Expanding the education base from Non Formal to Formal Education

The new education strategy devotes considerable effort to clarify the outcomes that SRSP supports to achieve education aims. The new strategy sets out few priority areas: continuous efforts to improve the teaching & learning processes and including the excluded through its CBS programme, filling in the planning/organizational and implementation gaps through formation of CCBs and facilitation in district level education development planning through development & implementation of District Education Plans.

SRSP education strategy underscores the growing realization that the entities involved in education have a wide range of comparative advantages and strengths such as: strong presence on ground, good local knowledge and cultural understanding, special expertise, the political power to bring about the change and the capacity to mobilize the resources including finance. The implications for SRSP are two fold. First, it is continuing its CBS programme by understanding, nurturing and applying its own areas of comparative advantage carefully. Second and more importantly, SRSP education work/programme has started devoting even more attention, time and weight to partnerships with District Education Departments and international organizations like UNICEF, than it did during its initial phase. It has recognized that government coordinated efforts are most likely to deliver sustainable reform.

Partnerships with District Government Upper Dir in District Education Plan

a) Partnerships can improve service delivery
Across the country a number of innovative approaches and efforts are underway to form productive Public Private Partnerships (PPP) to improve the status of education in the country. In this case, PPP focuses on new ways to expand and improve the capacity of district education department, schools, community, teachers and the district government to meet the needs of children and their families.

b) Post Devolution scenario creating an opportunity
After devolution, rapidly changing political and economic forces created an environment in which many public and private sector organization/institutions discovered a strong mutual interest in exploring new ways to form and sustain partnerships. It has been proved that such partnerships can effectively bring together a wide range of contributors, including district governments, civil society organizations, service providers and communities to expand and improve a variety of support and services for children, besides contributing in achieving the goals and targets in EFA by 2015.

Education up to the higher secondary level has been devolved to the district level, which is a radical shift from the previous arrangements. Earlier, it was centralized at the provincial headquarters. Capitalizing on the opportunity to partner with district government in district level education development planning, SRSP in March 2003 submitted a project to Education Sector Reforms Assistance, USAID. The idea was to ensure involvement of major actors to work closely together i.e. district government/education department, civil society organization and local stakeholders with the support of bilateral development agencies, to ensure the country objectives for education are met and to build public and educator understanding of the need for educational change.

The project focuses on establishing and sustaining district based mechanism for ensuring quality education for all children with a special focus on girls through improving access, higher teacher performance, develop linkages amongst the key stakeholders and direct support for continuing education. The project is supported by Education Sector Reforms Assistance, ESRA for a period of two years (2003-2005).

Education Profile of District Upper Dir

In district Upper Dir there are 656 (3 non functional) boys and 223 primary girls school. The enrollment in these schools is 77,427 of which 60,455 in boys schools and 16,972 in girls school. The total number of teachers is 2126 comprising 1594 are in boys school and 532 in girls schools. In the district 62 middle, 35 high while 6 higher secondary schools. Total enrollment in middle school is 5133, 8109 in high schools while 3102 in higher secondary schools. Teacher serving in middle schools are 445, 496 in high schools and 179 in higher secondary schools.

The literacy ratio in upper dir has increased from 4.1% in 1981 to 21.2% in 1998. The literacy ratio, in rural areas, for boys is 35.1% as against 5.4% for girl child. These ratios are significantly higher in urban areas of District Dir i.e. 58.6% and 22.6% for boys and girls respectively. There are 149,175 out of school children of age 5-16 in Upper Dir.  Some of them never had access to education and others dropped out before completing their primary education. In addition, more than 50% children in the eligible age group are Out of School children & denied educational opportunities are major concerns of the stakeholders (SRSP baseline survey). The details are given in table below:

Source: EMIS, District Education Department