Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013 Annexure (ASER Pakistan) Annex A ASER Pakistan 2013 Core team/Provincial coordinators Meeting Date: August 16-17, 2013 Venue: Conference room, Islamabad Office Participants: Afzal (KPK), Imtiaz Nizami (Lahore-Head office), Saba Ishrat (Sindh), office), Waqas Bajwa (ICT/ GB), Zaheer Abbas (ICT) and Safyan Jabbar (ASER) Agenda Points: Total strength and availability of ASER-teams for ASER Survey-2013 Partner Organizations for ASER-2013 Partners TORs National and Provincial Workshops Monitoring of ASER Survey (2013) activities Reporting Lines for ASER activities Trainings of Provincial Heads District Budget ASER Tools Districts for ASER Piloting 1.1 Total strength and availability of ASER-teams for ASER Survey-2013 Availability of ASER-team members for conducting/monitoring ASER survey (2013), across the country, was discussed in detail. Feasibility and expected challenges for conducting ASER survey were also discussed in the context of four provinces, AJK, G-B and FATA. ToRs of ASER team members of will be shared with them and they will have to prioritize their work in the light of those ToRs. All the provincial teams will be provided with the necessary support for conducting filed exercise. ASER provincial coordinators will ensure the reliability of data collection by closely working with the selected partners.
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Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Annexure (ASER Pakistan)
Annex A
ASER Pakistan 2013
Core team/Provincial coordinators Meeting
Date: August 16-17, 2013
Venue: Conference room, Islamabad Office
Participants:
Afzal (KPK), Imtiaz Nizami (Lahore-Head office), Saba Ishrat (Sindh), office), Waqas Bajwa
(ICT/ GB), Zaheer Abbas (ICT) and Safyan Jabbar (ASER)
Agenda Points:
Total strength and availability of ASER-teams for ASER Survey-2013
Partner Organizations for ASER-2013
Partners TORs
National and Provincial Workshops
Monitoring of ASER Survey (2013) activities
Reporting Lines for ASER activities
Trainings of Provincial Heads
District Budget
ASER Tools
Districts for ASER Piloting
1.1 Total strength and availability of ASER-teams for ASER Survey-2013
Availability of ASER-team members for conducting/monitoring ASER survey (2013), across the country, was discussed in detail.
Feasibility and expected challenges for conducting ASER survey were also discussed in the context of four provinces, AJK, G-B and FATA.
ToRs of ASER team members of will be shared with them and they will have to prioritize their work in the light of those ToRs.
All the provincial teams will be provided with the necessary support for conducting filed exercise.
ASER provincial coordinators will ensure the reliability of data collection by closely working with the selected partners.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
1.2 Partner Organizations for ASER-2013
Selection Criteria of partner organizations for ASER survey (2013) was discussed in
brief.
It was decided that provincial teams/offices will provide the list of partner
organizations by Thursday 22nd August.
key partner's input will be sought for finalization of new partners
A meeting of key partners will be organized in respective provincial on August 21,
2013 for the said purpose.
A proper record of whole partnership selection process (EOI/ application, minutes
of meeting etc.) will be maintained in respective provincial offices with a copy to
head office.
1.21 Partners TORs
It was decided that there will be formal agreements with all of the ASER partner
organizations through TORs including stepwise details about the survey procedures
and responsibilities.
TORs with partner organization was also shared and discussed with the
participants.
Budget for ASER survey (2013) was also discussed in brief. A copy of the District
budget was provided to all the provincial head for further negotiation with
partners.
1.3 National and Provincial Workshops
Provincial teams will be responsible for finalizing the dates of provincial workshops.
Instead of the national workshop, there will be only a one day survey launch/press
conference will be held in Islamabad. The exact date of the said event will be shared
later.
The duration of provincial workshop will be a 4 days event instead of 3 days.
It was decided that the focal person assigned by the partner organizations will be
bound to attend the provincial training and will be responsible for conducting
district trainings also.
Provincial coordinators will ensure that nominated MT are the relevant person, and
they will impart district level trainings afterwards
1.4 Monitoring of ASER Survey (2013) activities
Provincial heads/coordinators will be responsible for monitoring the survey
activities in the respective provinces and will also ensure the data quality.
1.41 Reporting Lines for ASER activities
Reporting of ASER survey activities will be through provincial coordinators.
Provincial coordinators will then report to Safyan in the Head office.
Reporting lines will be mentioned in the TORs of the provincial coordinators.
1.42 Trainings of Provincial Heads
Training exclusively for provincial coordinators will be organized in Islamabad
from 27-29 August (dates are tentative).
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Two persons from each province will attend this training, and they will further be
responsible for provincial trainings in the respective provinces.
Tanzeem and Nagmana from Balochistan, Afzal and Amjad from KPK, Saba and
Mumtaz from Sindh, Safyan and Imtiaz from Lahore, and Waqas, Ali, Zaheer,
Zaynah and Munawar from Islamabad, will participate in the training.
1.5 District Budget
ASER Pakistan-2013 district budget was shared with the participants.
1.6 ASER Tools
English, Mathematics and Urdu tools for ASER-2013 were discussed in detail.
Procedure of pre-testing and piloting of ASER tools was also discussed.
It was decided after reviewing the existing ASER tools, that Sabah will refine the
tools further according to the suggestions, and will share the new tools soon.
The revised 4 samples of tools will be provided to provincial teams by Monday and
the provincial teams will pilot in their respective provinces.
1.7 Districts for ASER Piloting
It was decided that two districts per province and 4 villages per district will be
selected for piloting.
1.8 Financial Documentation
All the provincial team will make ensure necessary financial documentation in the
light of financial protocols provided by Finance department.
Annex B: Training Roster ...................................................................................................... 31
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A survey of this nature could only be made possible with the support of many partners.
Aligned to the participatory approach adopted by the Annual Status of Education Report
(ASER), the citizens’ led initiatives like these will determine the shaping and sustainability of
education profiles in this country.
We are thankful to all the participants for their active presence during each session of the
three day workshop. This was fully reflected in the quality of their engagement and desire to
go beyond the workshop to realize ASER Pakistan.
In the end we acknowledge ITA’s logistic team in Peshawar for their technical and logistical
support during the workshop.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Annual Status of Education Report - ASER The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is a survey addressing the quality of
education in Pakistan, and has been facilitated by ITA since 2008. ASER seeks to fill a gap in
educational data by seeking to provide a reliable set of data at the national level that is
comprehensive and, at the same time, easy to understand.
ASER Pakistan 2013 will cover 145 rural districts across Pakistan. In addition to this, ASER
survey will be conducted in 10 urban/ city districts across Pakistan
The ASER model, as in India is such that 30 villages from each district and 20 households
from each village are selected. This gives a total of 600 households per village. The villages
are selected using a Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling technique.
ASER is carried out in a campaign mode and is a truly national project. ASER involves
ordinary citizens in the process of data collection and survey. In order to train these
surveyors, workshops are held where the necessary skills are imparted. After the trainings are
completed, the survey takes place and upon its completion, the results are then sent to
SAFED by the surveyors through their respective district coordinators.
In Pakistan, some assessment systems are already in place, such as National Education
Assessment System (NEAS) and Punjab Examination Commission (PEC). However, ASER
is different from the above mentioned systems because ASER is a household-based survey
looking at the more generic skills of numeracy and literacy, compared to subject specific
learning levels. ASER Pakistan has the following objectives:
Objectives
(i) To get reliable estimates of the status of children’s schooling and basic learning
(reading and arithmetic) at the district level;
(ii) To measure the change in these basic learning and school statistics from last year;
and
(iii) To interpret these results and use them to affect policy decisions at various levels.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
ASER Pakistan – Provincial Workshop KPK/FATA ASER survey will be conducted in all the 25 rural districts of KPK and 13 districts (and
agencies) of FATA. In addition to this, the urban ASER survey will also cover Peshawar.
The objectives of the ASER Provincial Workshop 2013 were to:
To train two district coordinators from every district of KPK and FATA on ASER
methodology, assessment tools and survey tools so that they can become master
trainers and train 60 volunteers per district in district trainings.
To stress on the importance of ASER survey and dissemination.
To discuss the village lists for ASER 2013 and share budgets
To work on deadlines with the district coordinators for ASER volunteer trainings and
survey collection.
To provide each district with the material required for the survey.
ASER KPK/FATA master level trainings were conducted at Blue Palace Hotel in Peshawar.
The workshops covered the ASER rollout process, impacts of the ASER survey, lesson learnt
from the previous years’ ASER exercise in Pakistan and a way forward to ASER 2013 in
Pakistan. SAFED will conduct this exercise in collaboration with local /national partners
annually until 2015, thereby making it an important accessible national statistical tool for
citizens to engage in measuring educational quality and learning levels.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Workshop Agenda Day (1)
Introductions; Experiences of ASER in Pakistan; doing ASER in a village, issues of
sampling, village mapping, selection of households, explanation of household and school
observation sheets, testing and other relevant discussions pertaining to ASER.
Day (2)
Field Survey; practice of survey in a village
Day (3)
Feedback and Clarifications on the practice sessions, mock presentations by district
participants and planning ahead.
Note: A more detailed daily workshop agenda is attached as an annexure A.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Proceedings
Day 1 – 16th September 2013 The workshops for both KPK and FATA were started with the recitation of Holy Quran at
9:30 am followed by a brief introduction of the participants.
Waqas Bajwa – Deputy Director Marketing, opened the session with welcoming remarks in
both the KPK and FATA workshops. He also gave a brief presentation on ASER’s vision,
process, future prospects and expectation for participants.
Participating Organizations were:
- National Commission for Human Development –NCHD
- Community Research and Development Organization-CRDO
The first day of the workshops was mainly used to introduce ASER to the participants and get
them familiar with the modalities and architecture of ASER, thereby aligning them with their
own roles and responsibilities.
MAPPING OF THE VILLAGE
By Ali Nabi Nur, Zaheer Abbas and Munawar Khayyam
ASER requires the making a map of the surveyed village with the help of key landmarks i.e.
school, village, roads etc. The making of a map is very important for the sampling of the
survey as it shows the population composition of a village clearly. The trainees at both the
workshops were advised to take a round of the village at the time of the survey and make a
rough map. They were also told that this rough map should then be verified by the 2-3 local
village people before drawing it on the ASER map sheet. If the surveyed village has 4 or less
hamlets then the volunteer should select all the hamlets. However, if there were more than 4
hamlets then any of the 4 can to be randomly selected (through chit system).
Trainees were told that if any village has a continuous housing system or has no clear
segregation of hamlets then the entire village has to be divided into 4 sections by drawing a
vertical line and horizontal line from the center of the page. The households have to be
selected randomly following the every 5th
household rule starting from the left side. Every 5th
household from each selected hamlet was to be surveyed until 5 households are completed in
each of the 4 hamlets. In case of a dead end, second or third rounds are to be taken around the
respective hamlet, if required.
Emphasis was placed on how the ASER methodology defines a household. Trainers were told
that if there are multiple families in 1 house eating from the same kitchen (chulha), the
household is considered as 1 household. If there were no children in the household then all
other information regarding the household is to be taken, i.e. that household is part of the 20
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
households per village. In case, there is no response from a household, it is not considered in
the survey at all.
In order to make certain that the trainees were grasping the importance and idea of village-
mapping, they were divided into groups and asked to make a random village map. One
member from each group was then asked to come on stage and discuss how he/she had
divided his/her map into hamlets. This exercise helped clear the concepts of many of the
participants regarding map making and helped examine different scenarios that could arise at
the time of the real survey.
Learning Assessment
By Zara Khan and Sania Sajid
In this session, the learning assessment tools and the processes of assessment were discussed
in detail. The participants were told to give a detailed introduction of ASER and themselves
when they enter a household or school in the village as this exercise helps to establish a good
rapport with the villagers which is the key for obtaining reliable information from the people.
Taking a local person during the visit if possible can also prove to be beneficial for the
volunteers.
They were told to collect information of children of ages 3-16 years however the learning
assessment should only be done for children aged 5-16 yrs. All the mothers who use the same
kitchen (chulha) should be tested.
The following learning assessment procedure was explained to the participants:
Language abilities
The session started with explaining the participants that the tools need to be folded in a
manner that the attention of the children giving the assessment is not diverted to other
sections. Basic learning section of the assessment is always started from level III as it is the
regional/national language of the children and there are higher chances of children being able
to read sentences in their local language, irrespective of their level of education. If the child
being tested is able to read the sentences fluently, then he/she must be taken to the next level
of assessment which is the ‘story level’. Children who read the story are also to be asked the
comprehension questions (from the General Knowledge tool) in order to determine their
understanding of the story they read. However, in case, the child was not able to read the
sentences, he/she is to be taken back to the level of words, and if he/she is unable to read
words, he/she should be taken to the letter level. Children are only to be marked at their
highest learning level. Those who are unable to read even the letter are to be marked at the
beginner/nothing level.
It was also highlighted that the children must read 4 out of 5 correct words or letters in order
to qualify for the respective assessment level.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Arithmetic Abilities
This section starts with the subtraction level where the child is required to do two subtraction
questions, both of which should be correct in order to move forward to the level of division -
the highest level of learning in arithmetic. Children who are or are not able to do division are
asked to do the bonus mathematical problem solving question as the first bonus question is
merely addition. On the other hand, children who are unable to do subtraction should be
taken back to the number recognition 11 – 99 and 1-9, respectively. If a child does not
recognize number 1 to 9 then the level will be nothing or “beginner”.
English Learning Abilities
This assessment begins by capital alphabets. The child is asked to read 5 out of which 4 must
be correct in order to move to the next level which is small alphabets. However, if he/she is
not able to read at least 4 capital letters, the child is marked at the beginner/nothing level. On
the other hand, a child who has cleared the small alphabet level as well is taken to the word
level. Children completing word level are asked further to move to the level of reading
sentences. Those who read the sentences fluently are asked to give the meaning of the
sentences in their local language alongside translating the previous sections’ words to local
language. Children who clear the translation level are marked to have cleared both the bonus
questions.
General Knowledge Abilities
In order to test the general knowledge of the children surveyed, these tools were introduced in
ASER 2013 of the first time. The tool has three sections i.e. English, Arithmetic and
Urdu/Sindhi/Pushto. As mentioned already in the section on Language Abilities, the trainees
were asked to question the surveyed child about the language comprehension questions from
the general knowledge tool if and only if the child is able to read the story fluently. The
English section of this tool contains four pictures, 3 of which the child has to be asked to
identify and name in English. In the section on Arithmetic, the trainees were asked to
question the child firstly about telling the time. The second question of the arithmetic section
focuses on the addition and understanding skills of the child.
In order to make sure that all the tools were understood by participants, short mock household
surveys were held between participants who acted as volunteers and children. These short
mock surveys helped clear the confusions of interacting with and the assessments of children.
Household Sheets
By Zaheer Abbas and Munawar Khayyam
Household sheet was discussed with the participants in detail. They were given details about
each and every column and row, and instructed how to fill in the entire forum. It was
explained what type of information needed to be filled in and how this information will be
processed.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Participants were advised to make sure that all the required information is recorded before
leaving the respective household. They were advised to take more than 20 house hold sheets
in case they needed to record more information.
School Observation Sheets
By Zaheer Abbas and Munawar Khayyam
ASER survey collects information on one government school and one private school in each
selected village. Government school observation sheet was discussed first. It was mentioned
that it is mandatory to be filled from each and every village. In case, there is no government
school in a village, volunteers are required to go to the nearest government school where the
children of the selected village go and record information. It was also conveyed that while
selecting from a number of government schools in a village, school with the highest level of
education such as high school must be selected. If there are two high schools within a village
then preference should be given to girl’s high school. In case there is no private school in a
village, it can be mentioned on the private school sheet and submitted without any
information.
It was also clarified that volunteers must not rely on the information provided by the school
authorities / head master and visit every class themselves. Emphasis was laid on the school
fund information that needs to be recorded as school administration is somewhat reluctant to
share this information and the volunteers need to deal with this situation quite tactfully.
Day 2 – 17th September, 2013
Field Visit
Day 2 was reserved for a field visit to a local village. The participants of the workshop were
divided into 4 groups of 15 and taken to the village Mathra, district of Peshawar. All four of
the groups conducted a mock ASER survey and filled household and school observation
sheets which were then submitted to their respective group leaders.
The participants collected information on the schools in the first half of the day whereas
second half was reserved for the household survey.
Feedback & Clarifications
By Zara Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Ali Nur & Munawar Khayyam
The participants gave their feedback on the day’s field visit. The facilitators collectively
addressed all the problems the participants had faced in the villages. The participants also
shared the possible problems the volunteers may face in different parts of the country due to
the cultural differences in different regions of the country.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Day 3 – 18th September, 2013 The third day of the training workshop started with the mock presentations in order to
determine the level of understanding of participants and communication abilities so that they
can give the district level training and carry out the survey. The presentation sessions were
monitored by Mr. Zaheer Abbas and Ms. Zara Khan in FATA workshop and by Ms. Ali Nur
and Mr. Munawar Khayyam in the KPK workshop, who also guided the participants on how
to improve their communication skills and ensure that their volunteers are grasping the
concepts.
Logistics, budget, and planning was discussed in the second half of the day. All the focal
persons and master trainers of each district were given the list of the villages in their district
and were distributed the material for the district level training session and survey.
Action Plan
An action plan for the ASER survey 2013 for all the districts of KPK and FATA was
prepared with the help of the respective district managers. It was decided that the survey in
all the districts of KPK & FATA will be completed by 27th
October, 2013.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Annex A: Schedule
ASER PAKISTAN 2013 Provincial Workshop & Survey:
DATE DA
Y 9:00-10:00 10:00-10:20 10:20-11:45
11:45-
12:00 12:00-1:00
1:00
-
2:00
2:00-3:30
3:30
-
3:45
3:45-4:45 4:45-5:30
1
Registrati
on &
Welcome
Introduction to
ASER, What
ASER Pakistan
Entails?
Collecting
information
about the
village,
What to do
in a village -
Mapping
Tea
How to test
children,
Assessment
Tools LU
NC
H How to fill
HH format
(With case
studies )
Tea
School
Observati
on
Recap
and
preparati
on for the
field.
2 Field Visit (8:00-4:30) (Village
map, Household survey, School Observation)
Submission of Filled
forms
3
Presentations by participants,
Feedback and clarifications
Timing 9-11:00
Recap Survey process Step by
Step (Timing: 11:00- 1:00) L
un
ch
Planning for District Survey &
Closing Session
(Timing: 2:00-4:30)
Day 2: Field trip should start at 8:00 am. We should go to rural villages which are less than 2 hours from Venue. A team of 10 -15 with one supervisor should go to one village.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
ASER Pakistan 2013 ASER KPK/FATA Survey
Annex B: Training Roster
Provincial Training Workshop Registration Sheet KPK Venue: Blue Palace Hotel, Peshawar Date: 16-09-13 To : 18-09-2013
Annex B: Training Roster ...................................................................................................... 25
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A survey of this nature could only be made possible with the support of many partners.
Aligned to the participatory approach adopted by the Annual Status of Education Report
(ASER), the citizens’ led initiatives like these will determine the shaping and sustainability of
education profiles in this country.
We are thankful to all the participants for their active presence during each session of the
three day workshop. This was fully reflected in the quality of their engagement and desire to
go beyond the workshop to realize ASER Pakistan.
In the end we acknowledge ITA’s logistic team in Lahore & Multan for their technical and
logistical support during the workshop.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Annual Status of Education Report - ASER The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is a survey addressing the quality of
education in Pakistan, and has been facilitated by ITA since 2008. ASER seeks to fill a gap in
educational data by seeking to provide a reliable set of data at the national level that is
comprehensive and, at the same time, easy to understand.
ASER Pakistan 2013 will cover 145 rural districts across Pakistan. ASER survey will be
conducted in all the 36 districts of Punjab. In addition to this, ASER survey will be conducted
in 10 urban/ city districts across Pakistan
The ASER model, as in India is such that 30 villages from each district and 20 households
from each village are selected. This gives a total of 600 households per village. The villages
are selected using a Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling technique.
ASER is carried out in a campaign mode and is a truly national project. ASER involves
ordinary citizens in the process of data collection and survey. In order to train these
surveyors, workshops are held where the necessary skills are imparted. After the trainings are
completed, the survey takes place and upon its completion, the results are then sent to
SAFED by the surveyors through their respective district coordinators.
In Pakistan, some assessment systems are already in place, such as National Education
Assessment System (NEAS) and Punjab Examination Commission (PEC). However, ASER
is different from the above mentioned systems because ASER is a household-based survey
looking at the more generic skills of numeracy and literacy, compared to subject specific
learning levels. ASER Pakistan has the following objectives:
Objectives
(vii) To get reliable estimates of the status of children’s schooling and basic learning
(reading and arithmetic) at the district level;
(viii) To measure the change in these basic learning and school statistics from last year;
and,
(ix) To leverage this workshop as a launching pad for ASER Baluchistan in 2013
through a provincial survey on measuring quality education annually until 2015.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
ASER Pakistan – Provincial Workshop Punjab ASER survey will be conducted in all the 36 districts of Punjab. In addition to this, ASER
survey will be conducted in 5 urban/ city districts in Punjab namely Lahore, Faisalabad,
Rawalpindi, Rahim Yar Khan, and Multan.
The objectives of the ASER Provincial Workshop 2013 were to:
Train the focal persons of partner organizations on the ASER Methodology
Planning for ASER Pakistan 2013 Implementation in Punjab Province
ASER Punjab’s master level training was conducted at 2 places. The schedule of training was
Sr. Event Date venue Facilitator
1 ASER Provincial
Training Punjab
(for north Punjab’s
districts)
September
26-28, 2013
Auditorium, IER,
Punjab University,
New Campus, Lahore
Safyan Jabbar
Sehar Saeed
Huma Zia
Muhammad
Usman
2 ASER Provincial
Training Punjab (
for south Punjab’s
districts)
September
25-27, 2013
Hotel First, Multan Safyan Jabbar
Maryam Saba
Fiaz Hassan Virk
Both workshops covered the ASER rollout process, impacts of the ASER survey, lesson
learnt from the previous years’ ASER exercise in Pakistan and a way forward to ASER 2013
in Pakistan. SAFED will conduct this exercise in collaboration with local /national partners
annually until 2015, thereby making it an important accessible national statistical tool for
citizens to engage in measuring educational quality and learning levels.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Workshop Agenda Day (1)
Introductions; Experiences of ASER in Pakistan; doing ASER in a village, issues of
sampling, village mapping, selection of households, explanation of household and school
observation sheets, testing and other relevant discussions pertaining to ASER.
Day (2)
Field Survey; practice of survey in a village
Day (3)
Feedback and Clarifications on the practice sessions, mock presentations by district
participants and planning ahead.
Note: A more detailed daily workshop agenda is attached as an annexure A.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Proceedings
Day 1 The workshop was started with the recitation of Holy Quran at 9:30 am followed by a brief
introduction of the participants.
Safyan Jabbar – Program Manager ASER, opened the session with welcome remarks. He also
gave a brief presentation on ASER’s vision, process, future prospects and expectation for
participants.
Participating Organizations were:
- National Commission for Human Development –NCHD
- Democratic Commission for Human Development-DCHD
- Research and Community Development Organization - RCDO
- Idara-e- Taleem-o-Aagahi – ITA
- National Rural Support Program-NRSP
- Al-Watan Social Welfare Organization
- MK Foundation
- Danish Foundation
The objectives of the ASER Provincial Workshop 2013 were to:
Train the focal persons of partner organizations on the ASER Methodology
Planning for ASER Pakistan 2013 Implementation in Punjab Province
The first day of the workshop was used to introduce ASER to the participants and get them
familiar with the modalities and architecture of ASER, thereby aligning them with their own
roles and responsibilities.
MAPPING OF THE VILLAGE
By Safyan Jabbar and Sehar Saeed
ASER requires making a map of the surveyed village with the help of key landmarks i.e.
school, village, roads etc. It is very important because we are doing our survey through
sampling and for sampling one should know the population composition clearly. They were
advised to take a round of the village and make a rough map. This rough map should then be
verified by the 2-3 local village people before drawing it on the ASER map sheet. If the
surveyed village has 4 or less hamlets then the volunteer should select all the hamlets.
However, if there are more than 4 hamlets then any of the 4 can to be randomly selected
(through chit system).
They were told that if any village has a continuous housing system or has no clear
segregation of hamlets then the entire village has to be divided into 4 sections by drawing a
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
vertical line and horizontal line from the center of the page. The households have to be
selected randomly following the every 5th
household rule starting from the left side. Every 5th
household from each selected hamlet is to be surveyed until 5 households are completed in
each of the 4 hamlets. In case of a dead end, second or third rounds are to be taken around the
respective hamlet, if required.
Emphasis was placed on how the ASER methodology defines a household. They were told
that if there are multiple families in 1 house eating from the same kitchen (chulha), the
household is considered as 1 household. If there were no children in the household then all
other information regarding the household is to be taken, i.e. that household is part of the 20
households per village. In case, there is no response from a household, it is not considered in
the survey at all.
The trainers also suggested that the map could also be discussed with the village elders,
numberdar, councilor or patwari if possible for a better result. The primary idea behind
making a map is to get the true representation of the village population. Furthermore, the map
also helps in the monitoring / rechecking of surveyed villages.
Learning Assessment
By Muhammad Usman and Maryam Saba
The learning assessment tools and the processes of assessment were discussed in detail. The
participants were told to give a detailed introduction of ASER and themselves when they
enter a household or school in the village as this exercise helps to establish a good rapport
with the villagers which is the key for obtaining reliable information from the people. Taking
a local person during the visit if possible can also prove to be beneficial for the volunteers.
They were told to collect information of children of ages 3-16 years. Howeve,r the learning
assessment should only be done for children aged 5-16 yrs. All the mothers who use the same
kitchen (chulha) should be tested.
The following learning assessment procedure was explained to the participants:
Language abilities
The session started with explaining the participants that the tools need to be folded in a
manner that the attention of the children giving the assessment is not diverted to other
sections. Basic learning section of the assessment is always started from level III as it is the
regional/national language of the children and there are higher chances of children being able
to read sentences in their local language, irrespective of their level of education. If the child
being tested is able to read the sentences fluently, then they must be taken to the next level of
assessment which is the story. Children who read the story are also to be asked the General
Knowledge questions at the end in order to determine their understanding of the story they
have read. However, in case, the child is not able to read the sentences, he/she is to be taken
back to the level of words, and if he/she is unable to read words, he/she should be taken to the
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
letter level. Children are only to be marked at their highest learning level. Those who are
unable to read even the letter are to be marked at the beginner/nothing level.
It was also highlighted that the children must read 4 out of 5 correct words or letters in order
to qualify for the respective assessment level.
Arithmetic Abilities
This section starts with the subtraction level where the child is required to do two subtraction
questions, both of which should be correct in order to move forward to the level of division -
the highest level of learning in arithmetic. Children who are or are not able to do division are
asked to do the bonus mathematical problem solving question as the first bonus question is
merely addition. On the other hand, children who are unable to do subtraction should be
taken back to the number recognition 11 – 99 and 1-9, respectively. If a child does not
recognize number 1 to 9 then the level will be ‘nothing’ or ‘beginner’. Irrespective of whether
the child has completed the basic learning assessment, he/she is asked to answer the General
Knowledge question.
English Learning Abilities
This assessment begins by capital alphabets. The child is asked to read 5 capital letters out of
which 4 must be correct in order to move to the next level which is small alphabets.
However, if he/she is not able to read at least 4 capital letters, the child is marked at the
beginner/nothing level. On the other hand, a child who has cleared the small alphabet level as
well is taken to the word level. Children completing word level are asked further to move to
the level of reading sentences. Irrespective of whether the child has completed the basic
learning assessment, he/she is asked to answer the General Knowledge question.
Household Sheets
By Muhammad Usman and Fiaz Hassan Virk
Household sheet was discussed with the participants in detail. They were given details about
each and every column and row, and instructed how to fill in the entire forum. It was
explained what type of information needed to be filled in and how this information will be
processed.
Participants were advised to make sure that all the required information is recorded before
leaving the respective household. They were advised to take more than 20 house hold sheets
in case they needed to record more information.
School Observation Sheets
By Zara Khan and Akhtar Mirza
ASER survey collects information on one government school and one private school in each
selected village. Government school observation sheet was discussed first. It was mentioned
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
that it is mandatory to be filled from each and every village. In case, there is no government
school in a village, volunteers are required to go to the nearest government school where the
children of the selected village go and record information. It was also conveyed that while
selecting from a number of government schools in a village, school with the highest level of
education such as high school must be selected. If there are two high schools within a village
then preference should be given to girl’s high school. In case there is no private school in a
village, it can be mentioned on the private school sheet and submitted without any
information.
It was also clarified that volunteers must not rely on the information provided by the school
authorities / head master and visit every class themselves. Emphasis was laid on the school
fund information that needs to be recorded as school administration is somewhat reluctant to
share this information and the volunteers need to deal with this situation quite tactfully.
Day 2
Field Visit
Day 2 was reserved for a field visit to a local village. The participants of the workshop were
divided into 2 groups of 15. Both groups were taken to a nearby village:
Kot Pindi Daas (Punjab: north)
Durrana Langana (Punjab: south)
Buua Pur (Punjab: south)
Both the groups conducted a mock ASER survey in their respective villages. They filled
household and school observation sheets which were then submitted to their respective group
leaders.
The participants collected information on the schools in the first half of the day whereas
second half was reserved for the household survey.
Feedback & Clarifications
By Sehar Saeed, Muhammad Usman, Maryam Saba & Fiaz Hassan
The participants gave their feedback on the day’s field visit. The facilitators collectively
addressed all the problems the participants had faced in the villages. The participants also
shared the possible problems the volunteers may face in different parts of the country due to
the cultural differences in different regions of the country.
Day 3 The third day of the training workshop started with the mock presentations in order to
determine the level of understanding of participants and communication abilities so that they
can give the district level training and carry out the survey. The presentation sessions were
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
monitored by Mr. Safyan Jabbar and Mr. Usman in Lahore and by Ms. Maryam Saba and Mr.
Fiaz Hassan in Multan who also guided the participants on how to improve their
communication skills and ensure that their volunteers are grasping the concepts.
Logistics, budget, and planning was discussed in the second half of the day. All the focal
persons and master trainers of each district were given the list of the villages in their district
and were distributed the material for the district level training session and survey.
Action Plan
An action plan for the ASER survey 2013 for all the districts of Punjab was prepared with the
help of the respective district managers. It was decided that the survey in all the districts of
Punjab will be completed by 25th
October, 2013.
Note: Detailed training & survey roster annexed C
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
Annex A: Schedule
ASER PAKISTAN 2013Provincial Workshop & Survey:
DATE DA
Y 9:00-10:00 10:00-10:20 10:20-11:45
11:45-
12:00 12:00-1:00
1:00
-
2:00
2:00-3:30
3:30
-
3:45
3:45-4:45 4:45-5:30
1
Registrati
on &
Welcome
Introduction to
ASER, What
ASER Pakistan
Entails?
Collecting
information
about the
village,
What to do
in a village -
Mapping
Tea
How to test
children,
Assessment
Tools LU
NC
H How to fill
HH format
(With case
studies )
Tea
School
Observati
on
Recap
and
preparati
on for the
field.
2 Field Visit (8:00-4:30) (Village
map, Household survey, School Observation)
Submission of Filled
forms
3
Presentations by participants,
Feedback and clarifications
Timing 9-11:00
Recap Survey process Step by
Step (Timing: 11:00- 1:00) L
un
ch
Planning for District Survey &
Closing Session
(Timing: 2:00-4:30)
Day 2: Field trip should start at 8:00 am. We should go to rural villages which are less than 2 hours from Venue. A team of 10 -15 with one supervisor should go to one village.
Final Report: ASER Pakistan 2013
ASER Pakistan 2013 ASER Punjab Survey
Annex B: Training Roster
Provincial Training Workshop Registration Sheet Punjab (North) Venue: IER Punjab University Lahore Date: 26-09-13 To : 28-09-2013