SEF Assisted Schools (SAS) Programme
Status: On-going
Start Date: Apr 2019
End Date: Mar 2020
Geographic Coverage: 2 Districts in Sindh
Focus Area: Education
SDG Goal: 4 To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Implementing Partner: SPO
Funding Partner: Sindh Education Foundation
SPO partnered with Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) for the implementation of formal and non-formal education intervention in Northern Sindh that includes districts Sukkur, Shikarpur and Jacobabad. This intervention is based on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) framework. The programme ensured to implement SDG Goal 4 which calls for inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
The SEF Assisted Schools (SAS) Programme is also an initiative taken by SEF and SPO for the integration of the old Integrated Education Learning Programme (IELP) and Rural-Based Community School (RBCS) programme of the Sindh Education Foundation. Through this engagement, SPO aims to empower the under-privileged communities to bring about social change by creating and facilitating new approaches to learning and education.
The specific objective of the programme is to raise the quality of education and improve the literacy rate by ‘reaching the unreached’ in the remote and under-developed areas of Sindh. In this regard, SPO provided modern pedagogical tools such as establishing audio/visual rooms, providing technologically well-equipped classrooms to facilitate the students; designing interactive learning materials and classroom activities; distributing free school uniforms; and installing solar panels in school buildings for alternative energy solutions. Moreover, in order to teach children the importance of climate change, SPO engaged students in tree plantation campaigns so they can also learn to protect their natural habitat.
The Objectives of SAS Programme are:
• To supplement government policies under Universal Primary Education by enhancing educational facilities for out-of-school children and youth, especially girls.
• To offer free and flexible learning opportunities at the grass-roots level.
• To ensure gender equality in education.
• To ensure long-term institutional development of schools in partnership with communities for sustainability of quality reform efforts.
The program objectives are being successfully attained since the inception of project in 2017. SPO and SEF in joint collaboration are implementing the SEF Assisted Schools (SAS) programme in the following schools:
1. Nawab Khan Buriro, Taluka Thul, District Jacobabad
2. Malhi, Taluka Khanpur, District Shikarpur
3. English Model School, Ghaija, Shikarpur
The impacts of SAS Programme are tremendous and promising. Till date, 765 children, including girls and boys have been enrolled in three schools under SEF-Assisted Schools in district Shikarpur and Jacobabad. Moreover, three students of SPO Nawab Khan Buriro received scholarships from IBA for their academic performance. In order to continue the efforts.
Living a Dream – case study of success
Nawab Khan Buriro is a remote hamlet located 18 kilometers from Thul, Jacobabad. The inhabitants of Nawab Khan Buriro live in abject poverty and lack basic facilities of health and education. Education has, in the past, received the least priority in the community.
Waqar Ahmed and Waqas Ahmed are two brothers who hail from a hamlet of Nawab Khan Buriro of district Jacobabad. Their father, Ahmed Ali, is a poor farmer who works in the fields owned by the landlord of the village. The brothers dreamed of a better life than working in the fields in the most hostile seasons. Their father and they realized it was not the sort of life they wanted. During an enrolment drive by SPO, Waqar Ahmed and Waqas Ahmed were identified and were made to realize that education leads to the realization of one’s dreams. They enrolled themselves in the SPO Model Primary School at Nawab Khan Buriro.
As promised, SPO provided them with free uniform and books with support from the Sindh Education Foundation. The brothers found themselves at the right place to begin the realization of their dreams. At school, the learning environment was thriving; SPO supported the school with the establishment of an Audio/Visual room and provided tablets for more inter-active learning.
Mujeeb ur Rehman, teacher at SPO Model
Primary School, said that he found both brothers very actively interested in learning. They were fond of speaking English. They found their teacher Mujeeb ur Rehman very dedicated and encouraging. The teacher realized that Waqar and Waqas’s keen interest in learning raised his own motivation to improve his teaching methods and took full advantage of the teacher’s professional development training programmes at IBA Sukkar.
With every passing day at school, both the brothers excelled in academic and extra-curricular activities. Based on their academic performance at school, they were awarded with scholarships at IBA College Jacobabad for their elementary education. Their father, Ahmed Ali was overwhelmed to learn about his sons receiving scholarships from the prestigious IBA College, his eyes filled with tears of joy, this was the proudest moment of his life. Waqar Ahmed and Waqas Ahmed want to continue with the same zest and intelligence and dream of one day being able to join the police force.