SCHOOLING FOR POOR CHILDREN IN THE NGO SECTOR

Only 60% primary age children in Pakistan attend school, a much lower rate compared to neighboring countries. Moreover, the gender gap is large. There are only 56 girls to every 100 boys enrolled in primary education. Although the government has doubled expenditure on education in the last ten years the emphasis is still on construction of facilities and recruitment of teachers without an effort to improve quality of education. The vast majority of children who do attend school are not able to read and comprehend material other than what they memorize from textbooks. Nor are they able to perform simple computational skills in mathematics. So for a lot of children who do make it to school, the education they receive is extremely inadequate and an inefficient use of public resources. Dissatisfaction with government schools is reflected by the low attendance rate --20 to 30 percent of schools are either empty or have very few students.
The consensus of a number of studies on schooling in Pakistan is that low enrollment and low retention rates are a reflection of poor supply in terms of low quality of education offered. Parents do not consider it worthwhile to send their children to school if they are not learning anything. Children's time is considered better used in chores at home or assisting parents in income earning activities. Since the opportunity cost of educating poor children is high, the quality of education also has to be high, in order to convince parents of the value of sending children to school. Millions of poor families in Pakistan want good schools for their children. They demonstrate this demand enthusiastically when they are assured that the education received is worthwhile. Participation rates are high in successful projects. In the government assisted Balochistan community schools project, there is 87% female enrollment compared to the province average of 18% . Successful schools established under the Baldia Home Schools project, the Orangi Pilot project and the Aga Khan Rural Support Program have also been in operation since the eighties. All these schools operate with community support and involvement.
The inadequate supply of public schools has also encouraged the growth of private schools in the last ten to fifteen years. Two types of private schools exist in urban areas, those catering to the elite, or educated middle and upper classes, and schools of a much lower quality, charging low fees, catering to the poor. Low-income families in urban areas spend a substantial part of their budget towards educating children in private schools because they perceive these schools to be of higher quality compared to government schools. However, only 10% of all school going children in Pakistan attend private schools, and the responsibility for educating the poor still lies heavily with the government. The challenge is two-fold--improving the quality of existing schools, and to increase the number of schools.
Let me now narrate the experience of one NGO school to illustrate how a community can be transformed if a committed effort is made to provide good education. About a year ago, I had the opportunity to work with an NGO school in Sheikhupura, about 40 miles out of Lahore. This school started functioning in 1991 and evolved as part of a rehabilitation program for flood devastated settlements along the Lahore/Sheikhupra road. This community did not have access to any government school. A new school building was constructed, and over a 100 children registered on the first day the school opened. By 1996, enrollment had reached 1500, and F.A. and FSc. classes had also started since there was no college in the area. Now efforts are underway to start a computer center for the senior classes. The demand for schooling in the area led to the opening of another school further along the Sheikhupura highway in 1995, where enrollments have reached 500. Land for both schools was donated by factory owners of the area.
Some performance criteria of the school are indicated as follows:
1 Cost-effectiveness: The annual cost of schooling is about Rs. 2000 per child, which is half the cost per student in a government Parents are charged a voluntary tuition fee of Rs. 10 per month and Rs. 20 for those who can afford it. Despite their poverty, 70% of parents are able to pay at least Rs.10 per month. In fact they pride their ability to pay for the education of their children. Since drop-out rates are also much lower and achievement levels higher compared to government schools, society gains much more for the limited resources spent in an effective NGO school compared to a typical government school.
2 Learning abilities: Children from very poor families are assumed to come from so-called disadvantaged backgrounds where there is lack of intellectual stimulation due to parents illiteracy. In fact, children entering school in the kindergarten, class 1, and class 2 levels, from ages five to seven, were observed to be capable of learning and absorbing material very quickly. They had well developed motor skills, and good communication and social skills. These skills are learnt at home. For instance, small motor skills are developed because children are expected to engage in household chores from an early age and also learn to perform tasks for themselves such as buttoning and unbuttoning, pouring water and so on. When asked to draw birds, vegetables or flowers, they tended to draw examples from real life-- making very detailed drawings of crows or carrots or roses. As a result, in the initial years of school, children from poor backgrounds were seen to be very ready for learning, probably as capable as the average kindergartner from a typical middle to upper class school.
3 High returns to early education: It is also in the first two or three years of school that children lose the opportunity for learning if memorization is stressed and children are intimidated by teachers. Therefore the returns to the first two or three years of schooling can be very high and crucial in building a strong educational foundation that would give high dividends in terms of academic achievement in higher grades and lower drop-out rates.
Extra effort at the "kachi" or pre-school level, and up to the first three classes is also important from another perspective. Poor parents face pressure to pull children out of school to help with domestic or market related activities. If the high standard of education is established at an early stage, parents will be willing to make greater sacrifices to keep children in school. Even in case the child is forced to drop out, the first three or four classes may be the only education he or she will obtain. Therefore, the more intensive education is at this stage, the more useful it will be to the child.
4 Introducing English at an early stage: The school's policy of introducing English from the very beginning is a feature specially attractive to parents. "English medium" schooling is sought after by parents of all income groups, because even illiterate parents can perceive the opportunities the knowledge of English can open up for their children. Given that curriculum in Urdu is poorly developed, and most children speak Punjabi at home, there is no natural advantage in teaching only Urdu in the earlier classes. The challenge lies in training teachers to instruct the children properly.
5 Co-education works well. Classes are co-educational up to the intermediate level. Parents do not object to co-education, due to their trust in the school administrators and the principal. Girls make up 50% of most classes.
6 Competence and training of teaching staff. The success of the school hinges on the dedication, competence and constant supervision of the principal, or the headmistress, who in turn is motivated by NGO workers. Some of the teachers were trained at considerable cost from private teacher training centers in Lahore. These teachers then trained the other school teachers. Recruiting, training and retaining teachers (especially after they had received training) is a difficult challenge. The school has also started recruiting some of its own matriculate students after they have graduated to teach in the primary classes.
In conclusion, the success of NGO schools depends on the commitment and motivation of a few individuals and their ability to raise funds. And society cannot depend on this commitment alone. What this example does reveal is the strong demand for high quality education by poor parents and their willingness to pay for this education. Therefore it is important for the government to focus on the type of education it provides and on improving the substance of education.
The main lesson to be learned from the diverse examples of education given here is that there is a positive and high response to good quality education, at the higher and primary level, and that a high priority should be attached to providing education of substantial quality. Although the current education situation is dismal, the high demand for education indicates that intensive investment in the right type of education could yield high returns in terms of enrollment and achievement rates within five to ten years. The initiative for this would have to come from the government, and enhanced with the help of NGOs, and the community