1. LIFE Mid Term Evaluation
Sharing of Experience by Pakistan
Iqbal-ur-Rehman
Sajjad Haider I

2. Literacy and Education Status
- Primary Education (5-9) age group Population = 19 (M)
Adult Literacy (10+age group) Population = 124 (M)
Literate Population (10+ age group = (M)
Illiterate Population (10+ age group) = (M)
Illiterate Female = (M)
Out of school Children at Primary level = (M)
Dropout at Primary level = 30-35%

3. LITERACY AND EDUCATION STATUS (Contd..) (2007-08)
Gross Participation Rate
Primary (I-V) = 91%
Middle (VI-VIII) = 51%
High (IX-X) = 44%
Net participation Rate:
Primary level = 70%
Adult Literacy (10+ age)
- Overall = %
- Male = 69%
- Female = 44%
- Net participation Rate Secondary level = %

4. Issues of Literacy Political Will and Support:
Establishment of adult literacy centres by adopting integrated approach i.e basic literacy, functional literacy (post literacy) and income generating skills.
Capacity Building.
Media Campaign.
Literacy Material Development, Equivalence and Accreditation.
Mobilization of resources for literacy (At least 10% of education budget should be for literacy).

5. LIFE has taken as a collaborative framework of action in which National Governments, NGOs, civil society, the private sector, UN agencies, Bilateral and Multilateral agencies work together to combat illiteracy.
EFA Unit MoE was designated as focal point for LIFE.
Projects Wing MoE prepared a comprehensive country profile on literacy being submitted to UNESCO Paris.
Core group for implementation and Monitoring of LIFE activities was formed in Pakistan.
How LIFE Organized?

6. Communication Strategies
Involvement of all literacy stakeholders.
Need Assessment.
Capacity Building
Advocacy.
Communication Strategies

7. Project Achievements –Activities implemented (2006-2009)
National Literacy Curriculum (2007) developed, approved, printed and launched. Draft tools for assessment of literacy skills, as per curriculum prepared.
Post Literacy Material: 30 supplementary readers on life skills, women empowerment, poverty reduction, in the process of printing.
Capacity building of Literacy Managers: Training modules developed, two ToT and 10 Training Workshops organized, 300 literacy officials and organizers received training.

8. Activities implemented ….2
Training of Literacy Teachers: A training package for capacity building of literacy teachers and facilitators of CLCs produced. Support extended for development/improvement of literacy materials workshops organized through 4 literacy organizations, and teachers received training.
Gender mainstreaming in literacy programes: Studies undertaken, advocacy material produced, and 4 sensitization seminars on gender organized in four provincial head quarters and a National Gender workshop in Islamabad.

9. Activities implemented ….3
Exchange of information: Informative material on innovative models, success stories, and good practices produced, seminar on sharing of international experiences organized
Piloting of CLCs: Support extended to 4 literacy organizations for piloting of 22 Community Learning Centres.

10. On going Activities under LIFE (2009-10) (with UNESCO Support)
L. R .Cs: Literacy Resource Centres established at national and provincial levels
Literacy Material: Support extended for improvement/development of literacy material in accordance with National Literacy Curriculum (2007)
Advocacy initiatives: Parliamentarians Forum on Literacy, Workshops for orientation of Media persons
Literacy Plans: Support for preparation of Provincial Literacy Plans and National Literacy Plan

11. On going Activities under LIFE …2
Capacity development Support for training of literacy personnel and teachers/managers of NFBE
Literacy Data: Support extended to Population Census Organization (PCO) for collection of reliable literacy data. Literacy Assessment Survey in process
Gender in Literacy: Modules prepared for strengthening gender dimension in literacy programmes.
Exchange of experiences: Information about good practices at international level being compiled, will be translated and disseminated.

12. Impact of LIFE
Platform for dialogue: UNESCO supported activities have provided literacy practitioners a forum to share their experiences and expertise on various issues and challenges of literacy
Learning opportunities: The processes of project activities e.g. formulation of national curriculum, development of literacy material and training package etc. have offered literacy organizations and their personnel a unique opportunity to research and learn new updates on literacy and continuing education.
Resource Material: A set of new material on literacy is now available with literacy organizations on planning and management of literacy programmes, post literacy, teachers training, CLCs and gender empowerment.
Institutional Capacity building: Partially strengthened institutional capacity of few public sector organizations and NGOs, and enhanced capacity of managers, supervisors, and teachers in various themes and skills of literacy work. Impact of L.R.Cs will be assessed in the near future

13. Launching of NCHD’s National Literacy Program and Declaring year 2010 as National Literacy Year.
Honorable Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani launched NCHD’s Literacy Program on 8th September 2009.

14. Lessons Learned – problems encountered
Slow pace of implementation: Shortage of qualified human resources in the area of literacy and NFBE is hampering the pace of activities which require creative work or professional inputs.
Quality versus Quantity: Some literacy actors are primarily focusing on quantitative targets, setting aside quality dimension or realities at the grass root level.
Turn over of Literacy Personnel: Rapid transfers of senior officials (Literacy Focal Points) in Govt. organizations
Uncertainty: Sub sector of Literacy and NFBE is threatened by sudden closure – Literacy and NFBE is first casualty in case of political changes or economy measures/budget cuts

15. Lessons Learned ….2
Women are keen to learn: whereas male illiterates are less interested towards literacy centres, out of school girls and illiterate women are keen to join literacy classes
Post literacy is weak: Most of the programmes do not go beyond basic literacy. There is a dearth of post literacy material, both in terms of themes and number of copies
Weak coordination: At present, there is no regular mechanism on the level of Federal Ministry of Education to strengthen coordination and promote harmonization among provincial stakeholders.

16. Thank you