Education

Education is the right of all children and the obligation of all governments, Its primacy proclaimed by agreements ranging from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the convention on the rights of child and the Jomtein declaration on education for all. It is the key to the fulfillment of other human rights.

Ensuring the right of education is a matter of morality and justice. It is also a matter of economic common sense, for in this new and information-driven century, the world simply cannot afford the loss of so much human potential. It is the heart of all development, it is not a way to escape poverty-it is a way of fighting it, and is a essential prerequisite for equality, dignity and lasting peace.

Progress’ child education centers are child friendly, family focused and community based units, supporting child education and development, serving children from neglected, underserved and underprivileged communities. These services are provided completely free of charge.

Their mission is to ensure that each child is considered a person of his own, endured with rights, and is worth of respect and dignity and that each one deserves to have the best possible start in life, to complete a basic education of the highest quality, to be allowed to develop to his full potential and to be provided opportunities for meaningful participation in their communities. Our challenge is to change the world for children, and to end the discrimination against children, and ensuring that every child, without exception, is assured the right to dignity, security and self-fulfillment.

The Child Education Centers cater to the Montessori and primary education needs of children 4 - 8 years of age providing them with free writing and reading material, uniforms, shoes, towels, soaps & washing powder, nutrients and vitamins and small gifts as an further incentive for regular and continuing attendance. These centers are supervised and conducted by caring and loving lady teachers who impart both formal and informal education. Each center enrolls 140 child students per year from the very poor, underserved and marginalized communities. Female children are specially encouraged to attend.

AN OVERVIEW ON CHILD EDUCATION

Introduction

Education is the right of all children and the obligation of all governments, Its primacy proclaimed by agreements ranging from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the convention on the rights of child and the Jomtein declaration on education for all. It is the key to the fulfillment of other human rights.   

Ensuring the right of education is a matter of morality and justice. It is also a matter of economic common sense, for in this new and information-driven century, the world simply cannot afford the loss of so much human potential.

Education is the heart of all development, it is not a way to escape poverty-it is a way of fighting it, and is a essential prerequisite for equality, dignity and lasting peace.

Islam And Education

Islam, emphatically requests for the quest for knowledge for individuals, it further says, are all those equal those who know, and those whom do not know. ( Al-Quran 39:9 ). It is the duty of the state to provide education to all children of school going age, irrespective of any social, economic or discrimination. The constitution and ideology of Islamic Republic of Pakistan obliges the government to provide access to education and to prepare future generations with sound character, responsibility, integrity, and to be qualified to take charge of various aspects of national life with the spirit of self less service to the nation.

Quaid-e-Azam And Education

It is unfortunate that we have neither devoted enough time, effort, energy or finances to education, the most important area of our responsibility, nevertheless we can cover this loss and catch up with other developed nations if we follow the Quaid-e-Azam advise which stands just as applicable today as it was in his message to the Pakistan Education Conference on Dec 27, 1947, “ there is no doubt that the future of any state will and must greatly depend upon the type of education we give to our children and the way in which we bring them up as future citizens of Pakistan”.

Because young children are the human capital of future, it has become recognized that childhood education, care & development are an essential element of any long-term sustainable nation development strategy. The economic and social benefits which accrue to the individual and the community as a whole far exceeds this cost.

Education and Society

Society benefits economically from its investment in child care and development through increased economic productivity over the child’s life time, by the saving of social cost in such areas as school enrollment, repetition and drop out rates and in terms of reduced juvenile delinquency and reduced use of drugs.

Common sense suggest that a person well developed physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally will be in a better position to be employed and to contribute economically to the family, community, and the country than a person who has not developed these capacities.  

Children are the future their perpetuate the values of culture. Through  children humanity transmits values and that transmission begins with infants, to preserve moral or social values – or to change them for a better- one must begin with children.

Childhood and Education

Child’s early years are crucial in the formation of intelligence, personality and social behavior. Children are born with physical, social and physiological capacities allowing them to communicate, learn and develop. If these capacities are not recognized and supported they will wither rather than flourish.

The successful education of a child during his/her early years of schooling and participation of that child in a society and as an adult depends to a great degree upon the foundations laid during the early years. It enables children to have full consciousness of their purpose in life and to equip them to address that purpose.

Education is the birth right of every child. It is not only a powerful catalyzing agent which provides mental, physical, ideological and moral planning, enabling them to have the full consciousness of their purpose in life and equipping  them to address that purpose.

Investment in the early years promotes optimal development. Embedded within their family, their community and cultural values young children (birth to 8 years) need to be supported in their development. In support young children, we need to understand the many facets of their development and address this in context of the environment they are living in.

Characteristics and needs of Children

Every child is a unique person with individual temperament, learning style, family background, pattern and timings of growth, with the child needs differing across the early childhood years.

Children live within a context – family, community, culture and their needs are most effectively addressed in relation to that context. The child’s well being is closely linked to the well being of the family therefore support to the family and the community can help the children and vice versa. Children are active participants in their own development and learning. Development and learning occurs as a result of child interacting with people and objects in his or her environment.

Equity through Childhood Education

By providing a ‘fair start’ to the children it is possible to modify distressing social, economic and gender related in equities. Poverty and its other accompaniments lead children from families and with few resources into a viscous circle where these children often fall quickly and progressively behind their more advantaged peers in their mental development and in their readiness for school and life- And that gap never closes. Effort should be made to ‘level the playing field’ socially and economically.

Major Issues
Lack of awareness of the importance of education, poverty among the masses are the major factors contributing towards the dismal state of affairs at national level. Many children do not enroll themselves because their parents cannot afford them education and majority withdraw from the schools to join hands with their Parents to earn a   livelihood. Such children end up as laborers and ultimately add to the illiterate unskilled labor force which in the long run neither helps the families of these children nor positively contributes to the national development.  

Other contributing factors towards the poor enrollment are child labor, infant mal- nutrition, health, social and cultural situations, high mortality and morbidity levels, illiteracy of parents and of relatives, different values of the family, area and its educational development also adding to the complexity of the situation.

Also teacher absenteeism and lack of communication, untrained teachers, inadequate and poor quality teaching materials, harsh and uncongenial teaching methods, poor instructional supervision, poor infrastructure, lack of parents and community involvement, increased drop out at primary level all contributing and adding to this depressing scenario.

‘Progress’ Childhood Education Centers
Education is the birth right of every child. All children without distinction of gender, race, language, religion, or of any other kind have the right and privilege to develop and utilize their full potentials. Children living in especially difficult circumstances need special consideration.

‘Progress’ child education centers are child friendly, family focused and community based units, supporting child education and development, serving children from neglected, underserved and underprivileged communities. These services are provided completely free of charge.

Our Mission

To ensure that each child is considered a person in his own, and that each one deserves to have the best possible start in life, to complete a basic education of the highest quality, to be allowed to develop to his full potential and to be provided opportunities for meaningful participation in their communities.

Our Challenge

Is to change, for better, the world for children, to end the discrimination against children and to ensure that every child, without exception, is assured the right to dignity, security and self-fulfillment.

1. To promote and provide an opportunity of free education to children age 4 to 8 years from neglected underserved and underprivileged communities.
2. To provide formal and informal education along with the basic learning needs of the children in terms of learning tools and contents.
3. To expand, promote and provide basic education both quantitatively and qualitatively.
4. To provide an opportunity for such children to attend primary schools and to assist with their smooth transition to such schools.
5. To reinforce children’s motivation for learning and school attendance.
6. To create a closer link between the family and the school and to create a child friendly environment within the community.
7. To decrease the incidence of child abuse, child violence, child labor, disabilities and learning delays.
8. To create an enabling, supported, affectionate and safe environment which supports the child’s optimal development.
9. To decrease primary school drop out rates.
10. To encourage the private sector schools to take a percentage of deserving poor students for free education.
11. To develop awareness and recognition among parents of the importance of child education.
12. To enhance character building oriented towards humanism, tolerance, and moral buildup.
13. To enhance participation rates at primary level and assist the government to achieve increase level of learning up to 90% primary education students by the year 2010.  
14. To increase literacy rates in the long run.
15. To improve nutritional and health status of children by providing vitamins/food supplements and vaccination/immunization facilities. 

Our Location and Building

The centers are located in neglected underserved, and underprivileged communities specially focusing on the urban slumps and the rural areas. Their site is selected keeping in view the accessibility of the children of the community being served. The objective being of taking the school to the children rather than the children to the school.

The center building comprises of a single adequately ventilated single room, measuring at least 15 * 15 sq ft with an attached toilet. Each room is furnished with standard fixtures such as fly proofing, floor matting, tube lightening, ceiling fan, water cooler, wall clock, teacher’s desk, two chairs, one stool, student benches, cupboard, black board and wall charts.

Our Staff, and Students

Teacher is the backbone of any educational setup. Raises the quality of the teacher has direct bearing on the education. The progress education centers are staffed with qualified, loving and caring lady teachers who act as a role model for the children. Good performance of the teachers is dully recognized and rewarded by ‘Progress’. Appointments at the centers are made locally in consultations with the community leader without any political interference. Good performance is encouraged and is rewarded with increment. The teacher is responsible for imparting both formal and informal education to 35-40 child students between 4 to 8 years of age. Girl students are especially encouraged to enroll.

Our Curriculum

The curriculum and teaching methods are learner oriented i.e is the children are at the center of the learning process. Concept of active learning and development of critical thinking and creativity are encouraged. Takhti and Slates are also utilized. Learning materials include English, Urdu, Maths and Islamic text books. Development of child learning skills through experience and experimentation is encouraged. Topics like environment, health, moral building and Islamic values are also addressed.

The center opens during the morning hours from 9:30 am to 12:30 noon and the duration of this course is for a period of 6 months.

‘Progress’ Child Education Kit 
To encourage and to provide incentives to the parents and to the children for improving their enrollment and the retention of the children who have not yet been enrolled in schools, for economic or other reasons, the ‘Progress’ Child Education Center   provides each child with a free kit comprising of the following items:

1. Text books (English, Urdu, Maths, Islamiat)
2. Copies (six, hundred pages each)
3. Writing pencils( one dozen )
4. Slate chalk ( one box )
5. Rubbers ( three )
6. Sharpeners ( three )
7. Uniforms ( two pairs shalwar kameez)
8. Towels ( one pair )
9. Shoes ( one pair )
10. Soaps ( standard size three )
11. Washing powder ( three medium size  )
12. Nutrients, Biscuits, Vitamins, milk and fruits 

As Progress Education Centers cater to the educational and development needs of children from underserved, marginalized and needy communities, whose parents or families belong to low income groups, charging in terms of fees or for educational material is neither feasible nor justifiable as poverty is one of the major impediments towards the access of education.

The child education centers are currently completely funded by foundation for Progress. The initial cost of creating these childhood education centers is comparatively high in relation to their regular operating costs. However the basic question is not whether costs are high or low, but whether or not they are high or low in relation to the out comes.

The cost effectiveness and cost benefit of the program are corroborated by positive changes in the educational and developmental status of the children as indicated by their improved learning skills, health, nutrition and psycho social development, in addition to the well being of their families, siblings and the community in general. 

Support and Assistance

Education matters and it matters greatly. There is a role and responsibility for every one including the government, the private sector, NGO’s, and other allied organizations to come forward and to support this basic human right. Progress requests individuals and organizations supporting and carrying out community welfare and humanitarian services to come forward and lend a helping hand, financial or material, for the carrying out of our mission - To provide education to those most in need.

The success of our child education programs greatly depends upon your support. Every donation no matter how small, counts towards improving the education and development of the underprivileged children, we assure you that all your contributions shall be acknowledged with the highest standards of trust and integrity.

Donations can be made by cheque, draft or cash in the name of Foundation for ‘Progress’.

There is no single solution for increasing access to education and improving its quality. Starting from absolute essentials-children able to learn, learner able to teach and knowing what to teach, and with a center available, welcoming the children and their parents, ‘Progress’, endeavors to seek and find out at risk children and encourages and assists them at attending the childhood education centers. Reaching children from the underserved, underprivileged and the marginalized families for education and care is labor intensive, time consuming and costly, but a good and necessary investment.

The ‘Progress’ Education Centers act as a sanctuary, a child friendly place, where children can find the zone of peace and a sense of normalcy for their well being. The objective is to make and help children ready for school and the school ready for children.

It is hoped that the objectives and the targets of the Progress childhood education centers of improving the child educational and development awareness and concern will be achieved by an increase in the participation (by improved access and facilities), (by improved delivery), (by qualified and motivated teachers) and through improved student achievement (by improved quality durability, distribution and availability of teaching and learning materials). 

The continuity, sustainability and the long term success of our efforts can only occur  with the active support and participation of all sections and levels of the society, family and community, government and funding agencies, service providers of all sectors, the media, the private sector and civil society. As we seek their commitment we believe that this is achievable, and will be achieved.