Improving Education Governance and Learning Outcomes through Citizen Led

Campaigns The Case of the Annual Status of Education

Report (ASER) Pakistan

Presented at the 11th UKFIET International Conference

ByBaela Raza Jamil (Director Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi)

Suwaibah Mansoor (Research Associate ITA)Ravish Amjad (Research Associate ITA)

Introduction

• Discusses how CSO/citizen led campaigns gathering hard core evidence can influence governance

• The Annual Status Education Report (ASER) Pakistan- A citizen campaign for accountability initiated through unique border crossings between Pakistani and Indian educators

• Case studies from rural Pakistan-Chalo Parrho Barrho (Lets Read and Grow) initiative

Rise of Civil Society Organizations Growth of CSOs • The non-profit sector now provides 40% of all health care and

education services in Ghana, Zimbabwe and Kenya.• India is estimated to house more than one million NGOs• The number of registered NGO’s in Pakistan is around 100,000Critical factors• Government’s supply side failures

– Economic Crisis -1980s and 1990s– Conflict and Natural Disasters

• Constitutional and Policy Shifts– Decentralization (18th Amendment Act 2010)– Right to Education (25A) – Donor Activism blended partnerships (Govt. and CSOs)

Role of CSO’s in Social Accountability and Governance

• A core function of the CSOs is to exact accountability from the state when it is unresponsive to the needs of its citizens.

• Top-down vs. Bottom-up approach to accountability

• Evidence Based Inquiry• Examples

– Banglore Score Card– Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres

(SPARC)– Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)

Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Rural

• ASER is a nationwide citizens’ audit of education (2010-2015)• Need for ASER• Goals and Objectives

I. Obtain reliable and regular estimates of the status of children’s schooling and basic learning (reading and arithmetic level) at the household/ district levels;

II. Mobilize citizens to engage in district wide initiatives to understand how well children are learning or otherwise

III. Increase citizen pressure on the government and other duty bearers, using ASER findings, for improving learning levels of school children

• ASER 2010 – 32 rural districts of Pakistan– 18,000 households– 54,062 children surveyed (3-16 yrs)– 852 Public Schools and 445 Private Schools– 19,915 mothers surveyed

• ASER 2011

ASER 2010-Learning Levels (6-16yrs)

Beginner Letters Words Sentences Story 0%

15%

30%

45%

60%

15.3% 16.6%19.2%

14.6%

34.3%

Reading Levels - (Urdu / Sindhi)

0%

15%

30%

45%

60%

18.3%

11.2%15.9%

22.6%

32.0%

Learning Levels English

Begin

ner

Numbe

r Rec

ogni

tion

1-9

Numbe

r Rec

ogni

tion

10-9

9

Subtra

tion

Divisio

n

0%

15%

30%

45%

60%

16.5% 16.0%23.2% 19.2% 25.0%

Arithmetic LevelsGrade 5 Learning levels

Urdu Story 52%English Sentences 42%Division 34%

ASER Impact• ASER Pakistan 2010

– Pakistan Economic Survey 2010-2011– Global Monitoring Report 2011– Pakistan Education Task Force- ‘March for Education

Report 2011’– PERI- ‘Research Dimensions of Privatization in

Pakistan, India and Bangladesh’– 'The 'Shadow' Education Sector in India and

Pakistan: the determinants, benefits and equity effects of private tutoring‘

– SchoolTELLs; Improving the quality of learning in South Asia

SchoolTELLS Pakistan Competency Getting answer: Student Teacher

Maths % %

Division (927÷9) Completely right 33 82

Completely wrong 46 13

Complex multiplication Completely right 5 36

Completely wrong 81 32

Fractions & problem solving Completely right 6 56

Completely wrong 83 24

Language

Definitions Completely right 11 49

Completely wrong 51 17

Summarising paragraph Completely right 8 54

Completely wrong 81 21

Explaining difficult words Completely right 11 64

Completely wrong 58 7

120 rural schools in 3 districts of PunjabAslam and Kingdon (2011)

ASER Evidence to ASER ActionChalo Parrho Barrho (CPB)-Let’s Read and Grow is a learning enhancement program mobilized and implemented by citizens in response to the results of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2010)

The program targets :

• In-school childrenImprove learning levels of enrolled children in grades 1-5, who are risk of dropping out.

• Out of school childrenCatch up learning program to bring out of school children to a learning level where they can be mainstreamed into the formal school system.

Sentences-English Story-Urdu Math-Division0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

6%

12%

1%

18%

26%

7%

36%

43%

26%

CPB Pilot Phase -Learning Achievement

Baseline Mid-term Final

CBP Successes (Intended and Unintended)

• Improved Learning Levels• Increase in School Enrolment• Head Teachers became conscious of their duties and

started using resources for children’s benefits : fans, drinking water, repairs, reconstitution of SMCs with parent participation

All this in just 12 weeks!• Scaled up campaign launched on 8th September, 2011

targeting 50,000 children

Conclusion• Bold technical initiatives in a campaign mode by

CSOs with scaled up approaches for diagnosis, causality and action

• They emerge from a commitment to measurable impact for demonstrable accountability

• Can these be sustained with rigor over time? • Will this lead to mobilization of political will and

adequate resourcing for education?• Will this become a basis of the proposed new

global compact for new partnerships towards enhanced learning/quality improvement?

Thank You

www.safedafed.orgitacec@gmail.com

suwaibah.aser@itacec.org