Bringing Children Back to School in Most Flood Affected Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Southern Punjab

Location:

Punjab Districts: Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Districts: Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber and Mohmand Agency

Duration:12 Months January 2023 to December 2023

Sector: Education

Implementing Partners: National Rural Support Programme (NRSP)& Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP)

Direct Beneficiaries: 20,000 students (girls and boys),420 teachers (women and men), 220 School Management Committees

Context:

Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children (OOSC), with approximately 22.8 million children aged 5-16 not attending school, which accounts for 44 percent of the total population in this age range. The number of children not enrolled in schools is highest among the 5-9 age group, with an estimated 5 million children. As the children progress beyond primary-school age, the number of OOSC doubles, with around 11.4 million adolescents aged 10-14 not receiving formal education. Significant disparities based on gender, socio-economic status, and geography exist, with Sindh having 52 percent of the poorest children (58 percent of whom are girls) out of school, and Balochistan having 78 percent of girls out of school.  The situation has further worsened due to the recent floods, interrupting the education of more than 3.5 million children, while damaging 25,993 schools in Pakistan, out of which 2859 are in KPK and 2079 in Punjab. These damaged schools are pushing millions of children out of school further adding to the existing out of school children.

Description:

Rural Support Programmes Network’s “Bringing Children Back to School in Most Flood Affected Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Southern Punjab” is a one-year project , ending in December 2023, funded by the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO). The project is being implemented in a total of five districts by the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) in South Punjab (Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan) and by Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber, and Mohmand Agency).

The Project aims to help mitigate the academic losses of school-going children since the 2022 floods of Pakistan in the target districts. The specific objective of the Project is to ensure that children, especially girls, have access to education and utilise safe and protected learning environments in 235 target schools of the target districts.

Objectives:

• 20,000 students (at least 60% girl students) in 235 target schools return to school.
• 90% of enrolled students complete their academic year successfully.
• 70% of enrolled students (at least 50% girl students) with improved learning outcomes.

Expected Results:

• 35 Temporary Learning Spaces (TLSs) with safe, accessible, and conducive learning environments established in the target districts.
• 200 partially damaged schools in target areas improved through providing missing facilities.
• 420 teachers capacitated to achieve educational milestones.
• 220 School Management Committees (SMCs)/Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) in areas of children’s enrolment, provision of psycho-social support to students and better management of Temporary Learning Spaces (TLSs) and improved schools
• Enhanced capacity of the Project teams to ensure efficient Project delivery and management in an equitable, transparent, and accountable manner.