Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)

Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)

ASER Pakistan 2013

A citizen’ led initiatives

Final Report

May 1, 2013– September30, 2014

(Submission Date: November 10,2014)

Prepared by:

Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA)

ASER Team (SAFED)

Contents

Executive Summary

1.ASER Pakistan

2.Mobilizing Partners in Pakistan

3.Tool Development

3.1Rationale for ASER Tools:

3.2ASER Tools

3.3Piloting of ASER Tools

3.4Finalization of Tools and Instruction Booklets

4.ASER Pakistan Training Workshops

4.1National Workshop

4.2Provincial Workshop

4.3ASER District Training

5.ASER 2013 -Analysis and Report

6.ASER Associate Training

6.1ASER Associate Training Activities: A Brief Overview

7.Dissemination – ASER Advocacy

7.1ASER Pakistan National launch

7.2Provincial Launches

7.3District Launches

7.4ASER Baithaks/Kacheries/Jirgas

7.5District Report Cards (DRCs):

7.6Advocacy Posters

7.7Case Studies and Citizen Stories

7.8Coalition meeting with District Government Officials

7.9Journalists Training and Workshops

7.10Media Coverage

7.11Theme-based Policy Dialogues

7.12Policy Briefs

7.13Theme-based Summary Report Cards

7.14ASER Findings Shared at International Forums (CIES & UKFIET)

7.15ASER Roundtables in Pakistan

7.16ASER Roundtables in the UK

7.17ASER Blog Launched & Website Revamped

7.18ASER 2013 Impact & Endorsements

8.Highlights of ASER 2014

9.Right to Education

9.1 South Asian Women in Peacemaking

9.2 Dialogues with Universities

9.3 Right to Education South Asian Seminar Series

“Seminar & Policy Discussion on Right to Education: Perspective from South Asia”

9.4 Capacity Building Seminar Series

9.4.2 Education Expo (UNICEF & UNESCO):

9.4.3 Teachers’ Katechri (Teachers Literature Festival)

9.5 RIGHT TO EDUCATION (SEMINAR SERIES)

9.5.1 Fourth Anniversary of Article 25-A, Right to Education: April 19th 2014:

9.5.2 Four Seminar discussions in collaboration with Pakistan Cooalition for Education (PCE):

9.5.3 Teacher’s Baithak on 1st May 2014 at Federal College of Education, Islamabad

9.6 INITIATIVES WITH A WORLD AT SCHOOL (AWAS)

9.6.1 Youth Voices against School Closure (May 9th & June 16th, 2014):

9.6.2 International Day of Niegerian Girls:

9.6.3 HerRightToEducation: Ensuring Quality Education for ALL girls (July 24th, 2014):

9.6.4 International Youth Day (August 12th 2014):

9.6.5 International Literacy Day (September 8th, 2014):

9.7 Regional Conference on Right to Education & Early Childhood Education & Development (ECED)- Foundation for Quality Learning; Evidence from South Asia (September 16th -17th)

Acknowledgements

A survey of this nature and scale could only be made possible with the support of several partners. Aligned to the participatory approach adopted by the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan, citizens’ led initiatives like these will determine the shaping and sustainability of education profile in this country and indeed the region.

Our first and foremost acknowledgement and gratitude is to the 10,000+ citizen volunteers who made ASER 2013 possible; without their support we would have been unable to achieve the largest data set on learning outcomes and access profiles of children in Pakistan. We salute them and will continue to count on them and many more in 2014 as our core partners, described aptly as citizens on the march for education and learning.

WearethankfultoallthesupportersofASERPakistan2013particularlyFoundationOpenSociety Institute – FOSI andUKAid’s Departmentfor InternationalDevelopment–DFID.

Wewould alsoliketothank ourpartnersNational Commission forHuman Development(NCHD), DemocraticCommissionforHuman Development(DCHD),NationalRuralSupport Program-NRSP, ResearchandCommunity Developmentorganization –RCDO,Al-WatanSocial welfare organization, EHEDFoundation,Changethrough Empowerment,MEHERFoundation,SAAD,CRDO,HANDS,Sindh Education Foundation (SEF), and Idare-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA)fortheir wholehearted collaboration.

Executive Summary

Annual Status of Education Report - ASER Pakistan is a survey of quality education and it has been facilitated by SAFED/Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) every year since 2008-09, ASER seeks to identify gaps 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. The objectives of ASER are threefold: to get reliable estimates of the status of children’s schooling and basic learning (reading and arithmetic) at district level; measure the change in these basic learning and schooling status from the previous year; and interpret these results and use them to affect policy decisions at various levels. Cumulatively, ASER is a movement for citizen-led, household based, accountability initiative influencing demand and supply side drivers of education change.

ASER Pakistan 2013 collected information of 263,990 children aged 3-16 years, 87,044 households, 4,382 villages/blocks across 138 rural districts/territories of Pakistan. Along with these 138rural districts, 13 urban districts were also included in the survey.

ASER Pakistan builds partnerships at national provincial and district level for data collection and results dissemination. ASER Pakistan 2013 survey was conducted with help of 25 partner organizations across Pakistan. A consultative approach was adopted in every aspect of this unique initiative, i.e. tool designing was done with help of assessment experts/organizations like NEAS, PEAS, IER- Punjab University, University of Education-Lahore, Punjab Examination Commission, Sindh Education Foundation etc.

ASER Advocacy and Dissemination campaign started off with the release of National Report at the Planning Commission of Pakistan, Islamabad followed by provincial launches at provincial capitals i.e. Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Muzaffarabad for Azad & Jammu Kashmir. In 2013, ASER Pakistan managed to hold district launches in 51districts; 22 districts in Punjab, 6 in Sindh, 9 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 6 in Balochistan, 2 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 8 in Azad & Jammu Kashmir.

ASER findings were shared with national policy makers and regional experts through a regional conference titled: Regional Seminar - “Right to Education Perspective from South Asia”. Further theme-based dialogues were conducted in various cities of the country; “Highlights of Gender Disparity in Education” in Lahore with provincial stakeholders in Punjab, “Dialogue on Right to Education (RTE) Article 25- A: Learning Challenges and Inclusion of All” was held in Quetta (Balochistan), Islamabad, Karachi (Sindh) and Lahore (Punjab).

ASER Pakistan 2013 campaign created a huge impact in highlighting the education as the most important issue for everyone as this was the second year in a row when ASER took place throughout the country. Simultaneously, ASER Pakistan advocacy campaign was widely covered by print and electronic media. ASER 2013 was endorsed by highest level of decision makers both political as well and technocrats i.e. Planning Commission of Pakistan (available at endorsed by Pakistan Economic Survey 2013-14, Govt. Of Punjab, Govt. of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Govt. of Gilgit Baltistan, Govt. of Balochistan, and Govt. of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. ASER Pakistan data is being used as bases for policy making by Punjab Education Sector Reform Program (PERSP) - Road to Reforms team in Punjab led by Sir Michael Baber / Mackenzie & Mackenzie.

ASER results and impact was also shared internationally in conferences (UKFIET, CIES, and various international advisory council boards, namely GMR and UNESCO Institute of Statistics). Networking with ASER India, UWEZO East Africa was undertaken at the JUBA family Uganda meet-up for exploring proactive engagement across large scale testing partners as a South – South initiative by the Hewlett and Open Society Foundations (OSF). The Research for Development (R4D) team is in conversation with ASER Pakistan, India, and Uwezo to engage a third party external evaluation of process evaluation, desk review of testing tools and evaluation of impact.

ASER Pakistan, with limited resources, has made its mark and now it is being used as a basis for policy making at various forums for benchmarking and making substantial change in landscape of education development in the country. A medium to long term commitment to this movement for education governance and accountability as well as institutional support will further enhance its impact further where education managers and policy makers can track their performance through ASER findings on a regular basis.

1.ASER Pakistan

ASER - The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is a survey measuring quality of education. ASER seeks to provide a reliable set of data at the national level, that is comprehensive and, at the same time, easy to understand. The survey’s stated objectives are threefold:

(i)To get reliable estimates of the status of children’s schooling and basic learning (reading and arithmetic level) at the district level;

(ii)To measure the change in these basic learning and school statistics from last year;

(iii)To interpret these results and use them to affect policy decisions at various levels.

ASER is generating a great deal of enthusiasm across the country with many institutions (big and small) seeking engagement for a 5 year program led by concerned citizens. Organizations and individuals are asking to be enlisted in the voluntary activity that essentially requires 5 days annually dedicated to the workshop and the survey. This is indeed very reassuring for all of us.

ASER will increasingly be holding a mirror to the aspirations and milestones declared in Article 25 A -Right to Education finally declared as a fundamental right. It states that“The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law.”

ASER will provide robust evidence to the countries, 180 million citizens, change makers and decisions makers about: what our children learn how they learn and where they learn.

ASER Pakistan 2013

In 2013, ASER survey was conducted in 138 rural districts and 13 urban districts/centers across the country. It was carried out with the help of various civil society organizations, academia, students, media, bilateral and multilateral agencies and other stakeholders working in the education sector.

To achieve the above stated objective for ASER Pakistan 2013, financial support was provided by UKAid’s Department for International Development –DFID, Foundation Open Society Institute- FOSI, Oxfam-GB, and ITA. This report is narration of activities performed to achieve the stated objectives as agreed in the project proposal submitted with the supports of ASER Pakistan.

2.Mobilizing Partners in Pakistan

AnumberofmeetingswereheldwiththepotentialpartnersinalltheprovincesbyASER teamformobilizationandpartnerships forASERPakistan2013survey. ASERpartners were selected throughanopencall foran Expression of Interest (EOI). Itwasadvertisedintheleadingnationalnewspapers. In response of theEOI,more than50applicationsforpartnership were submitted outofthis18partnerswere selectedfor the 2013 survey.Following aretheASERPakistan2013partnersbydistrict;

Sr.
No / Province / Nameof Organization / Districts
1 / Punjab / NationalCommissionfor
Human Development–NCHD / Bhawalnagar,Sargodha,Kasur,
Vehari,Lodhran, Khanewal, Jhang,Pakpattan,Narowal, BakkarandChiniot
DemocraticCommissionfor
Human Development–DCHD / Sheikhupura,NankanaSahib
and T. T. Singh
ResearchCommunity
Developmentorganization – RCDO / Mianwali,Khushab,Chakwal,
Mandi Bahauddin,Jehlum, AttockandHafizabad
Al-Watan / Gujranwala and Gujrat
M.k.Foundation / Sialkot
ITA / Multan,Muzafargargh,Rahim
Yar khan,Lahore,Faisalabad, Bahawalpur,Rawalpindi
2 / Sindh / Sindh EducationFoundation
–SEF / Badin,Khairpur,Larkana,
Matiari,Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah,Sukkur, Tharparkar,Umerkotand Hyderabad
SEDF / Thatta
Hands / Dadu, Jacobabad,Jamshoro,
Kashmore,Kambar Shahdadkot,TandoAllahyar, TandoMuhammadKhan, Ghotki
NCHD / Nosheroferoz,Sanghar,
Shikarpur,
Sr.
No / Province / Nameof Organization / Districts
3 / Balochistan / NCHD / Bolan, Chaghiand Washuk
Societyfor Awareness,
Advocacyand Development / Harnai,Kharan,Kila Saifullah
and Pishin
Education,Health and
Development-EHED / Kalat,Ketch,Turbat,Loralai,
Khuzdar,Lasbela,Panjgur, Zhob andZiarat
MEHER / Jaffarabad,JhalMagsiand
NasirAbad
CTE / Killa Abdullahand Sibi
G& GS / Gwader,Noshki,Mastungand
Sherani
ITA / Barkhan,DeraBugti,kohlu,
MusaKhelandQuetta
4 / Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa / BKTEF
CRDO / Buner,D.I.Khan,LakkiMarwat,
Kohat,Nowsheraand Swabi
NCHD / Abbotabad,Bannu,Batagram,
Chitral,Hangu, Haripur,Karak, kohistan. LowerDir, upperDir, Malakand,Mansehra,Shangla, Tank,Torgar
ITA / Charsada,Peshawar,Mardan
andSwat
5 / AJK / HamzaDevelopment
Foundation / Muzafargargh,Mirpur,Bagh,
Haveli,Kotli,Hattianand
Poonch
NCHD / Neelam,Bhimberand Sudhnoti
6 / Gilgit - Baltistan / NCHD / Gilgit,Diamer,Astore,Ghizer and Hunza
Geo-Tech / SakarduGhanche
Sr.
No / Province / Nameof Organization / Districts
7 / Islamabad-ICT / ITA / Islamabad
8 / FATA / NCHD / BajaurAgency,KhyberAgency,
MohmandAgency,Orakzai Agency,FR Bannu,FRDera Ismail Khan,FR Peshawar,FR LakkiMarwat,FR Tank

3.Tool Development

3.1Rationale for ASER Tools:

Apart from documenting the status of education at national level, ASER documents information about children’s basic learning levels. However, the learning assessment of ASER is quite different from other conventional learning assessments taking place in the country. The ASER assessment is competency based instead of being content based i.e. its main objective is to check for analytical skills of the children. Another feature that distinguishes the ASER assessment is that it is HOUSEHOLD based survey and not SCHOOL based. It assesses every child of age 5-16 years old living in the surveyed household; including all the in school i.e. enrolled and out of school children, whether dropped out or never enrolled in schools.

How ASER Compared with Existing Assessment Systems in Pakistan

Recognizing the significance of measuring learning levels, the Pakistan Government has in recent years undertaken large scale assessment initiatives. Some of these assessment systems include the National Education Assessment System (NEAS), assessments under the Provincial Education and Assessment Center (PEACE) and assessment by the Punjab Examination Commission (PEC).

ASER is different from the above mentioned initiatives in several ways. Firstly, ASER is based on a household survey and thus assesses everyone in the age group of 5-16 years within a household. This allows a comparison of learning differences among those enrolled and not enrolled in school. Secondly, ASER measures more generic and basic numeracy and literacy skills rather than the subject and often curriculum-based specific skills measured by NEAS and PEC for specific grades (Grades 4, 5 and 8). This is important because it allows us to paint a more vivid picture of basic learning than has historically been available.

COMPARISON OF ASER WITH NEAS & PEC:

National Education Assessment System (NEAS) / Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) / Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)

• NEAS was established in the late 90s to build assessment capacity at school, provincial and federal levels to measure learning outcomes and improve the quality of education.

• It is a country wide project.

• NEAS is for grade 4th and 8th in four subjects: Language, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.

• To date NEAS has conducted three rounds of subject-based assessments

• Web Address

/

• PEC was established by the government of the Punjab in 2004 to address the quality challenge.

• It is a provincial project, covering districts in Punjab.

• PEC assessment is for grade 5th and 8th in ALL subjects and both in public and private schools.

• To date four rounds of assessments have been held in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011

• Web Address

/

• ASER was launched in 2008 by ITA (an NGO) aimed to look at generic skills of numeracy and literacy compared to subject specific learning levels.

• It is a country wide project with a focus on rural areas.

• ASER assessment is a household survey aimed for all children aged between 3-16 years, in three subjects: Language, Mathematics and English

• To date 3 complete rounds of assessments have been conducted; 2008, 2010 & 2011, while the 2012 assessment is underway currently.

• Web Address

3.2ASER Tools

ASER Tools/Instruments fall in two broad categories of documentation. The details of each are as following:

Educational Status Documentation:

ASER educational status documentation tools are designed so as to document basic information of schooling status i.e. child’s educational status, children enrollment, facilities in school, teachers qualification, school funds information etc. whereas the household survey documents child’s educational status, child’s parents’ educational status, basic household information etc. Educational status is documented in the form of:

• Household Survey Sheet
• School Observation Sheet

1. Government School Observation
2. Private School Observation

Learning Assessment Tools

ASER learning assessment tools are designed to assess basic competencies of children as defined in national curriculum. The difficulty level for assessment tools is that of class 2 for reading (language of pedagogy) and English competencies, while arithmetic abilities are assessed according to the class 3 curriculum. Learning assessment tools are as following:

• Reading Assessment Tools

1. Urdu
2. Sindhi
3. Pashto

• English Assessment Tools
• Arithmetic Assessment Tools

Each of the ASER assessment tools has 2 samples, i.e. sample 1 and sample 2 for Language, Arithmetic and English. In case more than one child is present in the vicinity, at the time of assessment then it is wise to keep multiple samples to assess their competencies. This is to avoid the situation where the child answers from memory and not skill.

Tool Development:

1. ASER School Status Tools document the state of school enrolments, attendance – both for children and teachers, provision of basic facilities for example useable drinking water and toilet facilities, text books, library books and school grants etc.

1. ASER Learning Assessment Tools are developed to assess learning levels of the children aged 5-16 years old. They are based on the assessment of basic competencies up to classes 2 for Urdu, English, Pashto and Sindhi and up till standard 3 for basic Arithmetic as defined by the National Curriculum 2006.

ASER core team got together for two days to discuss the Tools for 2013 i.e. new variables which needed to be added or subtracts and how the external committee for tool review will be formed. The meeting took place in Islamabad on the 16th & 17th August, 2013 (See Annex A for full report). The 3 kinds of survey tools (Language (Urdu/Sindhi/Pashto), English and Arithmetic) were developed and prepared with the consultation of all ASER partners that include but not limited to NCHD, SEF, DCHD etc and are finalized after going through a two tier rigorous evaluation process of test validity. For each learning subject (Language (Urdu/Sindhi/Pashto), English, Mathematics) two subject specialists from different universities, colleges and schools provided their feedback. A detailed checklist was developed to determine the structure and emphases, correspondence with accepted curricula, and the selection, appropriateness and representation of the items. The tools were then finally shared (for a review) with Provincial Education Assessment System (PEAS), Punjab Examination Commission (PEC), Institute of Education and Research and University of Education Punjab and other international experts including Dr. Monazza Aslam from Oxford University and ASER Center India. After incorporating all the comments, the tools were then analyzed for their reliability by using Index such as Flesch Kincaid Grade Level and Flesch Reading Ease.