Alif Ailaan Update

Alif Ailaan Update

February 2014

2 2

• Celebrating one year of Alif Ailaan

• It’s In Our Hands: a campaign to highlight the stories of Pakistan’s education heroes

• Expanding our reach in Sindh: building bipartisan political consensus for education reform

• Deepening our ties in Balochistan: encouraging local government to take ownership of

education

• Endorsing the Meesaq-e-Ilm, a charter for teaching in Pakistan

• Working with parents and communities on the ground

2

February at Alif Ailaan

3 3

For the past year Alif Ailaan has talked about the urgency

of Pakistan’s national education crisis and we have been

successful in highlighting that there is a problem. To mark

our first anniversary we want to inject a message of hope

and purpose into the national education discourse.

It’s In Our Hands is a coordinated media campaign to

showcase the successes of Pakistan’s education heroes.

One year of Alif Ailaan

3

It’s In Our Hands

4 4

SOS Children’s

Village

Alif Laila Book Bus

Society

Umer Saif’s E-

Learning Project

Archdiocese

Khawarizmi Science

Society

The Citizens

Foundation (TCF)

Minhaj Education

Society

Humaira Bachal’s

Street School

Spelling Bee

Ida Rieu

Teachers’ Resource

Centre

Garage School

Literate Pakistan

READ Foundation

Sindh Monitoring

System

ASER

DIL Network

PCE

Master Ayub

RSPN

Ilm Ideas –

Resources for deaf

children

HEC

Insaan Dost

Sheikh Ijaz – MPA

PML-N

Roshan Pakistan

Sham Baba – Swat

EDO – DG Khan

Rasoolpur - Rajanpur

Indus Resource

Center

NAMAL – Mianwali

Adam Foundation

Stories selected from all over Pakistan

We selected 31 stories that encompass a wide range of successes,

are scalable and replicable, represent public- and private-sector

initiatives, and highlight exemplary individual contributions.

4

It’s In Our Hands

5 5

788 primetime spots on

8 major channels

Television Five ads on inspirational

Individuals and

organisations making

change happen.

5

It’s In Our Hands

6 6

Radio

1,738 drive-time spots

across 11 radio stations

We highlighted exceptional

organisations helping to

educate Pakistan’s children

and improve the quality of

education.

6

It’s In Our Hands

7 7

Print and website

Every story published on our

website and there were 32

insertions in 8 major English

and Urdu newspapers

7

It’s In Our Hands

8 8

Social media We showcased these

stories on our social

media platforms.

8

It’s In Our Hands

9 9

Responses

9

It’s In Our Hands

As a result of our campaign, nearly 200 citizens sent letters to their

elected representatives through our website.

And one provincial minister wrote

back… Sardar Muhammad Idrees MPA-PTI

(PK-48 Abbottabad) responded personally

to a letter he received from a voter in his

constituency

10 10

Sindh’s Promise to its Children

10

Expanding our reach in Sindh

On February 20 nine political parties in Sindh committed to education reform, signing a political

charter to ensure 100% enrolment and to improve the quality of education

From left: Asif Baladi (JSQM), Muhammad Hussain

Mehanti (JI), Sherry Rehman (PPP), Nisar Khuhro

Minister Education, Faisal Subzwari (MQM), Mahtab

Rashdi (PMLF), Irfanullah Marwat (PMLN)

11 11

On February 21 a resolution was

passed unanimously in the Sindh

Assembly, committing to ensure

100% enrolment and to improve the

quality of education. The resolution

was presented by Sindh Education

Minister Nisar Khuhro.

11

Expanding our reach in Sindh

Sindh Assembly

commits to

education reform

12 12

Engaging with Sindh’s political leadership

On February 14 Alif

Ailaan visited

Bilawal House in

Karachi to meet

with the top

leadership of the

Pakistan People’s

Party. We briefed

them about our

work and about the

need for urgent

action to address

the state of

education in Sindh.

Clockwise from left: Sana Kazmi (Alif Ailaan consultant), Murtaza Solangi (Alif Ailaan consultant), Fazlulllah Pechuho (Secretary Education

Sindh), Hasham Riaz Sheikh (Assistant to Chairperson PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (Chairperson PPP), Sherry Rehman (former ambassador

USA), Nisar Khuhro (Senior Minister Education), Mosharraf Zaidi (Alif Ailaan Team Leader)

12

Expanding our reach in Sindh

13 13

Building a women’s caucus

Top: Alif Ailaan political advocacy campaign

manager, Salman Naveed, addressing MPAs from

the Pakistan People’s Party, Muttahida Quami

Movement and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Right:

Sharmila Farooqi, MPA (PPP).

We held a session on

February 7 in Karachi to

lay the foundation for a

women’s caucus for

education in Sindh.

Women MPAs from three

major political parties

attended the session.

13

Expanding our reach in Sindh

14 14

Our education activists in Larkana (left) and

Matiari (below) gathered together civil society

organisations and political parties to demand

urgent action against ghost schools on

February 6 and 18. A torch rally held in

Larkana culminated at the residence of Sindh

Education Minister Nisar Khuhro.

Rallying for change

14

Expanding our reach in Sindh

15 15

Balochistan’s pledge to

education reform

On February 22 we brought together winning

candidates of the local bodies elections in Quetta

to discuss and take ownership of the state of

education in Balochistan. Local bodies

representatives signed a pledge to take specific

steps to improve the state of education in the

province.

From left: Handri Masih Baloch, MPA, National Party; Local bodies representatives; the pledge with signatures

15

Strengthening our ties in Balochistan

16 16

A rally to demand implementation of

Article 25-A was held in Loralai. More

than 700 participants, including parents,

politicians and representatives of civil

society organisations joined the walk.

Owning education reform

Left: Participants head the rally holding a banner

that reads “It’s in our hands”; Above: Children

holding the Alif Ailaan pledge card

16

Strengthening our ties in Balochistan

17 17

Working to curb teacher absenteeism

Our education activist in Lasbela brought together more than 150 parents, politicians and

representatives of civil society organisations to lead talks on the alarming rate of teacher

absenteeism in the district. During the event, held on February 9, speakers called for the merit-based

recruitment of teachers and discussed ways to solve the issue of teacher absenteeism.

Speakers:

• Anwer Ali ,Social

Welfare Officer

• Azeem Saiyan,

PMLN

• Ghulam Rasool,

former Union

Nazim

• Rafeeq Baloch,

Headmaster, Boys

High school, Hub

• Rafeeq Baloch,

Deputy District

Education Officer

• Rajab Ali Rind,

National Party

17

Strengthening our ties in Balochistan

18 18

On February 4 we hosted a special screening to tell

the story of education campaigning in Pakistan.

Nine short films celebrating the work of our

partners were screened for a packed audience.

More than 100 friends and supporters joined us at

the event in Islamabad.

Storytelling the education story

Members of the panel (from left), Khurram Dastgir, Federal Minister for

Commerce; Raza Rumi, columnist and political analyst; Nasreen Sheikh,

Education Campaign Manager, Rural Support Programmes Network; and

Maliha Tanvir, MPA-PTI, Mansehra

18

Supporting our partners

19 19

Children’s Literature Festival

Our partner, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi, organised

the Children’s Literature Festival in Karachi. We

were there to lend our support and used the

opportunity to talk to parents, students and

teachers about our work.

19

Supporting our partners

20 20

On February 9 in Lahore we

convened a meeting of 40

teachers union

representatives from all four

provinces to decide on an

electoral framework for the

Mutahida Mahaz-e-Asataza,

a national alliance of

teachers unions.

Bringing together Pakistan’s teachers

Left: Haji Abdul Manaf, Secretary General of the

Mutahida Mahaz-e-Asataza, with the elected

leadership of the alliance; Above: union

representatives during the opening session

20

Endorsing the Meesaq-e-Ilm

21 21

Meesaq-e-Ilm convention

Clockwise from top: Khalida Mansoor (MNA, PMLN), Sheikh Ijaz (MPA, PMLN), Sardar Javed Akram (Commissioner Faisalabad), Kaneez Fatima (MPA,

PMLN); Sheikh Ijaz (MPA, PMLN); Sardar Javed Akram, Commissioner Faisalabad, addressing the participants

On February 20 we held a Meesaq-e-Ilm

Convention in Faisalabad to attract greater

endorsement of the charter for teaching in

Pakistan. MPA Sheikh Ijaz, along with MPAs and

MNAs from the surrounding districts of Chiniot,

Jhang and Toba Tek Singh, committed to the

Meesaq in front of an audience of 600.

21

Endorsing the Meesaq-e-Ilm

22 22

Finding local solutions

District Bhawalnagar in southern

Punjab has some of the worst

education indicators in the

country. Our education activists

held 4 village-level sessions to

identify problems and find

solutions.

Basti Jaito

• Shortage of

teachers

• No drinking

water

• No electricity

in girls’ primary

school

• No secondary

school for girls

Basti Joranan

• No boundary wall

in girls’ school

• No furniture in

boys’ school

Kot Allayar

• 800 students

• 12 teachers

Basti Shah Wali

• No electricity

• No drinking water

22

On the ground

23 23

Strengthening the voice of parents

From February 11 to 20

our education activist in

Lahore conducted

community sessions to

help parents raise their

voice for improved schools

in their areas.

Parents’ demands • No corporal punishment

• No bribery and corruption

• Focus on discipline

• Provide proper school

infrastructure

• Better trained teachers

• Include sports in the curriculum

23

On the ground

From left: A list of parents’ demands; talking to mothers in Kullar Colony; a mother in Mariam Colony writing down demands

24 24

Getting the word out

We held consultations and forums on

the Meesaq-e-Ilm and the importance of

education in Balochistan, Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

Clockwise from above: Meesaq-e-Ilm consultation in Haripur,

where attendees were briefed on their district’s position in

the Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings; a debate

on the value of education in Sialkot, including discussions on

enrolment and retention; Pashto Literature Festival in Swat,

discussing the influence of the Pashto language and culture

in education

24

On the ground

25 25

Welcoming new

education activists

Our partners LEAD Pakistan recruited and

trained 35 new education activists from all

four provinces to expand our presence

across Pakistan. A four-day training and

orientation session was held in Lahore.

25

On the ground

Punjab

• Attock

• Bhakkar

• Chiniot

• Hafizabad

• Kasur

• Khanewal

• Lodhran

• Muzaffargarh

• Pakpatttan

• Sahiwal

• Sheikhupura

• Vehari

Sindh

• Badin

• Dadu

• Ghotki

• Kashmore

• Khairpur

• Nowshero Feroze

• Qamber Sanghar

• Shaheed

Benazirabad

• Shahdadkot

• Shikarpur

• Sukkur

• Tando Allah Yar

• Tando Muhammad

Khan

• Tharparkar

• Thatta

Balochistan

• Jafarabad

• Killa Saifullah

• Nasirabad

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

• Battagram

• Charsadda

• Dera Ismail Khan

• Mansehra

• Nowshera

26 26

491,821 supporters

Together we can end Pakistan’s education emergency