DLP Report
PESHAWAR
A meeting of the fourth Steering Committee of the ILMpact Programme was held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Provincial Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Arshad Ayub Khan to review the programme’s progress, ongoing activities and future strategy.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Elementary and Secondary Education Muhammad Khalid, Special Secretary Development Masood Ahmad, members of the steering committee and representatives of the British Council, including Project Manager Muhammad Almas Khan and MEL Lead Rizwan, said a handout.
During the meeting, officials were informed that the programme, funded by the FCDO and implemented by the British Council, was currently operational in eight districts of the province.
The programme focuses on girls’ education, identification of out-of-school children, improving access to schools, enhancing learning outcomes and increasing student retention rates.
The meeting was informed that the “Remedial Learning Model” was being implemented as a key component of the programme, with its content aligned with the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) policy.
Officials said special attention was being given to children affected by learning poverty and foundational learning gaps through the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach.
Under the initiative, master trainers and teachers in targeted districts were trained in collaboration with the Directorate of Professional Development, while teachers were also provided continuous mentoring support and teaching-learning materials.
The participants were informed that following the training, teachers had started structured learning activities with students and their assessment scores and learning outcomes were being continuously monitored.
The meeting noted that significant improvement had been observed in students’ learning levels, which was appreciated by the steering committee.
Mr Khan and Secretary Education Muhammad Khalid emphasised the need to expand the remedial learning model to other primary schools across the province.
They directed the British Council to coordinate with the Directorate of Professional Development to finalise a comprehensive plan for training teachers in summer-zone districts on the TaRL model during the June vacations. The meeting was informed that more than 80,000 children in targeted districts were benefiting from the programme, including 70 per cent girls.
Officials further stated that 13,375 out-of-school children had been identified and enrolled in schools through catch-up learning camps.
The steering committee was also informed that teaching and learning materials had been provided to schools to promote activity-based learning, while disability screening of children had also been conducted and assistive devices provided accordingly.
Participants appreciated the initiative and were informed that infrastructure improvement schemes would also be carried out in collaboration with Parent-Teacher Councils to make schools safer, more inclusive and disability-friendly.
The meeting was further informed that a School Safeguarding Framework had been developed under which head teachers and teachers would be trained to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment for children.
