TURNING AROUND CHILDREN Making a Difference through Quality Intervention at an Early Age

1. Funding support from TURNING AROUND CHILDREN Making a Difference through Quality Intervention at an Early Age PRESENTED BY: Mehnaz Aziz (Chief Executive) ISLAMABAD: # 66, St. 89, G-6/3, Islamabad Tel: +9251 2877941-2, Fax: +9251 2274140 info@cripk.org, http://www.cripk.org KARACHI: # 192-P, Block 2, P.E.C.H.S, Karachi Tel: +9221 4386967 Fax: +9221 4386967

2. Presentation’s Contents • Need for Quality Intervention? • What do we do at CRI? • CRI mandate • Providing best to marginalized community • Results • Future

3. Need for Quality Intervention? I. The average public primary school teacher is not equipped with teaching methodology. • “After I did my PTC and came to the classroom I had no idea how to plan a day and teach children. I just replicated how my teacher taught me.” Shahzadi Bushra GGP School Intelligence No. 1, Keamari Town, Karachi II. In public schools Classrooms are devoid of colors and children work. III. Most public universities do not offer specialized courses for educators on interactive methodologies in ECE. IV. Parent participation in public schools is discouraged: • 99% of schools have notices on the wall disallowing parents from entering. • There is no concept of teachers’ interaction with parents.

4. What do we do at CRI? • CRI equipped with the child centered comprehensive methodology initiated work in 2002 with USAID support to fill the gap on the quality side through its following components: • ECE • Basic Education • Family Literacy • Family Involvement • Higher Education • CRI helps bridge the gap between the Kindergarten and Higher Education

5. CRI Mandate • Public Private partner-ships: • For the purpose of program implementation Memorandum of Understandings were signed with the following entities: • Federal Ministry of Education (Federal Directorate of Education) • City District Government Rawalpindi, Provincial Education Department Punjab • City District Government Karachi, Provincial Education Department Sindh • Support Education Sector Reforms initiated by the Government of Pakistan in 1999

6. Best Provided to Marginalized Community • Quality is assured through: • Extensive five days training of teachers and principals twice a year in interactive methodologies. • Improvement in classroom environment through: • Displaying children’s work • Sharing class room responsibilities, • Portfolios (for on-going assessment of students) • Providing learning and art material (pattern blocks, Cuisenaire rods, geo-board, dominoes, base ten blocks, drawing sheets, colors and other stationary items) • Setting up activity centers (literacy, math, dramatic, science and art centers) to provide clarity of concepts based on syllabus. • Providing story books for classrooms • On-going Technical Assistance through Master Teacher Trainers

7. Literacy classes for non-literate parents to make them a part of their child’s learning through: • 100 lessons in basic literacy and math skills developed by CRI adult literacy experts • Two 1 ½ hour lessons per week divided over two sessions of six months duration • Reading writing speaking, listening and computation activities for parents • Parents receive books to read to their children • Adult learners’ home work linked to their children’s learning in class room • Inviting parents to classrooms through planned activities to assist teacher by: • Sharing their knowledge • Telling stories • Demonstrating and sharing their professional skills • Enhancing capacities of institutions churning out educators

8. Learning is Made Fun for Children Through: • Morning Meeting(children sit in a circle, greet each other, eye contact, sense of responsibility and respect for each other is encouraged, children share small things) • Choice Time(different choices are given to the children in schedule to take initiative and make learning interesting and pleasurable). • Book Making and Author’s Chair(Children make their own story books and share it with their class fellows on Author’s Chair). • Hundred Days in school(to track their attendance children count number of days in school, when hundred; they celebrate it in different ways).

9. Celebrating Science Day(little scientists are encouraged to undertake interactive activities for hands on experiences) • Celebrating Math Day(to integrate math with day to day life different interactive math activities are designed to celebrate math day with little mathematicians). • Adopt a Plant(children plant a tree, take ownership of its care and monthly record changes) • Dramatic Play(Children assume different roles and make props and talk to each other. This reflects and promotes their cognitive and social development). • Learning is interactive freely initiated by the child, open ended and creative through out the day

10. Results (2002 – 2005) • Improved classroom environment • Children’s Performances are better (reading and writing skills developed, problem solving ability enhanced) • Children are confident, like to come to school daily • Individualization • There is increased student teacher interaction and parental involvement. • Improvement in the attitude of the teacher. More than 1200 teachers & heads trained • There is a decline in corporal punishments in partner schools. • Reaching out to over 25,000 children • More than 2000 parents made literate in basic literacy and math skills under family Literacy Program • FDE has requested implementation of CRI methodology in all schools under their jurisdiction. • Ready to teach specialized courses for educators endorsed in all universities

11. Future (2006 – 2009) • Entire school district (316 public schools) • Would reach out to 200,000 children • Approximately 3, 033 teachers will be trained in interactive methodologies and their class rooms will be equipped with learning material • More than 5,000 parents would learn basic literacy and math skills We hope to collaborate with the government to take the methodology to national scales as we would also like to work on “No Child Left Behind”