South Asian Regional Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policies and Practices: Towards 2015 and Beyond Monday 27 August – Wednesday 29 August 2012 Quality & Integration Challenges Baela Raza Jamil – Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi(ITA)& South Asia Forum For Education Development (SAFED)

ECCE (0-8) – To Love them or Not? An Existential Issue for Humankind Children waiting to be the centre of attention in South Asia Suffer violations, passive and silent spaces in : –Homes –Community –Schools –Society Yet children evoke the best, most spontaneous emotions Suffer from uneven/indifferent parenting regimes of care, protection, support, stimulation and learning due to many reasons including poverty, vulnerability, lack of resources and information on high returns to investment of ECCE A chronic lack of inter-departmental collaboration for challenges of health, nutrition, care/protection & learning

Good news is there are lobbies mounting for unpacking ECCE as an upgraded integrated care, nurturing and learning period for holistic human development – the best investment with long term impact; an expanding scope for ECCE unfolding in practices : From 0-5; Home+ Pre School From 0- 6; Home+ Centre +Pre-school+ School From 0-8; Home + Pre School + Lower Primary holistic and multi-sectoral (good birth outcomes; prenatal, neo natal, health, nutrition, well being, care & education of children) Three transition experiences : Home + Pre-school + Lower Primary (k– 3) critical spaces for strengthening the foundations of human development - Following up on the Moscow Framework for Action & Cooperation (2010) - In Pakistan ECE a legitimized mainstreamed education program for 3-5 yrs Although articulated holistically it is restricted to learning readiness and protection for children at best in public sector schools and in some private sector provision there is some focus on parenting, nutrition, health milestones, ECCE/ECD – An ever expanding space..is it?

Policy provisions Positively Regularized ECE into Public Sector/Private Sector Schools National Education Policy acknowledged ECE as necessary Education Sector Reforms Action Plan (provided funds for ECE innovative program across Pakistan supported ECE in government schools) National Plan of Action for EFA target is 50% of ECE children in formal learning space by 2015 (access already achieved) but challenges of quality and resources are enormous National Education Policy 2009 formalized ECE as part of the Access Chapter (5) – a foundational sub-sector prior to Primary but only for age group 3-5 and government commitment for 4-5 – l short of 0- 8! Provincial Education Sector Plans ensuring inclusion of ECE but only as provision for 4-5 as “katchi” through public sector support; Scaling up strategy; Global Partnership for Education (GPE) support to provinces contingent on ECE as a key area in a sector wide approach Right to Education Act 2011 for Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) has ECE in its provisions (passed by Senate, but not by the National Assembly)

ECE SNAPSHOTS Out of 5 provinces, in 2 the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is supporting the sector planning process where ECE is included as an important sub-theme (GPE pledged 100 million to Sind and Baluchistan supported by local education stakeholders) Provincial ECE Plan: In Baluchistan, with UNESCO support, Society (CSO) and Government, have prepared the provincial and district ECE plans for 100% coverage by 2015 as a multi-stakeholder partnership; but for budget for ECE is nil Provincial ECE Scaling Up Strategy: In Punjab ECE is a focus area with a strategy for ECE scaling up in place for reaching out to all to 60,000 + schools; allocation in the budget of Rs. 200 million in ; Punjab has aggressively set up Kids/ECE Rooms in across the province allocating modest funds to make ECE rooms lively for learning; Master trainers have been trained and standardized materials for ECE being shared with all partners (NGOs, Donors, Private Sector) - Public Private Partnerships are the order of the day in Pakistan –best models

Types of ECCE/ECE Private Sector/Social Welfare Dept.- Day Care Centres – not always integrated multi-sectoral approach CSOs/Research institutions – 6 months -5 years – integrated, health, nutrition, parenting, growth monitoring, learning readiness and research (very few)..strategic working to share data for policy influence and costing options (Aga Khan/ ITA) Private Sector – preparatory learning readiness with some health and nutrition support Public Sector – Dept of Education – formal schools and non-formal 3-5 (one year) – with many partners working Emergencies/Relief : in multiple spaces ECD automatically happens, multi-sectoral in an optimal sense but lessons not learnt for mainstream /country /provincial/district plans

ASER & Pre-School Enrollment (3-5)  Rural: Enrollment of children of years 43% in 2011  Urban: Enrollment highest in Karachi (69%); Lahore (59%) & Peshawar (41%) Action : Early years need the best investment –as the foundation years for future learning. Special attention and resources needed to increase enrollment with trained teachers and safe learning environment

Strengthening Institutional Capacity – ECE & ECCE Trends from Pakistan Pakistan Population: 180 million population ECE age group 0-8: 26 million NER Primary : Male: 71, Female: 61, Total: 66 GER ECE : 50-66% Rural Public Sector : 63% Private Sector : 37% Including Aided Education Foundation schools 1-2% madrassahs Source: ASER Pakistan 2011

Annual Status of Education Report(ASER)PAKISTAN 2011: State of ECE in Pakistan- OOSC Insights

ASER 2011 Pakistan Reading

ASER 2011 Pakistan Arithmetic

ECE, unlike perception is not predominantly a private sector phenomenon; 67.6% children were enrolled in government schools, 29.3% in private schools, 2.7% in Madrasahs and 0.4% in other types of schools such as non formal schools and literacy centers Average number of rooms for conducting primary level classes in government schools is 2, whereas in private schools the average number of schools allotted for primary education is 4 Quality continues to be under pressure Findings from ASER 2011

District s Village s Schoo ls Hous e holds Children 141 (135+6)

Institutional Space for ECE/ECCE Public Sector/Autonomous/Private Bodies Department of Education/Schools/Literacy Department of Non-formal and Literacy (Punjab) Education Foundations- aided low cost options National Commission for Human Development Department of Social Welfare and Special Needs Department of Health - MNCH – Lady Health Workers (LHW) School Health and Nutrition Supervisors Punjab – outreach to schools incl. ECE Provincial/National Disaster Management Authorities Universities – Public and Private Training & Research Institutions Public &Private sectors

ECD & Emergencies ECD is a sad, but inevitable reality in all emergency responses INEE has excellent guidelines on ECD and protection Pakistan has experienced a spate of emergencies and displacement and continues to do so During relief periods ECD takes place due to space, proximity of care givers to address all the core issue of shelter, nutrition, health, parenting, psycho social support – all sectors come together.. And then disappear....sad situation but a lot of activity, support groups and togetherness.. Do we need emergencies to do ECD ? Poverty and vulnerability.. Are they an opportunity for ECD?

ITA ECE/ECD ECE in WSIP: ECE integrated in all Whole School Improvement Programs in govt. schools (1 year preschool)- health and nutrition also part of the program – Focus has been to influence government systems - through models/ tools development, demonstration and policy work – government has taken ownership ECE supported by ITA, Partners, Dubai Cares, OXFAM, and UNILEVER Pakistan – large scale ECD (0-5yrs) ECD currently a pilot in flood affected are as 15 centres – testing it all Health, Nutrition, Parenting, Care, Protection and Early Stimulation – Community space, Model Villages and one in a Govt. School Linked with health and education including Technical Vocational for mothers – ECD children transit from the centre to the WSIP school in the neighborhood – Research is just beginning to influence policy and expand practice - longitudinal study - 5 years..

Core Areas of Sanjha Vehra (Our Courtyard ) Developmental Milestones- Physical, Cognitive, Emotional Protection and care..safe spaces Nutrition – healthy cooking once a week demonstrations for mothers Aesthetics/creativity - exploring colors, words, body movements; songs and sounds – connecting with Multiple Intelligences Learning Readiness literacy – mother tongue, numeracy activities, paced, interactive – making sense by ourselves- creativity focused Mothers’ Health (pre-post natal), Child Care, Well being- and expressions VOTECH & /Literacy for Mothers /Surrogate mothers older siblings Mothers’ engagement in certified skills/vocations for livelihoods – life skills and DRR Sanjha Vehra Teams : Manager, Asst, Lady Health Workers (LHWs) co-opted; visiting Doctor/Nutritionist, Speakers-role models, Vocational Teacher/s.. Open to Experimentation.. Out of the box thinking..

Itihad Model Village MZG

Session with LHWs/Doctors for Teachers & Mothers in ECD Teachers and LHWs being trained under ECD-SV Mothers sessions with LHW and Doctors on primary health issues under ECD-SV

Activities done with Children at SV Color Identification Story telling Identification of fruits in local language (Seraiki) Rhymes and Lories (lullabies)e Toys & Puppet exploration

Kitchen Gardening in ECD Centres – Kot Addu

Aga Khan Foundation- Partnerships for Research & Training Quality technical support/services in the field of ECD by the Aga Khan University (AKU) and its institutes. 1. Institute for Educational Development: M.Ed; PhD, In-service, research, learning materials and policy influence 2. Human Development Programme (HDP) expertise for the whole ECD age group (0-8yrs) for the 0-3 years age group in particular. Offers, Advanced Diploma in ECD; online with 2 weeks face-to- face component;s short courses in ECD, including custom designed courses for clients. Research for Releasing Confidence and Creativity (RCC-ECD) and Family Recourse Centers under ECD Project Balochistan 3. Depts. of Pediatrics and Child health and Community Health Sciences; undertakes public and private sector ECD research studies.- PEDS Trial-in the ‘National Programme for Family Planning and Primary Healthcare’ for maternal and child health and nutrition services to families in rural and remote areas; exploring role of rural Lady Health Workers (LHWs)- with 0-24 months- ‘Early Child Stimulation and Responsive Care for Development Programme’ Health only or with Nutrition for best results

ECE SNAPSHOTS- Financing & Support ECE Budget Allocations: Of all the provinces Punjab is the only province to have allocated in fiscal budget ( ) Rs. 200 million or US $ 2 million to implement its ECE scaling up strategy along with partners ECE is mostly supported in public sector by: –Civil Society –Private Sector –INGOs, –Donors –Corporate sector - CSR Large education programs through budgetary support and key donors now focus on ages e3-8 committed to pre, primary and post primary transitions along with good learning materials

Coalitions for Children’s Rights, Education & ECCE Protection & Education Child Rights Movement –100 members across Pakistan Pakistan Coalition for Education (PCE) –Over 200 members Professional Teachers Association Network (PTAN): Early Years Learning Association (EYLA) Regional & Global Regional ARNEC, ASBAE, SAFED Global Education Initiative and Post 2015 Learning Metrics Taskforce – Brookings on Pre-School; Primary and Post primary

Good government large scale initiatives but without an investment and resource strategy for quality, human resources these will be short lived and children will continue to suffer from social, emotional and learning stress especially the vulnerable albe bottom 2 quintiles Emergency and development strands need to converge to learn from each other and make room for a comprehensive ECD program in Pakistan – can begin from areas that are prone to emergencies to scale up sustained ECD programs Emergent health and education collaboration must be strengthened for institutional ownership and the beginning of an ECCE program in Pakistan Need for a multi-sectoral stakeholders group to formulate ECD/ECCE national strategy document with provincial ownership to follow on Moscow Framework, Regional Initiatives and emerging 2015-post 2015 directions Research network for South Asia to be created and strengthened to replicate good studies and capacity building practices Faculty exchange for ECCE training and in-service in South Asia Like ASER Pakistan/India we can have a similar annual report for ECCE Policy Recommendations:

THANK YOU

Here are some important questions to think about: Q:Although much stress is on enrolment, the real question is whether the schools are ready to induct young children and provide them with a thriving, curious and positive nurturing learning environment? Q: Are there teachers available and trained to facilitate a batch of children? Q: Do the schools have sufficient learning resource material to make the experience meaningful? Q: Do the teachers’ realize the significance of ECE and do they see themselves as quality caregivers? Points to Ponder