support.
• Strengthen linkages with at least 50 community-learning centers.
• Launch distance education programs.

Activities and Achievements:
During the reporting period teams of both districts (lasbela and Loralai) were deputed in Lasbela district. There were two main reasons for deputing both the teams in one district. Firstly, schools in Loralai districts were closed due to winter vacations. Secondly most of the team members were new and were not very much familiar with the field implementation. In order to develop same understanding it was suggested that during the mentioned reporting month both teams would work in Lasbela.

The activities and achievements during the period are reflected under the following heads:

Time Taking Meetings:
According to work plan the teams took time from District Nazim Lasbela, DCO, District Education Officers, Focal Person EFA and media representatives for the orientation meeting of Quality Education Program which was scheduled on the following day i.e December 20, 2003.

District Nazim assured his and his cabinet members presence in the orientation meeting on next day. District Education Officials also gave their confirmations for the said meeting.

District Level Orientation Meeting:
The first Orientation Meeting of Quality Education Program was held on December 20,2003 at District Assembly Hall Uthal. The objectives of the meetings were:

• To orient the participants about the Quality Education Program
• To seek their support and cooperation for smooth implementation of the Program activities
• To develop a sense of ownership among all stakeholders regarding the Program.

The participants of the meetings included: District Nazim Lasbela, DCO, Tehsil Nazims DOE (M/F), Focal Person EFA, Media representatives and SCSPEB teams. The meeting formally started with the recitation of Holy Quran followed by the introduction of participants. After introduction the participants were briefed about SCSPEB and then a detailed orientation about QEP was given.

The outcomes of the meeting were that the participants were conceptually cleared about SCSPEB and Quality Education Program. Moreover, the following major decisions were taken during the meeting:

• District Nazim Lasbela would issue a letter to tehsil nazims to extend support to Quality Education Program.
• District Nazim would regularly review the progress of the program and extend support in resolving issues.
• SCSPEB teams would regularly provide updates and maintain record of the progress of the Program at the Offices of District Nazims, EDO and DOEs.

Orientation Meetings at Tehsil Level:
Individual orientation meetings were conducted at tehsil level to orient the stakeholders about the Program and seek their cooperation. The meetings were conducted in the following tehsils:

1. Tehsil Hub
2. Tehsil Winder
3. Tehsil Duregi
4. Tehsil Bela
5. Tehsil Uthal

The outcomes of these tehsil meetings are summarized in the following points:

• Tehsil Nazim would issue letter to Union Council Nazims and councilors to extend support Quality Education Program and cooperate with QEP teams.
• Tehsil Nazim Hub formed a committee who would provide uniform and books to poor students from Tehsil Nazims Funds.
• DDOEs issued letters to LCs to cooperate with teams and facilitate in cluster formation.
• Media representatives gave a good coverage in the newspaper to aware the people about the Program and its future prospects.

Plan Sharing Meetings with DOEs:
Plan sharing meetings were conducted with Mr. Abdus Salam Bazinjo DOEs (M) also Focal Person EFA and with Mrs. Shaffquat Sultana. During the meeting the teams shared their plans with them. The DOEs provided the teams with lists of schools and teachers. Moreover, issued letters to head teachers and LCs to extend support. The LCs were directed to accompany the teams during school visits and assist in cluster formation.

Meetings with Head Teachers:
As the head teachers have DDO powers of their respective schools. Therefore, it was essential to involve them in the process and orient them about the Program. Moreover, the high schools were to function as cluster centers. The teams conducted meetings with the head teachers of the following schools:

1. Headmaster GHS Dam, Tehsil Winder
2. Headmistress GGHS, Tehsil Uthal
3. Principal Model High School Uthal
4. Headmaster GHS Dureji
5. Headmaster GHS Lakhara
6. Headmaster GHS Jam Yousafabad.
7. Headmaster GHS Ismailani Gaddor Bela
8. Headmaster GHS Wah Yaro Uthal.

The outcomes of these were that the head teachers agreed to extend support the program and allow the school buildings to be used as cluster centers.

Route Mapping Meetings:
Separate meetings were conducted with DDOEs, ADEOs and LCs for route mapping and cluster formation of their respective geographical areas. The outcomes of these meetings were that basic information about the number and names of schools were provided by the LCs which, provided basis for the physical demarcation of the areas. Moreover, the LCs were directed to accompany the teams during the clustering and need assessments of teachers.

Cluster Formation:
After getting the basic information about the number and names of the schools in specific circles the teams conducted field visits of areas to physically verify the schools. During the clustering the schools falling within the radius of 16 km were grouped in one cluster. A total of 36 clusters were formed based on 327 schools and 574 teachers. Moreover, during the clustering based on the developed Performa’s the teams also collected school information and other information regarding the village.

Training Need Assessment (TNA):
The teams visited 138 schools and conducted need assessment of 294 teachers including 197 male and 97 females (List attached as annex). Based on the developed Performa the teachers were assessed through classroom observation, face-to-face interviews and child observations. During the need assessment the teams observed that the teachers find difficulties in teaching:

• New English book of Class one.
• Mathematics of class fourth and fifth.
• Science of class fourth and fifth particularly finding answers of the questions and the experiments given in the exercises at the end of the chapters.
• Social studies particularly regarding longitude and latitude concepts and how to draw and understand maps.
• Urdu regarding the usage of vocabulary.

Moreover, it was also observed that the classrooms were overcrowded and in most of the schools the teachers were not making use of the available teaching kits. The charts in the classroom were pasted very high on the walls, which could not be easily seen by the children.

Orientation Meetings with PTSMCs Members:
PTSMCs have to play an effective in the Program. Therefore, it is essential that they should have clear understanding of the Program. Inorder to develop their understanding and to seek their support during the implementation of the Program the teams conducted meetings with the PTSMC members and oriented them about the Program as well as their roles and responsibilities.

During the reporting period the team conducted with the PTSMCs of the following schools. Table below depicts the actions/decisions taken during the meetings:

Meeting with WVEC Members:
Apart from PTSMCs meetings the teams also conducted meetings with the WVEC members to orient and involve them in the Program. During the reporting period meetings were conducted with WVEC members of the following schools:

1. GGPS Saffar Goth Winder
2. GGPS Ishaq Goth Winder
3. GGPS Peer Goth Lakhara Uthal
4. GGPS Haji Ahmed Dam Winder.

During the meeting it was found that members have contacts with the school but there is need to further strengthen their role. The teams emphasized upon the roles and responsibilities of the WVEC members. At the end of these meetings the members assumed the responsibilities that they would bring out of school and dropped out children back to school. Moreover, they would make regular visits of schools, conduct meetings with teachers and keep record of their meetings.

Meetings with NGO and CBOs Members:
Meetings were conducted with some active CBOs and other NGOs working in the Lasbela District. The objective of these meetings were to orient and aware them about QEP. In this context meetings were conducted with the following organizations:

• Teams of Institute for Development Studies and Practices (IDSP) working in Lasbela district.
• Social Development Wang Bela
• Community Participatory Organization Bela
• Sonmiani Development Organization (SDO) Winder.

Review Meeting with EDO Lasbela:
The teams conducted review meeting with EDO and briefed him about their achievements during the month. During the meetings it was also shared with the EDO that in most of the schools teaching and learning materials are not available and other school related problems. Moreover, it was also taken up with EDO that the LCs demanded for TA/DA.

Constraints and bottlenecks:
• Difficulties in cluster formation due to wide distances.
• Due to the unavailability of teaching learning material it was difficult to conduct teachers training need assessment.
• LCs demanded DSA.
• Wrong perception about the Program given by LCs in newspaper.
• Schools were closed due to winter vacations.

Observations/Findings:
• Most of the teachers were not aware about the number and types of trainings they had acquired.
• Very few teachers were making use of the learning kits in their classes.
• As the LCs were involved in the clustering and need assessment process as a result they got the opportunity to visit those schools which they had not visited since due to mobility constraints. Moreover, they became aware about school problems and teachers training needs.

Annexure