Disadvantaged Children and Accelerated Learning Program in Balochistan
The United Nation (UN) special report 2023 on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” claimed that the world was falling far behind in obtaining universal quality education and feared that without additional informed steps by 2030 there would be eighty-four (84) million Out of School (OOS) children, three-hundred (300) million children would lack Foundational Literary and Numeracy (FLN) skills and only 1 in 6 countries would be able to achieve universal secondary education completion target. The report further dreaded if responsive measures were not ensured the low and lower-middle income states would be short of approximately annual one-hundred billion dollars which is a financing gap to meet the universal education agenda.
Bearing in mind projection of 2023 special report by the UN and Pakistan Education Statistics 21-22 data of OOS children in the country is an alarming sign in achieving universal quality education target for Pakistan. As per the 2021-2022 Education Statistics of Pakistan, there are more than 26 million (39%) OOS children in the country. Out of which Balochistan alone accounts for 65 per cent (3.13 million) OOS children which is the highest rate among the four provinces in the country. Though the country has significantly improved in decreasing OOS children rate from 44 percent in 2017 to 39 percent in 2022, the school going age children has gone up from 22 million to 26.21 million respectively.
The province Balochistan has been regarded with gloomy literacy rate with lowest Gross Intake Ratio (GIR) in primary 54% compare to Punjab 81% and gross intake to last grades of primary is 35% the lowest compare to Punjab 74% the highest. This is partly because of the province’s geographical location _ covering up to 44 percent land of the county Pakistan _ and somewhat crisis settings the province has been at high risk politically, socially and economically ever since Pakistan’s creation. Sparse population density with 72 per cent below age of 30 years is characterized by major hurdles and marked by serious poverty, social upheaval, unemployment and poor education rate. The province is constantly hit by its hard-luck; People not only suffer from natural disasters but they are also victims of tragic tribal conflicts and terrorism coupled with Afghan refugee influx the situation is more exacerbated.
The province with serious disparities between rural and urban settings. Education quality in rural and urban is also a core concern, with hundreds of public schools lacking qualified and trained teachers and basic infrastructure. This results in a high dropout rate from attaining formal education (FE) in the province. To address these challenges, there is a widely used solution to meet the education gap, OOS children education needs across the county and achieving SDG 4 indicators.
Alternative education pathways like one Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) is an age-appropriate, flexible learning platform that provides unrestricted quality education opportunity under trained tutors to OOS children whose schooling has been affected due to social upheaval, poverty, migration or natural catastrophe. The ALP is designed package wise such as Package A (8 months), B (8 months) and C (14 months) for Primary schooling overall spanning for 30 months to cover up Course for Primary education and Package D (10 months) and E (8 months) spanning over 18 months to complete Course for Middle education.
In this regard, likewise in other parts of the world, UNCIEF’s endeavors for children right in Balochistan has laid a substantial impact on children in addressing OOS children education gaps. In collaboration with provincial government, UNICEF via Education Support Program (ESP) and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) launched ALP centers throughout the province. Through this joint venture, they have initiated nearly 300 ALP centers which are operationalized in NFLCs (Non-formal Learning Centers) with student-centered and interactive pedagogical technique classes, hired roughly 600 tutors and enrolled around 16 thousands children in all packages to come across all the odds to obtain a victory against SDG 4 targets: 1) by the end of 2030, make sure that all boys and girls accomplish quality, equitable and free primary and secondary education leading to applicable and effective learning outcomes and 2) by the end of 2030, ensure that all children segregated by gender have access to early childhood care, development and pre-primary education so that they are prepared for primary education. But this enrollment reflects a drop in the bucket which requires serious attention.
Undeniably, SDG 4 is a core element in enabling other SDGs. Regrettably, the province progress in ensuring access to quality and free education has not been fast enough. The socioeconomic discrepancies are prevalent in the country’s education structure, affecting Gross Intake Ratio (GIR), Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) and Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) across the country. These challenges widen education gaps leading to high dropout rates and fewer learning opportunities for disadvantaged background children.
Thus, there is a dire need for provincial governments and supporting partners to take up the task of ensuring access to quality and free primary education, childhood care and development with buoyancy and hope with a strong commitment of no corner of the country in particular Balochistan be left unreached. The enrollment target supposed to increased from 20 thousands to at least 0.5 to 1 million children so that maximum number of marginalized children benefit from the ALP centers and return to mainstream education setups. This is the only way out to meet the global agenda for SDG 4 by 2030.
