Education

Providing non-formal primary education

In Bangladesh, primary schools are often neglected, run-down or non-existent, and the enrolment of young children does not keep pace with population growth. Schools in the formal education system are spread out, costly and have rigid hours. Overcrowding, a lack of educational material and under-trained teachers lead to a high dropout rate and poor performance. There especially is strong resistance to educating girls, who typically attend school for less than a year. The Non-Formal Primary Education Program run by BRAC, a large Bangladesh non-governmental organization, has established 34,000 schools across the country that provide basic education to 1.1 million children in Grades 1 to 5, two-thirds of whom are girls. The low-cost program is designed to meet the needs of students and families by encouraging class hours that allow children to help out with farm work or household chores, strong parent involvement, a local network of schools, continuous training for teachers, a more relevant curriculum, small class sizes and plenty of time for activities such as singing, dancing, storytelling and games.

Transforming early childhood education

Families in East Africa find that they have few educational options for young children, or are limited to religion-based madrasas that do not offer well-rounded and stimulating pre-school programs. The highly successful Madrasa Regional Program in East Africa aims to develop and institutionalize a model for quality, community-based early childhood education, which contributes in the longer term to better results for children and higher levels of educational attainment. The program was started in the early 1980s to enable poor communities to provide their young children with quality education through an integrated curriculum, grounded on international expertise in early childhood education. The children, both boys and girls, thrive in an active, stimulating and creative learning environment. The curriculum and schools are highly responsive to parental expectations that children be socialized into the cultural mores of the community.

Improving teacher training and curriculum

With adult literacy rates of 40% for men and 5% for women in parts of Pakistan, education is crucial for the future of a country caught in a cycle of crisis. The AKFC-financed Institute for Educational Development is addressing this issue by training teachers in child-centered methods of teaching, and working with the government to improve its teacher training, curriculum and educational policies. As well, the Teachers' Resource Centre provides a central forum for information and discussion on educational issues, as well as advice, materials and training for teachers, supervisors and school heads who wish to improve their practice at pre-school and primary levels. The programs are enhancing the quality of education and learning throughout Pakistan, and in other developing countries throughout Asia and Africa.