Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. The fund’s Multi-Year Resilience Programme (MYRP) is being implemented in partnership between the Government of Pakistan and a consortium led by the Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN), UNICEF and Voluntary Service Overseas in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
RSPN is managing MYRP in the Loralai, Panjgur, and Kohlu districts of Balochistan, through our implementing partner (IP) Balochistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP) for improving access to inclusive and equitable quality education for refugees, crisis-affected and out-of-school, marginalised and vulnerable girl and boy children and adolescents by providing “whole-of-child” solutions.
Donor: Education Cannot Wait in partnership with the Government of Pakistan and consortia led by the Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN), UNICEF and Voluntary Service Overseas.
Grantee: Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN)
Implementing Partner: Balochistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP)
Districts: Panjgur, Kohlu & Loralai
Province: Balochistan
Managed by RSPN, Pakistan’s largest rural development network, Multi-Year Resilience Programme (MYRP) teams continue reaching 42,420 out-of-school (OOS) children and adolescents through formal and non-formal education in programme’s select government schools in Kohlu, Loralai, and Panjgur districts. We are improving teaching-learning conditions through school improvement projects, student-focused activities, and educational reforms. MYRP is ensuring safe and protective interventions, nurturing mental, psychosocial, and physical well-being, building the capacity of teachers and education authorities, raising awareness, improving access to education by ensuring safe, protective, friendly, and healthy schooling, addressing barriers being faced by girls and boys, including Afghan refugee children, adolescents and those living with disability, and developing resilience of education system.
MYRP will reach 42,420 children and adolescents through formal (57%) and non-formal (43%) education.
MYRP continues maximising collaboration with 46 Local Support Organizations (LSOs) and 227 Community Resource Persons (CRPs) to enhance community participation in school-based reforms, as part of programme’s ongoing intensive community mobilisation efforts. Re-activation and strengthening of 1,109 Parent-Teacher School Management Committees (PTSMCs) is ensuring community ownership, participation and collaboration for quality education of their children.
We continued establishing 106 Early Childhood Education (ECE) and 209 Accelerated (ALP) Centres in government schools, and providing teaching, learning materials. Rehabilitation of WASH facilities and ECE Centres is helping improve schools’ infrastructure. Our teams continue identifying and enrolling out-of-school children in schools, through rigorous enrollment campaign.
We focus on awareness raising in areas including Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM), gender, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and importance of education, in schools and school-based communities. Our female staff is progressively engaged in conducting MHM awareness sessions with 2,700 adolescent girls in 400 schools. Setting-up of MHM corners is facilitating education and curbing absenteeism and drop-outs, through provision of MHM materials to students.
We continue focusing on capacity building by training 900 teachers, including government, ECE, ALP, non-formal education (NFE) teachers, on health, nutrition, hygiene, screening and referral, integration of mental health and psychosocial support, DRR, self-care techniques, life skills toolkit (also for Champions Club members), self-care and prevention of gender-based violence (GBV). 100 adolescents acquired technical and vocational skills after completing 2-3 months courses. Life Skills sessions for 2,270 children aim addressing bullying and other issues of exclusion. Formation of 227 Champions Clubs is helping promote sports activities and friendly schooling. Provision of safe transport facilities to 300 girls and cash-based assistance to 600 vulnerable girls are facilitating access and supporting education.
“Pakistan grapples with one of the world’s most significant challenges of out-of-school children (OOSC) aged between five to 16 years. Despite recent progress in reducing the percentage of OOSC from 44% in 2016-17 to 39% in 2021-22, the absolute number has risen from 22.02 million excluding AJK and GB to 26.21 million, largely attributed to population growth.
This increase underscores the persistent and pressing issue of education access and retention in the country. The period between 2016-17 and 2021-22 has witnessed a discernible downward trend in the Gross Enrollment Ratios (GER) across various education levels in Pakistan.”¹ This bleak situation exists despite article 25A of the Constitution of Pakistan that clearly asserts education as the fundamental right of every child.
