Taking another step towards materializing its vision to empower societies, Telenor Pakistan CSR has partnered with PLAN International and the Government to rehabilitate and improve the quality of education in middle level public schools affected by floods. The project was launched on 5^th March 2014 with the blessings of Governor Punjab at the Governor’s House in Lahore. The reconstruction, rehabilitation and quality of education improvement of 44 partially damaged flood-affected government middle schools will take place in Punjab, KP and Sindh over a period of approximately two years. The project will benefit more than 10,000 students and 88 teachers countrywide.

The rehabilitation and reconstruction includes improving infrastructure of the school building, sanitation and hygiene facilities, construction of IT labs, solar electrification and in-house maintenance of facilities as well as provision of clean drinking water where required. On the other hand, the school improvement plan includes teacher/student training on use of ICT for education and improved conceptual clarity through Telenor m-learning service as well as e-education content.

• More than 10000 students to benefit in the identified schools in identified districts in 3 provinces
• 15 Schools in Punjab, 15 in Sind and 14 in KP (Districts: MuzaffarGarh & Vehari, Thatta & Nowshera)
• Capacity Building of 88 teachers through ICT based pedagogical skill development
• Formulation of 44 School Management Committees(reps from community, school administration and partner organizations) and Students’ Representatives Council

• Building Rehabilitation for Safe and Flood Resistant Inhabitance (Plinth protection, Boundary Walls, Drains, Water Proofing)
• Missing Facilities (Furniture & Fixtures)
• Water and Sanitation Facilities (Septic tanks, Storage Tanks, Latrines, Water Supply)
• Solar Electrification, Clean Drinking Water Filtration and In House Maintenance

• Building and equipping fully functional IT labs
• Introduction of mLearning and Online Teaching-Learning Content
• Disaster Preparedness and Resilience through trainings
• Participation and Accountability through Management and Representative Committees

Digital Learning Program is a virtual education platform designed in collaboration with Orenda to transform the teaching and learning environment while meeting the needs of primary schooling in Pakistan through innovative use of technology. Using an iterative design methodology, the national curriculum is adapted and converted into animated digital content, produced in local languages, to supplement understanding of concepts through visual aid and simpler language.

Status:

The digital content is coupled with activity and play based learning. Teacher training module and a robust real time monitoring and evaluation system for adaptive and personalized lesson management and planning are also in place. Currently, the direct beneficiaries of the program are students at 12 government primary schools. Digital Learning program is built to create an education system that is personalized and adaptive according to the learners’ capacities, captivate the learners’ interest, and ensure greater accessibility and transparency, in order to achieve sustainability.

Salient Outcomes

• Increased access to innovative ICT
• Better turnout & reduced dropout rates
• More inclusive and participatory classrooms
• Better trained teachers in schools in underserved communities
• Supplement the existing teaching modules through activity and play based learning

Ambition:

Based on learnings and experiences from the pilot and proof of concept, TP intends to develop a commercially sustainable model for wide scale take up among public and private sector schools.