International Development Division : IDD

Assisting Educational Reform in Pakistan

ESRA Plus: Innovative Information Communication Technology and Pedagogy-based Models and Approaches to Support Education Sector Reform Assistance (ESRA) program

While Pakistan has achieved development gains in certain sectors and among the upper echelon of its population, the country faces widespread social and economic disparities. Poverty is pervasive, infrastructure is severely limited outside of urban areas, and—perhaps most important—literacy remains extraordinarily low nationwide. To address the enduring problems of poor education and illiteracy, the Government recently embarked upon an ambitious reform program, which EDC is assisting.

Education Sector Reform Assistance

Under difficult conditions, Pakistan is struggling to improve its education system. Currently, access to schools with minimal facilities is restricted in remote areas, and the quality of education is poor,primarily relying on rote memorization and repetition led by teachers with little more than an elementary education themselves. Little pre- or in-service training is available for teachers, who are poorly paid and enjoy little prestige. USAID reports that the average duration of schooling for boys is 1.9 years while that for girls is 0.7 years. Some 37 percent of all boys and 55 percent of girls never enter school. Of those who do, 50 percent drop out within the first five years. The results are not surprising: Illiteracy rates among Pakistanis are approximately 41 percent for men and 65 percent for women.

In the past, Pakistan has implemented ad hoc efforts to improve its education system. Few have been able to be sustained, primarily because they were neither systematic nor systemic. Today, Pakistan’s Education Sector Reform (ESR) is attempting to address the problems in an integrated fashion, bolstered by a devolution process that provides provincial, district, and local levels with unprecedented opportunities for authorized action.

ESRA Plus

In November 2004, ESRA recognized the need for a platform where ESRA (Education Sector Reform Assistance) programmes underway at the district level in Sindh and Balochistan could be demonstrated to a wider audience, while also serving as the test-bed for innovations in education, in particular, the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to improve the access or quality of education.

The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) which manages schools in the Islamabad Capital Territory is known for its successful incubation of “model” activities funded by UNICEF, CRI, and others; the results of which are replicated in the provinces and shared throughout the MoE. Education Development Center Inc. (EDC) was charged with showcasing ESRA practices in 65 schools within one sector of the FDE. In December 2004, EDC initiated the ESRA Plus initiative.

ESRA Plus: Objectives

ESRA Plus is results-oriented and focuses on activities that are demand driven, demonstrate improved learning outcomes, a change in behavior and attitude of those involved within the educational process.
To this end, its specific objectives are to:

• Showcase existing ESRA practices and products from the districts within the Islamabad Capital Territory (with appropriate adaptations to suit the needs of the FDE and its constituents); and
• Demonstrate innovative pedagogical practices and ICT-enabled education options for replication or adaptation within ESRA and across Pakistan

ESRA Plus: Strategy

ESRA Plus was designed on a ‘whole school improvement’ model and aims to combine ESRA best practices with a series of innovations introduced through the integration of ICTs within all levels of the academic system. In this way, ESRA Plus facilitates the wider dissemination of ESRA’s tools, materials, methodologies, while creating new products for adaptation and application within ESRA districts themselves and throughout Pakistan.

The ESRA Plus' whole school improvement model began with a critical examination of the FDE school environment, the impact of various inputs and the role of different actors including parents and community members, teachers, administrators, students etc. As a result of this assessment, eight core interventions were designed with the aim of:

i) increasing participation, awareness and ownership on the part of all stakeholders;
ii) improving efficiency and efficacy within the public administrative departments that oversee schools;
iii) ameliorating the classroom environment to positively impact enrolment, retention and, most importantly, the teaching/learning process;
iv) expanding the role and significance of a school within the surrounding community; and
v) empowering stakeholders to identify and resolve ongoing obstacles that hinder them from reaching these goals.

At its core, ESRA Plus recognizes a school as an ‘ecosystem’ – and all ESRA Plus activities are designed to not only explore the overlaps and interdependencies between interventions, but in fact actively seek to, create, reinforce and leverage synergies to the extent possible – while being responsive to stakeholder demand and to the issues of scale-up, replication and sustainability.

Technology for School Improvement

ESRA Plus explores a range of technologies from “low tech” options such as radio to more “high tech” digital solutions like computers to further support the school improvement objectives and to tie the different activities together.

To this end, ESRA Plus uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) to reinforce the whole school improvement objectives, i.e., to:

i) Expand educational opportunities for students
ii) Improve school administration through data-driven decision making
iii) Enhance teacher professional development
iv) Motivate stakeholders to become involved in the education process

Underlying ESRA Plus’ multiple-media and multichannel strategy is the reality of ESRA’s broader operations i.e., that in each environment the appropriate delivery system and technological inputs must be matched to the learning environments and well aligned with existing (and future) district/local level opportunities and priorities.

Whole School Reform: ESRA Plus Activities

To achieve its 'whole school improvement' objectives, ESRA Plus is implementing eight core activities:

1. National Strategy for Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Education
2. Building Capacity within the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE)
3. Project-based Learning for Teachers and Administrators
4. Adult and Youth Literacy
5. Multi-media Literacy Package
6. PTA Mobilization and Strengthening
7. Multi-purpose Resource Centers
8. Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) for English as a Second Language

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