THE CITIZENS FOUNDATION A Catalyst for Less privileged Communities

a Case Study of TCF South West Region

by Fareed-uz-Zaman Parveen Mehboob

Paper to be presented at the International Conference “Educational Reforms in the

Developing Countries”

February 19 – 21, 2008

Institute of Educational Development Aga Khan University

The Citizens Foundation: A Catalyst for Less-privileged Communities A Case Study of TCF South West Region

Abstract The Citizens Foundation (TCF) is a not-for-profit organization with a vision of removing barriers of class and privilege to make the citizens of Pakistan agents of positive change through the power of quality education, enabling moral, spiritual, and intellectual enlightenment and creating opportunities to improve quality of life. The primary avenue selected is to impart quality education in the neglected, least privileged urban and rural localities. The strategy adopted is to take quality education to the door steps of poor strata of our society with encouragement of female enrolment and mainstreaming.

Although, it began in a small way in 1995 with just 5 schools in urban slums of Karachi, currently, it is operating 455 school units with 55,000 children all across the country. The success of TCF lies in its reputation for rightful utilization of donors’ contribution to the society with transparency, accountability and its professional approach towards education resulting into uplifting socio-economic status. This has been made possible through adopting proactive educational reforms. This paper describes the TCF initiatives for the less privileged communities with special focus on the selected schools of South West Region, highlighting the change noticed in social and educational context as well as economical aspects and accounts for its support, success and challenges.

INTRODUCTION

We would like to thank Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development for giving us an opportunity to share with you the experiences of The Citizens Foundation with respect to the educational reforms. We are also thankful to the organisers enabling us to enrich our own knowledge with the expertise and experiences of the other participants of this conference. We will present the paper in two parts; first I will touch upon the some basics about the educational reforms in general then dilating upon the TCF way of doing it. I will be followed by Ms Parveen who will present the research part in to the effectiveness of TCF reforms.

EDUCATIONAL REFORMS – AN INTRODUCTION

Historical Underpinnings The Guinness Book of World Records has established that the University of Al-Karaouine founded in 859 A.D. in Fez, Morocco as the oldest university in the world.1 Those were the times when Muslims dominated the world with knowledge. The legacy passed on to the western world in the 15th Century when education started to shape up as a formalised activity. Dieter Lenzen, President of Freie University, Berlin brought fore the idea that “Education began either millions of years ago or at the end of 1770.”2 He was differentiating between the age-old educational traditions and educational system. By the end of 18th century, Muslims in the Subcontinent were faced with the dilemma of reforming their ‘educational traditions’ in favour of ‘formal education system’. Most of them hesitated to go to the schools established by the British. As old as 1871, British ‘Committee for the Better Diffusion and Advancement of Learning among the Muhammadans of India’, attempted to explore the reasons preventing the community from availing itself adequately of the government educational institutions3. Syed Ahmed Khan, famously Sir Syed, traced the causes of the Muslims’ aloofness from modern education as ‘their political traditions, social customs, religious beliefs, and poverty.’4 Later on successive attempts were made by various scholars and leaders in the Subcontinent but the fruits did not reflect the amount of efforts which went into educating illiterate masses. Unfortunately nearly one and half century later, we are still resolving the enigma of our failure on many accounts.

1 ‘History of Education’ from Wikipedia at www.wikipedia.org

2 Ibid.

3 Khan, Abdul Rashid, The All India Muslim Educational Conference, Its Contribution to the Cultural Development of Indian Muslims 1886 – 1947, Oxford University Press, Karachi, 2001, p 5.

4 Ibid, p5.

Currents Undercurrents Though Human Development Index (HDI)5 is not in a sense a comprehensive measure, yet it gives us some idea as to where we stand with respect to other developing countries of the world. UNESCO Human Development Report 2006 has ranked Pakistan 144 among 170 nations of the world. Its summary ranks Pakistan’s average person to be lower than the poorest 20% people in Bolivia, South Africa and Indonesia.

Today the world believes that the ultimate yardstick for measuring progress is people’s quality of life. But is there a link between prosperity and literacy? Data confirms that greater the literacy more prosperous is the country. Do we have a choice? The fact of the matter is that Pakistan has no choice but to reform its education system meeting the demands of the 21st century post haste.

Educational Reforms Education reform6 is a plan or movement which attempts to bring about a systematic change in educational theory or practice across a community or society. World has seen incessant efforts towards reforming the education system in one form or the other. Even today reforms are ubiquitous rather synonymous with any worthwhile effort to resuscitate failing education system. The effort is to define and continually redefine ‘good practice’ to meet the challenges coming up in this business. Reforms are initiated to impact various aspects and applied to various levels of educational domain; administrative changes in the ministries, departmental organisation7, staffing, funding, parental involvement, curriculum evaluation and review, professional training of academic staff, buildings, contribution of the society, etc. Some focus being targeted; access, quality, gender equity, poverty reduction, curriculum, etc 8. The Office of Educational Research and Improvement had funded number of studies9 in education reform; some of the works are ‘student diversity’, ‘curriculum reform’, ‘assessment of student performance’, ‘parent and community involvement’, ‘school-based management’, ‘school-to-work transition’, ‘systemic reform’, ‘technology’, uses of time’, etc.

At the philosophical level, reforms have travelled a long journey. Charles A. Tesconi, jr. has collected essays10 on educational philosophies affecting US Schools historically. Perennialism, essentialism, experimentalism, reconstruction, secular liberalism, social pluralism, etc.

5 Summary Human Development Report 2006, Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis,

UNDP, New York , USA, (http://hdr.undp.org)

6 http//en.wikipedia.org

7 Wylie, Cathy, ‘Impact of Education Reforms (1989-1999)’, New Zealand Council for Educational Research, www.nzcer.org.nz.

8 AKU-IED, ‘Educational Reforms in Developing Countries’ Conference Introduction.

9 Archived Information at www.ed.gov/pubs.

10 Tesconi, Charles A., ‘School in America; A Social Philosophical Perspective’, 1975, Houghton Mifflin, USA.

Most current reforms in the USA, through its policy of ‘No Child Left Behind’, are being considered as ‘disenfranchised’ which is ‘the descriptor that can be mixed and matched by any education reformer for any type of reform because it appeals to the conscience’11. It appeals to the common man to12 ‘look out for those who might need a little action on their behalf.’

Pakistani Perspective In Pakistan, several initiatives have been taken; major ones have been funded from outside donor agencies and others by the government itself. Common ones of the recent past include Education Sector Reforms (ESR) which aimed at the development of education sector as a whole, with a special focus on Education for All (EFA) and served as a foundation for the national action plan.13 The main features of ESR14 include sector-wide approach for reinforcement of linkages between sub-sectors to eliminate gender and access gaps, macro-level reforms in planning and procedures, quality assurance, etc. But UNESCO’s EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008,15 published recently, concludes Pakistan’s primary school participation to be ‘low’, adult illiteracy and gender disparities and inequalities in education to be ‘pervasive’, and education quality as ‘poor’. It fears that the ‘four countries, including three highly populous ones (Bangladesh, India and Pakistan), are far from achieving EFA as a whole, with Education Development Index (EDI) scores lower than 0.8’.

We also see reforms being ordered on need basis as is the case of Azad Kashmir when Prime Minister announced16 that following three steps were to be taken in next 6 months: Setting up of model science schools in each district; science to be taught from primary class; all the primary schools to be put under the tutorship of qualified female teachers.

Reform Programme Criterion The reforms are often implemented through stringent criterion so that the money invested in an innovative approach is not wasted. One such example is Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD), for which criterion was specified by the US Congress. This included17 research-based innovative strategies

11 Salvato, Nancy, ‘Disenfranchised: The Buzz in Education Reform’, December 2006, available at

www.santabarbarachronicle.com.

12 Ibid.

13 National Plan of Action on Education For All (2001-2015) Pakistan, Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Education, August 2002.

14 Chapter 2 Education Sector Reform: Action Plan (2001-02 – 2005-06)

15 EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008, Regional Overview South and West Asia, UNESCO, p 12

16 Prime Minister Secretariat of Azad Government of the State of Jammu & Kashmir website www.pmajk.gov.pk.

17 US Department of Education (1998), The Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program as quoted by Topper Sherwood in ‘A Practical Look at Comprehensive School Reform for Rural Schools. ERIC Digest (www.ericdigests.org)

and methods, provide ongoing, high-quality professional development for staff, have measurable student goals and benchmarks for meeting those goals, nurture meaningful parent and community involvement, etc.

Recent Trends The beginnings of current reforms in the developed countries can be traced back to early 1980s when ‘standardization’, ‘merit pay programs’,18 etc became the focus of education policy. Closer at home, we are reforming curriculum, adjusting academic year and composite examinations for Class IX/X, delegating management of education down to grass root level through City District Government EDO (Education)19 downwards, etc. Not-with-standing such reforms, field of education is undergoing a revolution20 through extensive use of ICT – Information, Communication and Technology. This perhaps is the main education reform of present times.

Problem

Despite the progress and efforts made, educational reforms have not been able to achieve the objectives particularly in the public sector despite the enormous funding received from various donors. However amidst the hostile and unfavourable environment of the poor localities, The Citizens Foundation initiated various educational reforms which have proved successful in the 10 years of its existence. This paper presents the educational reforms of TCF and measures its impact empirically.

EDUCATION REFORMS IN THE CITIZENS FOUNDATION

Schooling for less privileged Education for poor localities is peculiar in many ways. Therefore any reform for the education system for them requires special treatment. Over the centuries reforms have been adopted in the education for rural and urban slums in the form of one-room schools, one-teacher school, Monitorial schools, home education, etc. One-room Schools. Starting from late 19th century, the one-room schools were a common sight in the rural localities and smaller towns of many countries in the west. Students used to assemble under one teacher mostly who taught up to five primary level subjects. One-teacher Schools21 have been the principal mode of education for children living in remote areas since nineteenth century. Home Education22 was favoured by a growing number of 18 Carvin, Andy, ‘EdWeb: Exploring Technology and School Reform’ at www.edwebproject.org

19 http://www.balochistan.gov.pk/

20 Ibid.

21 Library Services, Department of Education, Training and the Arts, Queensland Government at http://education.qld.gov.au/library/

22 http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/homeschooling

parents who take direct responsibility for their children’s education rather than enrolling them in local public schools seen as not meeting expectations. The concept of Monitorial System was given by Andrew Bell and Joseph Lancaster who promoted the idea that ‘the children in the top group would spend time teaching children in the lower groups.’23

Taking the Initiative - The Citizens Foundation A group of like-minded Pakistani citizens got together to synergise their ideas, resources and efforts to contribute to ‘the much-needed uplifting of the economically deprived masses of the country.’24 They decided to spread the light of education among the less-fortunate youth, believing that education would bring about positive change in their lives and improve the quality of life of their families and communities at large. Thus, in 1995 came about the creation of The Citizens Foundation. This endeavour did not take long to attract widespread and generous support from persons and organisations in Pakistan and abroad. As a result, today there are25 over 3,000 teachers in 455 TCF Primary and Secondary School units in over 50 locations all over Pakistan, educating about 55,000 students at any one time; all of them from the less-fortunate stratum of society. Just in the last one year, it has built and operated 144 school units all over Pakistan which hints at the confidence of those who are generously supporting this cause. TCF has been rated amongst top two educational institutions of Pakistan running on philanthropic cause; and is the top most educational network for less-privileged ones. It has been awarded 8 out of 10 by the Japanese Credit Rating Company JCR-VIS for its governance, transparency and accountability. Recently TCF’s annual report got the runner up award by the South Asian Foundation of Accountants. Experienced trainers and volunteers from top western educational institutions, Harvard University being one of them, enrich TCF through their workshops and voluntary social works.

Coming to the quality of students, TCF students are achieving over 97% pass percentage in the matric board examination; TCF School at Dharki maintains almost 100% results; one girl student from TCF Higher Secondary School in rural Punjab achieved 3rd position in the Board examination, one TCF Student got selected in Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) National Outreach Programme. Other hallmarks include winning awards in Unilever International Art Competition, joining the armed forces, industry and hospitals for jobs; TCF girls increasingly taking up the slots of teachers to serve their own community.

What makes TCF a successful model is partly attributable to the untiringly self-less pursuance of the vision of founding directors and partly to the educational reforms. These are explained in the ensuing paragraphs.

23 ‘A Sociology of Educating’ introduction at www.learningcurve.gov.uk/bannerads/spartacus

24 TCF Annual Report 2006.

25 www.thecitizensfoundtion.org

TCF Philosophy Ahsan Saleem, one of the founding directors, expounded the strands of the philosophy the directors conceived for The Citizens Foundation in his article for “Education Reform in Pakistan – Building for the future” a report26 for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. These are summarised below27:

• The educational system should have a degree of formality and seriousness.

• The formal school must lead to positive aspects of “restraint” developing in the community.

• The primary schooling curriculum should be uniform across the country, creating standardized quality throughout the system.

• The primary curriculum should teach children to be creative and tolerant.

• Teacher training should be a core function.

• TCF assets should be leveraged to ensure optimization.

• Schooling should be a neighbourhood activity. This will give parents the comfort of safe passage and greatly encourage female enrolment.

• The maximum amount of money should go to schools for the benefit of children in the school.

• All teachers will be female to encourage female enrolment and empower women in the country.

• Demolish the myth “illiterate Pakistani parents of not want to send children to school.”

One can note the fact that TCF has not adopted concept of education per se but the education with the perspective of social welfare. It is this realisation of the need of poor masses that makes TCF education reforms a unique experience in this field. It qualifies as a case study for social innovation.

26 Hathaway Robert M., ed, ‘Education Reform in Pakistan: Building for the Future’, Woodrow Wilson

International Center for Scholars, Washington, 2005.

27 Saleem, Ahsan, ‘Against the Tide: Role of The Citizens Foundation in Pakistani Education’, as appeared in Hathaway Robert M., ed, ‘Education Reform in Pakistan: Building for the Future’, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, 2005.

TCF Education Reforms The Citizens Foundation initiated reforms which, though not specific to TCF in origin but certainly peculiar in implementation. TCF conceptualised the entire educational taxonomy from scratch – from tactical details to strategic culture. These reforms can be seen in three perspectives; the administrative set-up, the academic system and the supervision system. Supervision is treated separately due to its importance and peculiar implementation in TCF.

Administrative Reforms Educational administration in Pakistan has been considered as a key vulnerability resulting in many failing schools. But shifting focus from ‘failing schools’ to ‘failing local educational authorities’ could help the school and reform an ailing system28 more effectively. Realising the need for a progressively expanding network, it was envisaged that such large number of schools, located in widely dispersed localities all over Pakistan, will be difficult to administer effectively under normal methods of administration. TCF has blended corporate governance and culture with the military style of command and control in operations.

Governance. Bureaucracy is the main stay of the governmental process of administration. It is marked by stronger influence of positions and titles29 than personalistic distinctions30 in applying judgement. Corporate governance is considered opposite to bureaucracy and is used for the style of management with which successful entrepreneurs run their businesses. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, defines corporate governance as ‘about promoting corporate fairness, transparency and accountability.’31 Thus the three pillars on which the edifice of a successful enterprise stands. TCF strongly believes and practices in transparency, accountability and fairness in all matters related to its educational endeavour. Corporate governance determines the directions to everyone related to its functioning through its vision, mission and values. It covers dedicated set-up for HRM (Human Resource Management), training and evaluation, resource mobilisation department, conducting operations through centralised command and control, and quality assurance, etc. TCF’s vision and mission have been disseminated. 32

One can note that the word ‘education’ is not included in the vision as it is a means to achieve the real end of the business that is making citizens of Pakistan agents of positive change. The founder directors had always been aiming to lend less-privileged a helping hand in becoming agents of

28 Maureen O’Connor, Elizabeth Hales, Jeff Davies and Sally Tomlinson, ‘Hackney Downs: The School

Dared to Fight ’, (1999), Cassell, London.

29 Definition of Bureaucracy, Econterms quoted at www.about.com

30 Ibid.

31 Wolfensohn, J, Financial Times June 21, 1999 as quoted by www.encycogov.com

32 Talk by the Chairman TCF and CEO TCF to the TCF Employees on 25 June 2007.

Vision. “To remove barriers of class and privilege to make the citizens of Pakistan agents of positive change.”

positive change not simply educated persons. Hence the purpose of activity of every employee in TCF. Mission then clarifies further details of what and how.

Here the avenue is identified to be ‘quality education’ for bringing about enduring positive change with emphasis on communities with greatest need. The operational arm of TCF consistently looks for and tries to penetrate in to localities which are most needy from education point of view. Last year 144 school units were built in communities with greatest need and this year about 70 locations have been selected where work has already started.

The second part of the mission relates to launching various projects e.g. adult literacy, filter plant, medical camps, etc. Currently TCF has activated 25 literacy centres as first phase, taking this figure to 100 centres by end of April this year under Project ‘Roshan ter Pakistan’ in collaboration with Literate Pakistan Foundation and National Foods. This effort is aimed at educating up to 12,000 illiterate mothers, elder sisters of TCF students who can then enjoy relatively favourable environment at home. Medical camps have identified some serious cases of kidney and eye diseases which if unchecked could have deprived the students of their vital organs. Thus TCF attempts to help improve the lives of the less-fortunate children.

TCF Values. Like standard practice of business world of implementing clear cut values expected from all the employees, TCF has also clearly enunciated the expectations. Apart from these values, TCF has promulgated ‘Zero-Tolerance Policy’ for acts unbecoming of good person. Financial malpractices, harassing females, breaches of trust, etc are some of these acts which lead to immediate termination of the employee.

Human Resource. The achievement of the vision and the mission is not possible unless the human resource, both academic and administrative, fulfils the demands of the challenges facing such mission. TCF has paid special emphasis in the selection of right kind of manpower who does not hesitate to prefer passion over pay. This passion fuels the fire of enthusiasm in the employees making them the force multiplier in all endeavours of TCF who then do not need to be monitored all the time for performing assigned tasks efficiently.

Culture. TCF has strategically adopted corporate culture whereas tactically it blends military way of command and control with

Mission. “To bring about an enduring positive change for communities with greatest need through:

• The power of quality education, enabling moral, spiritual, and intellectual enlightenment and

• Creating opportunities to improve quality of life.”

professionalism in academic delivery. Any attempt to bring in bureaucratic culture is thwarted immediately. On the contrary, innovative initiatives are encouraged. Financially least expenses are incurred on the non-academic or overheads whereas most of the financing up to 92% goes in to education directly or indirectly.

Accountability. New York Times33 opened an article on performance measurement with ‘Everywhere you turn in the world of philanthropy and nonprofits these days, people are talking about transparency and accountability.’ TCF culture carries a strong sense of accountability; all of its operations and finances are subject to internal and external audits at any time. TCF Dashboard is a peculiar tool which allows the Executive Committee to monitor vital parameters periodically. Part of the Dashboard is shown below:

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: METRICS RESPONSIBLE DEPARTMENTS

TIMELINE

Costs Trending • % Administration cost • Cost per child • Cost per school

Accounts Department in close coordination with the RMs

On quarterly basis 1st report – October 10, ‘07 2nd report – January 10, ‘08 3rd report – April 10, ‘08 4th report – 10 July ‘08

Revenue Trending • Total donations (by product (inc short-term, long-term), by

chapters) • % Schools operations costs covered for X yrs

• % Self-generated revenue

Accounts Department with coordination of RMD & Donor Care Department

Monthly report Report to be submitted on the 5th day of every month

)

Command and Control. Figure 1 illustrates a bird’s eye view of TCF organisation. The organogram related to operations is elaborated further to emphasise that retired military officers are placed at three levels; Management is headed by retired 3-star general as the chief executive, retired brigadier as the Chief Operating Officer, retired brig/colonel as the regional managers and retired Lt Colonels/majors as the area managers. The selection is tough and people with excellent record fuelled by the passion for social welfare makes them eligible for this task.

33 Cunningham, Katie & Ricks, Marc, ‘Why Measure’, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Summer 2004 at

www.ssireview.org

BOARD of DIRECTORS

CEO (ex-mil)

COO (ex-mil)

Head HR

Head Education

Head Resource

Mobilization

Regional Mgrs (ex-mil)

Area Mgrs (ex-mil)

Cluster Principals

Education Mgr HR Manager IT

Regional Staff

Cluster Principals

Red Ex-military Green Corporate Blue Education

Cluster Principals Cluster Principals

Figure 1 – TCF Organisation

Mutually Supportive Cluster Concept. All the schools in same locality are grouped as ‘a cluster’ and a group of clusters are controlled by ‘a hub’; group of hubs make ‘an area’ under administrative control of an Area Manager. He inspects the schools for cleanliness, maintenance, presence of all the staff, fee collection, issue of stores, maintenance of accounts, etc. The Regional Manager is supposed to visit every school in his region once in every quarter. He, along with the concerned Area Manager, keeps surveying the localities for determining sites for more schools based on the community with greatest needs and endeavour that students from TCF primary schools are provided with a TCF secondary school for continuing education.

Conducive Learning Environment. While running the institution, the admissions are not allowed to exceed 30 students in primary classes and 36 in secondary. These are sacrosanct limits ensuring each child has a space for comfortable learning environment. The school buildings are constructed keeping all the principles of school requirement. The secondary schools are designed with separate classes for boys and girls; similarly their washrooms even their stairs are marked separately.

Pay-as-you-can-afford Fee Structure. The fee structure is based on pay-as-you-can-afford basis. Although the fee is Rs 150 for primary and Rs 200 for secondary, but those who are unable to pay full fees are given scholarships after principal visits the house and certifies the financial status of the parents. In any case, a student has to pay even if it is as small as Rs 10 to give them the feeling that they are paying for it.

TCF is strictly Apolitical. Another important element of TCF reforms is ensuring that political influence is not allowed to affect the process of administration as well as education. TCF is apolitical and strictly adheres to it. The retired military officers contribute significantly in warding off undesirable political influences.

Academic Reforms There are number of academic reforms which TCF adopted; following are the major ones:

1. Comprehensive and dedicated educational administration.

2. Rigorous pre-service and in-service summer training.

3. Workshops by experts from abroad as well as home.

4. Principals meeting every month to discuss their issues.

5. Regular feedback through various school records monitored closely by regional office.

6. Standardised and culture-sensitive curriculum throughout the country.

7. Extra educational support to the children from remote areas in the form of additional nursery class.

8. Extra educational support to the overage children with fast track course.

9. Involvement with the community and family through adult education program for the females.

10. Emphasis on achievement of educational targets which are based on conceptual learning as compared to completion of syllabus alone.

11. Centralised paper setting by the Head Office Education Department.

12. Grouping classes up to II as pre-primary with no examination at the end of the year; all children move on to next class.

13. Easy access to the children by taking the school in their own streets.

14. Safe and hassle-free commutation for the teachers through school vans.

Educational Administration. TCF places considerable emphasis on the educational organisation. Over 92% of the budget is allocated for the education and its allied set-up. The Head Office looks in to policy matters related to curriculum, training and evaluation besides undertaking spot evaluations of the schools. HO Education Department management is shown below:

Fig 2 – Education Hierarchy at Head Office The regions have a small nucleus of educational staff under Regional Education Manager. Their main responsibility is to ensure quality through monitoring and supporting the weak ones while ensuring implementation of the TCF policies; the regional educational hierarchy is as shown below:

Head Education

Mgr Academics (Primary)

Mgr Academics (Secondary)

Mgr Trg and Evaluation

Education Officers Education Officers Education Officers

Mgr Curriculum

Fig – 3 Hierarchy of Regional Educational Team

The role of CEDO is explained in the supervision and support paragraph.

Supervision & Support Supervision has been the strength in educational administration but it becomes a major weakness due to its improper implementation. Educational supervision is an all encompassing activity defined as follows:

‘All efforts of designated school officials towards providing leadership to the teachers and other educational workers in the improvement of instruction; involves the stimulation of professional growth and development of teachers, the selection and revision of educational objectives, materials of instruction, and methods of teaching, and the evaluation of instruction.’ 34

Burton and Bureckner35 have listed 5 types of supervision:

1. Inspection. Authoritarian in style and used to ‘hunt with the hounds’36 by the ‘inspectors’.

2. Laissez Faire. Supervisor lets teacher teach as he/she pleases; status quo is maintained and results in lower productivity of work.

3. Coercive Supervision. Authoritarian concept where teaching staff is coerced to follow the dictates of the supervisor.

4. Training and Guidance. Increasingly recognised as recommended method of supervision, it requires helping the teachers through pre-service and in-service training. It makes the teachers improve voluntarily but under the guidance and control of their supervisor.

5. Democratic Supervision. It ‘builds upon the power of teachers to exercise self-direction through his participation in the determination of goals and

34 Dictionary of Education (p 400) as quoted in ‘Educational Management and Supervision’, Allama Iqbal

Open University, Islamabad, 2007.

35 Burton and Bureckner (1995), pp 5-13 as quoted in ‘Educational Management and Supervision’, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, 2007.

36 Maureen O’Connor, Elizabeth Hales, Jeff Davies and Sally Tomlinson, ‘Hackney Downs: The School Dared to Fight ’, (1999), Cassell, London.

Regional Ed Mgr

Asstt MgrTrg & Eval

CEDOs

Education Officer

formulation of methods and procedures for improving instructions.’37 This is the ultimate form of supervision where supervisor function is to ‘release and coordinate’ not to control creative ability of teachers.

One can realise that the above-mentioned kinds of supervision are in fact gradual progression of the quality of the supervision. Ideally one would like to adopt the democratic model of supervision,, but environmental constraints do not favour many in the developing world. The option feasible for them is Training and Guidance. TCF’s models resembles with this model closely which enables less-capable teachers to perform better than they are capable of.

TCF has adopted three-pronged strategy of supervision through training, evaluation and support. Firstly all new and serving principals, teachers and school accountants are given rigorous training every summer. The training is based on the curriculum studded with the latest concepts. Secondly the schools are subject to observation and evaluation without notice. All the visits in the TCF are surprise visits and it is expected that the school is being run in accordancw with the standard procedures all the time. Thirdly if a shortcoming is observed it is discussed with the principal and the teacher the same day and remedial measures are advised by the visiting member of E-Team mostly the Cluster Education Officer (CEDO). In case serious problem is noted consistently without improvement, the principal is placed in the category of ‘weak principals’. She is then called to the regional and head office for counselling. In case the improvement does not take place, TCF does not hesitate to remove her from the principalship. School administration also comes under scrutiny on surprise basis for account-keeping, store-keeping, cleanliness, maintenance of infrastructure for which monthly allowances are given to the principal.

The other integrated concept is that of strategic monitoring of vital parameters as explained earlier under governance. TCF Dashboard gives the periodic progress on admissions, scholarships distribution, cost per child and cost per school, attrition and drop-out of students, results, etc. Regional Offices monitor observation/evaluation reports about each school and undertake constructive interference if so essential.

Role of CEDOs. The most peculiar educational reform is TCF educational support mechanism based on CEDOs – the Cluster Education Officers. These are the educational experts available to the regional education managers. These female officers have sufficient expertise and experience of TCF schooling system. They operate under the control of regional education manager who herself is supposed to monitor every school for the delivery of quality teaching and determining the gaps. CEDOs are supposed to carry out following tasks:

Visit schools as per scheduled plan to observe school operations and support the principal and teaching staff if required;

37 Adams and Dickey as quoted in ‘Educational Management and Supervision’, Allama Iqbal Open

University, Islamabad, 2007.

• Undertake follow-up visits to see improvements after remedials;

• Observe teachers’ performance and facilitate trainers and teachers to overcome their weakness and implement new learning imparted by HO.

• Analyse the observation data and formulate report highlighting the strength and needs of the teachers.

CEDOs are also employed on other essential tasks within the regional office education department. The running cost effects,38 excluding capital expenses, for CEDOs alone indicate how expensive the effort is if one wishes to implement the reforms sincerely.

Running Costs (Rs.) Monthly Annually

Salaries CEDO (Rs. 12K – 15K) 13,500 (avg) 162,000 Driver 5,000 60,000 Total Salaries 18,500 222,000

Operational

Stationery 100 1,200 Cell Phone Cards 625 7,500 Fuel 4,500 54,000 Total Operational 5,225 62,700 Total Running Cost 23,725 284,700 Total Running Cost (20 CEDOs)

474,500

5,694,000

Support through Principals Meeting/Workshops. Besides the support given in the schools, school leadership is provided regular support in the form of workshops by experts home and abroad and through the forum of monthly principals meeting. Some of the areas covered are:

• Working out effective time table (common weakness).

• Writing of daily diaries and weekly planners. 38 TCF Head Office HR Department Record

• Classroom management problems.

• Encouraging students to ask questions.

• Encouraging students to write answers in their own words.

• Clarifications on teacher’s evaluation proforma.

• Clarifications on assessment in pre-primary classes.

• Explanation of attendance percentage calculations.

• Clarifications on policy for giving prizes after annual exams.

• Clarifications on admission fees for registration phase.

• Short workshop on activity and lesson planning to clarify doubts.

• Short workshop for lab assistant for running efficient labs.

CONCLUSION PART - 1

This part has summarized the salient features of TCF educational reforms. But the taste of pudding lies in the taste. The second part provides the impact of these reforms based on the research made with the help of students doing their masters in Sociology at the local university.

PART II – RESEARCH FINDINGS

Research Sample:

Pass out Graduates at least three years ago from TCF ( 64 in number) Parents of the graduates Teaching Staff Respective school principals (04)

Research Methodology:

Questionnaires (Separate questionnaire for students, teachers and principals) Interviews ( Guided questions for parents, students and teachers) Individual interviews and questionnaire were used to explore the realities and findings were triangulated. The study participants were ex-graduates of TCF and their parents, teachers, and principals. Two kinds of questions such as open-ended, and close ended questions were asked followed by probing strategy to obtain maximum data, field notes and tape recorder was also used for data collection.

Data analysis is indeed a complex process which needs a lot of struggle and hard work. According to Marshall and Rossman (1995,p.95) “data analysis is a messy ambiguous, time consuming, creative and fascinating process”. However, we applied the inductive method to draw appropriate conclusions by playing with the data purely collected from informants, and observant. For this we sought guidance from Patton (1990) who elaborates “inductive analysis means that the patterns, themes and categories of analysis come from data. They emerged out of the data rather then being imposed on them prior to the data collection and analysis”.

The analysis process was developed by reading all responses of individuals, focus group participants and notes taken during observations and field note and transcribed data from tape record. Thus, common themes and sub-themes emerged progressively with the analysis and review of the whole data.

It is understood that quantitative impact works as motive or vehicle for making qualitative difference. The overall goal mentioned above was to bring about change in the commonly- held discouraging attitudes towards the education of females and their participation in the holistic development of their communities. The study resulted in the following very encouraging findings, which can indeed contributor to the overall goal of the initiative.

Research Findings:

Impact on teachers:

Growth of teacher’s professional self-image: The data appeared to provide some strong indicators of the professional growth of teachers both in regard to how they perceived themselves as professionals. There were significant indicators that most teachers had developed to some degree a newer, stronger more professional image of themselves. During their interviews and observations teachers exuded a feeling of confidence and heightened self esteem. This was complemented by a willingness to become more introspective, try out the teaching and learning strategies learnt from in-service training sessions, to explore new methods of teaching and learning.

The perception of this “new” professional image was supported by specific examples provided by teachers who mentioned that compared to her previous teaching practice she was not able to organize and plan lessons leading to better implementation. Several teachers mentioned that their communication, observation and teaching skills have been improved.

Several teachers strongly maintained that as teachers they felt they had become more flexible employing a diversity of teaching strategies leading to better student motivation and learning outcomes. The teacher also felt that they were more productive and used to their energies more meaningfully.

Growth of confidence and moral authority: One of the strongest almost unanimous responses received from the teachers was their assertion that their confidence level had grown significantly together with a sense of moral authority, creativity and better relationship with the students. One quote from Ambreen, a teacher is a typical demonstration of this new –found confidence .

“I think I have grown up a lot and I am more confident and active, my self confidence moves me forward. I can teach anywhere at any time. Anybody can come and enjoy my class and I feel happy”.

Together with this new found sense of confidence and well being in a sense of her ideal image of the qualities and attitudes that a teacher should possess.

“I was not aware of the many different roles that teachers have to play in order to help the students, not just as a teacher but a friend, a philosopher”

This new found awareness is also demonstrated in the following quote from another teacher in our sample, Nadia said,

“Teacher is not just coming and lecturing; more important is what the students have learnt.”

Self – realization appeared to be a very important aspect of the new- found awareness in some teachers as mentioned by Saima:

“ I was rude to my students, in order to control them, but now a days I am more flexible, open and allow students opinions”.

These kinds of introspection on their professional practice in their classroom appear to give students new insights in their role as a students and teachers “

“Instead of giving knowledge I facilitate students to explore new knowledge”.

One of the teachers stated that: “ I look for more local and no cost resources i try to use those according to my teaching topic, my other colleagues also motivated”.

Student- Centered Teaching: The enhanced sensitivity of the teachers also appeared to translate into a concern for their students, for instance, a teacher mentioned:

“We use to take it as a job, more of a selfish attitude , now we think we have to give a lot to the students”.

Another teacher, acknowledged that she took into account students’ diversity in her teaching when she mentioned that “she used multiple intelligence in her classroom activities”.

For some teachers the willingness to develop a student-centered attitude could represent a fundamental shift in their approach to their classroom. This is significant if we consider that a focus on students by these teachers could considerably enhance their learning experiences and eventually go a long way in facilitating the goals of school improvement in their respective schools.

These multiple examples appears to emphasize a shift from an individual to a more collaborative focus among the concerned teachers base on professional platforms and dialogues such as workshops, in addition to personal interactions and socialization in their work place.

There was however no clear evidences that would indicate that such collaboration extended beyond some selected groups of teachers and affected the school culture as a whole.

But such collaborative process once set in motion could be expedited to have more positive future outcomes in terms of making transition from an individualistic school culture to m ore collaborative one.

Enlarge instructional repertoire

Teachers learned discussion, which contributed to enlarging their teaching repertoire. Teachers have developed the habit of reflecting on their previous practices, one of the teacher said, “Before I was using boring method like other teachers I also spent time listening to one student only, now I think it is shameful to do so, however, discussion strategy helped me to change my teaching practice”

Shift in Roles: The teachers’ claims of their shift from ‘controller’ to ‘guide’ were substantiated by CEDO’s observation of discussion in their classrooms. Teachers perceived their role as to lead and control students so that their classroom interaction pattern was one sided. Teachers thought this was necessary because as a teacher exclaimed, “I want to tell students something which they do not know….. I want o summarize discussions myself as they can not do it. Teachers acknowledged that it is difficult to change oneself as teachers used to be at the center of discussion and making conclusion”.

One of the teachers revealed that although giving authority was painful initially, the beliefs, that “teacher should be respected or “there should be a boundary between teachers and students were also termed as challenge for them.

Skills developed: Students and teachers developed social, academic and communication skills while engaged with TCF, they learnt to demonstrate social skills which helped them to become a respectable person of the community.

Attitude changed: Apart from developing positive skills, teachers and students mentioned that they also managed to develop some positive attitudes from the classroom environment and teachers attitude such as respect of each other, use of courtesy words frequently, disagree without being aggressive , they also learnt to learn from each other, willingness to share, support, accept ideas and shortcomings, they even mentioned that they feel they had become independent learners as they find material themselves, continued higher studies without any tuitions or support. Most of them had mentioned that their self confidence and self esteem has improved and they had overcome shyness and fear of being questioned and answering wrongly.

Supporting Factors:

Develop and provide need based support to cluster teachers by E-team,

Enhance pedagogical content knowledge by in-services and pre- service training sessions;

Enable teachers to develop low- cost no-cost teaching resources and use them effectively

Need based workshops;

Organize vocational training activities during summer vacations

Promote adult literacy program

Develop content based curriculum according to the need of the context.

Library facilities

Staff meetings

Linkage between Schools and Region Office staff

Transport Facilities: Transport facilities to all TCF Women staff is the blessings, every employee see to it as the major support to them because it curtails transportation issues and they and their parented feel secured.

Enhanced personal status and empowerment:

Another potential contribution of TCF have made is that they have given an awareness of empowerment to women. They have realized their potentialities and capabilities. Teachers mentioned that they call upon the women of their communities randomly and talk/ discuss with them on environmental, health, and social issues. The women share either problems with them and seek for solutions. TCF has created eagerness among women to educate themselves and their children.

Follow-up and Support mechanism: The opportunity for teachers to improve themselves is an important element of TCF, there is an in-house professional development support mechanism in placed by TCF through HO and RO which promote a professional culture and desire to learn in schools among teachers., however TCF strive for merit based appointment but low salary package is the major hurdle. However, strong infrastructure is key to success of TCF.

On-job training: Every year during summer a mega event of teachers’ training of in-service and pre- service staff is conducted by TDC of HO, which then followed and monitored as well as supported by E-Team of the region through out the year, in term frequent visits, demonstrations, team teaching, co-planning, classroom observations (structured and uninformed) followed by de-briefing sessions, as well as need based sessions by E-team. Ultimately, staff works according to the conceptual framework, because of sharing spirit, learning from each other, solving one other problems and making important

decisions. Teachers have strong awareness about their roles and responsibilities, adopting a positive working approach.

Love for children and empathy for human beings: Most of the teachers mentioned that another very important aspect being TCF staff is innovative experience of serving different communities; this brings variety of experience and diversity in the classroom.

We believe that TCF schools would not succeed increasing an educational climate, if TCF management will not provide schools with necessary support, but lack of content knowledge, weak leadership, and poor communities’ low- socio economic background of students are key concerns.

Development of self-confidence and decision- making

It is said that confidence creates a “can-do’ approach. in this study it was repeatedly mentioned that the women have built considerable confidence, and this has developed their decision-making power. Many young girls go and teach in the schools.

Challenges:

The sample of teachers were enthusiastic about the positive impact of the classroom strategies learnt from in-service training program besides, they also mentioned significant difficulties faced as they attempted to implement new learning in their classroom, although, the challenges are few as compared to the benefits, almost all the samples of the study mentioned that the workload on teachers is much greater than as compared to the salaries.

Other challenges include shortage of time for completion of syllabus, lack of content knowledge of teachers, having limited subject expertise they find difficult to address to the issues independently. Major challenge is finding time to plan and reflect upon teaching; they mostly remain busy in teaching for the whole day.

Moreover, they found difficult to handle boys, they unanimously hold an opinion that it is not easy to change the embedded habits of the students where parents and adults of the community are not ready to change or leave their acquired habits and mostly they have the habit of Gutka, Pan (betel leaf), use of slang language etc. Secondly, the conservative attitude of men does not fully encourage girls to continue for higher education and in some cases for secondary also. Teachers have high expectations from TCF management. They found it really difficult in communicating with the parents as they said they were all illiterate. They complained that usually children came to school with out doing their home work so it was a really tough job for the teachers to make them do both the home work and class work.

Work Load: Mostly all the teachers were overloaded. According to their work load they thought their salary was less. Besides the work load few teachers thought that the medical help was of no use. 60 Rs is nothing nowadays.

Relevance of program learning : One of the principle difficulties faced by the teachers appeared to be finding ways to effectively and meaningfully apply instructional strategies learnt from the training program in their classrooms. They called into question the applicability and relevance of specific instructional strategies learnt in the training program to their content, subject area and grade level. For instance Samina mentioned that she could not use some of the strategies that she had learnt in the training such as pair- work, classroom discussion. such statement appear to in dictate that closer monitoring and intensive support along with training focusing upon content vis-à-vis the subject and grade level of teachers might be more useful to make a better “fit” between teachers , context and the program.

Perception of contextual limitations: Teachers in our samples made reference to the added difficulties of trying to implement group work in what they perceive to be small which they mentioned made it difficult to execute group learning strategies such as cooperative learning. Some teachers mentioned that 40 minutes teaching time is not sufficient to implement cooperative learning strategies. Samina mentioned :

“ 40 minutes was not sufficient to meaningfully tryout the strategies. Double periods (80) minutes would have been helpful but coordination with management is needed”.

It may be significant to note here that most teachers were talking about contextual limitations, they did not talk about their personal efforts to over come such limitations, this could be interpreted as a lack of awareness or inability or unwillingness to be creative and improvise in their teacher practice within their contextual realties.

Communication gap with HO/RO E-team: One reason cited by several teachers in our sample, which they felt affected their learning of program strategies and hence its’ implementation was a perceived communication gap and a lack of support from the E-Team.

Lack of Support from stakeholders: Another teacher indicated that a perceived lack of understanding and relevant information about the goals , objectives, processes as and outcomes of training program among her stakeholders meant that she received little meaningful support during the difficult process of attempting to implement acquired learning in the classroom. Such attempts encounter traditional notions of equity and individualistic practices as demonstrated by the comments from many a teachers.

Concerns with assessment: Teachers also struggled to try and develop their learning about informal assessment and evaluation from the training program, group and pair work while a popular option especially with some teachers also presented dilemmas relating to assessment of individual contribution to the group activity as mentioned by Samina:

“It is difficult to monitor how well each individual student is working within the group sometimes the stronger students do all the work, while the weaker students depend on them and sit idle”.

The more progressive philosophy underpinning the concept of alterative assessment introduced during training program sometimes appear to have an uneasy coexistence with the more traditional norm based assessments with which students readily understood. However, the ability of teachers to structure and administer such alternative assessments in a meaningful way could also be a factor influencing their classroom experiences.

Lack of Teachers’ Retention: Long term retention of teachers is the biggest challenge, teachers leave as they feel they are skilful enough because of LOW Salaries, which lead to an issue of teachers turn over affecting the quality of teaching and learning. Secondly, recruiting the potential teachers on LOW scales is also the biggest challenge.

Non- serious attitude of parents: almost all teachers reported that the biggest challenge they face is the non seriousness of the parents which makes difficult for students to continue their studies, they said that the parents mostly migrate to their native places, towns for their personal reasons leading to discontinue the studies of their children or long absence from school, therefore, becomes a challenge to fill the gap of studies.

Conclusion:

Most teachers felt that they had “grown” professionally and had become much more confident and self assertive , critical and reflective and now commanded more respect from their colleagues and principal who frequently sought out the participant teachers from the training program to engage in professional dialogues and collaboration. Some administrators made it a point to publicly acknowledge teachers and informally delegate responsibilities to facilitate colleagues and play the role of a mentor.Some teachers appeared to be in transition from traditional to a more progressive mode of teaching.

Parents’ views:

Promotion of awareness of the needs for children’s education: It was clearly and confidentially mentioned by the study participants that not only the teachers of TCF, but also the graduates of the centers have started to give due importance to the education of their children. They send their children dressed in neat and clean uniforms, provide books and other material, give time for

studies at home, and develop schedule for their studies. Amina, a mother of the graduate of TCF, says that “before sending my daughter to TCF, I used to force my children not to go to school and go to the pasture to graze their sheep. but now I keep a check on my children time for study and I had prepared a schedule for study”. Before, such women sent their children for games at a suitable time but they did not care about their children’s activities after schools.

Promotion of Health and Hygiene awareness: In the group discussions teachers mentioned that there was a clear change in attitude towards health and hygiene. Now the students as well as other women of the village, where the TCF is working, wore clean dresses, take shower and keep their children in houses as clean as possible. Fatima, a TCF students, said that her mother observe cleanness day each Friday. On that day, in addition to cleaning the houses they clean all the dirt from the streets. They also have increased the frequency of bathing. Amina, a lady from Mauripur, happily stated that earlier she didn’t take a bath even once a month and now she as well as her children take a bath weekly.

Change in Attitude of both Men and Women: There has been a considerable change in attitude of both men and women. Husbands have changed their rude attitude into a more polite and encouraging one. As Banu from Sumar Goth said, I feel very different now, my husband behaved very rudely and disgracefully towards me in the past, but now when he sees me gaining knowledge and helping my children with their school work, he has no more negative attitude ,instead, he respects me and lends a hand in the house hold chores.

The women also have begun to reflect on their attitude and given up their unacceptable habits. A mother in this respect told her story ‘ I used to have a lot of arguments with my children. I quarreled with them and disgraced them on many occasions, but after, talking to teachers of TCF, I see a complete change in me. I can’t believe I am the same Kulsoom, now I have realized the mother’s worth and respect and take care of my siblings. These statements explicitly tell us that educational activities such as various discussions on diverse issues and the environment has broadened the thinking of the people and had encouraged them to be more open- minded.

Development of literacy skills in Urdu: A very encouraging impact is that those women who had never been to school or learning center have also learnt to read, write and speak in URDU, which is not their mother tongue. They recommended that TCF could arrange classes for mothers according to their abilities so that they can further support their children in their studies.

Impact on Students:

TCF’s Impact on the Lives of Its Students

Data Bank

S.No School Participated No. of Participant Students

1 Summar Goth 08

2 Ibrahim Goth 39

3 Cowasjee Campus 10

Total No. of Participant Students 57

TCF’s mission is to promote mass-scale quality education at the primary and secondary levels in an environment that encourages intellectual, moral and spiritual growth.

Effects on Personal Life:

The students admitted that after gaining education from TCF they feel themselves a unique and different person in their communities, it has not only provided light of knowledge but it has an immense effect on their personal lives, they had heavily credited their teachers for the same and some of them had made them ‘Ideal’ for their life. One of the students stated:

“TCF main jis tarha humare teachers ne humein muhabbat se parhaya usse hum main bhie khud aetmadi, kuch karne ka jasba, aagey barhne ki lagan, falahi kamoon main dalasi aur knowledge main izafa hoa”.

Growth of Ethical values

Ethical inadequacy was the major concern of TCF. TCF’s inculcated moral values made its students good human beings. Unrefined innocent children got the opportunity to make others feel their presence in the society by sharing love and care and civic sense.

Growth of problem solving skills

TCF’s support and meticulous academic structure help its students to deal with upsetting and difficult situations. Modern teaching methodology advocates students’ educational needs. Harsh realities of their lives are taken

care of with such attention and care by TCF Faculty that they find realistic ways of improving standard of their lives.

Escalation of Intellect

TCF provides free yet ethically knitted enlightening environment. Well planned modern teaching methods excel students’ intellect to make their dreams come true.

Maturity of Emotional Expression

TCF nurtures its students all emotional requirements so delicately and carefully that blooms their emotional strength to that extend where they accept their lives shortfalls with open heart and work hard to remove odds from their lives with great zeal.

Restoration of violated women rights

TCF has been playing vital role in restoration of Women rights. Out of which the foremost important right is to have equal rights of getting education as boys have in slum corporately less privileged social set ups. One of the girl students said:

“TCF culture ne humare area ke logon main larkiyon ki taleem ka shaoor peda kiya hai. Mere Abu abb sab se fakhar se kehte hain ke meri beti college jati hai halanke iss se pehle humare area main larkiyon ko perhane ka riwaj nahi tha”.

Effects on Social Life

TCF Family educate students catering to their family issues, stressors, anxieties, which they bring with them in the classrooms and feel that it is their responsibility with which so many of today’s students feel that TCF is unique for them as compared to and other type of school systems. Logical, socio-emotional developments of TCF students make them sensible human beings as relatives, as neighbours and as citizens of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Almost every student, and parent very clearly stated that TCF has heavily impacted on their attitude towards educating their children and now they feel that it is their prime responsibility to provide this right to their children for their better future and they said it is just because of ‘Quality education, caring attitude and support irrespective of caste and creed of and individual’, TCF has influenced us with a motto ‘EDUCATION FOR ALL’.

“TCF ki wajah se Humare muhalle main bhie talemi rate 90% ho gaya hai jo keh pehle sirf 20% tha Jis ki wajah se abb yahan ka mahual behter ho gaya hai”. (by Hafiz Abrar Khan)

Attitudes

The teachers and principal paid great emphasis on the positive behaviors of students and exclusively works on the students’ behaviors that leads them to get rid of unacceptable behaviors, abuse language which they don’t feel and also take interest in the societal issues by involving parents to bring about change in their attitudes, guiding and counseling them with hands full of energy and skills to drive their surrounding on the road of success. Most of the students stated:

“TCF nay hamari zindagi main buhat hi positive asraat peda kiye misaal ke tor per gutkha khana hamaraye liya fakhar ke baat thee, badla laina haeriree ezaat ka mamla tha lakin abb yah maloum hai kai ham galat hai , aur pyar muhabat, dosrro ki baat suna aur samajna aur phyr faisla karne main bhallai hai , humein abb Kisi bhie jaghan Kisi se bhie apni baat kehne main koi difficulty nahi hoti.History parhne se humein ye soch mili ke hum bhie dosro ki mistakes se learn karein”.

Social Relation

Care of others’ presence with due respect, purposeful involvement with family and other beloved persons are prestigious traits of TCF students quote:

“TCF ne humein sikhaya ke society main sab se kis tarha baat ki jati hai, kis tarha dosro ki zaroriat ka khayal rakha jata hai aur apne irdgird ke logon ke masayal main kis tarha uni madad ki jati hai”. (Waqas Ahmed son of Mohammad Akram, Ex student of TCF)

Restoration of Quality of Life

TCF is creating opportunities in improving the quality of life by giving chances to its students to make their dreams come true. TCF funds its students not only for their Schooling but it continues its financial support to professional and university level education. TCF’s students are now getting professional education at medical colleges and other renowned universities of Pakistan. One of our student from remote area (Umer Maingal) is BSC student of SUITI and in near future many TCF’s students will pass out from the prestigious institutions to play meaningful roles in their communities and become a source of enlightenment for their young fellows.

Effects on Professional Life

TCF’s educational system strengthens its students to become a successful citizen of this country. TCF Girls have been encouraged to adopt respectful

profession of teaching and in health sector as “health workers” after completing their SSC along with girls who carry on their studies while boys are being rewarding scholarships for higher studies to make the difference in their communities. Most of the boys go for technical education to earn respectful jobs in the technical fields. Students give credit to TCF school management for their successful lives

“TCF ki musalsal madad ki wajah se main is laiq hoa ke main aaj Pakistan Navy main service kar raha hoon”. (Zia Ex student of TCF)

Effects on Financial Status

Financial aid provided by TCF enables poor parents to bear the educational expenditures of their students. The money saved is spent on catering other daily needs of students.

All students and parents acknowledged that

“TCF ne directly humari muashi halat sudharne main tu koi khas role play nahi kiya lekin indirectly humein parha kar iss qabil bana diya keh hum ba izaat tareke se behter rozgaar kama sakein”.

Challenges:

The research data reveals statistically 55 graduates out of 57 discontinue their studies with science group, the reasons they gave are as follows:

Hammare waledeen science kee talim bardasht nahi kar saktay aur na hee ye hamara mustaqbil ban sakta hai keun ke bahut ziada kharcha hai.

Mustaqbil mee hum appna carrier nahi bana sakte hammare pass wo sab kaush nahi ham katchhi abbadi mae rahtee hai

Hammare waldeen ke zarurat, aur khawash hauti hai ka matric kar kae Naukri karary yak see daukan par ya worksop main kamm karee aur passa lay kar ayai

Ham regular college nahi ja saktaay, jab hum private parhtaee hai to hamme ‘Commerce’ summaj main nahi attay, hum TCF sayee ilteja kartayye hai kai humarri zurrurat kay mutabik hamme ‘General group bhi dai takkay hum agae parha sakai aura chi naukri hasil kar sake.

Ham interview main fail ho jatte hai hammme accounting, commerce ka koi illam nahi hotta aur English main na ham bool saktaye hai aur na hee humm un kee technical baat samaj sakttays hai, aghar TCF hammari in batto ko SAMMAJH KAR TALEEM DAYE TO BUHAT KAMYABI MELAI GEE.

Most of the girls had left studies because parents do not allow them for regular studies, some of them has taken ‘teaching’ as their profession, and boys are either working in factories or shops or they are labours at workshop.

Conclusion:

Ex-students loved the school. Few who had studied in government schools before said it is so much better. They said they were satisfied with each and every thing, the teachers, principals, schools environment and level of education given to them. All they wanted now was option of General group and college for higher education in TCF as well and if the school could get English medium too.

A very positive response was received from the students. They were happy that they were receiving quality education in their very locality and at an affordable price. It is good that an organization is working for those people who no one usually even looks at, and that too with such high standards. Not only that they also give concession and financial aid to those who need it, in terms of books and uniforms. The students were thankful for the support of TCF in times when their parents refused to send them to school and TCF convinced them to. They now feel civilized, responsible and confident to face the world. The education at TCF would help shape their future providing need based higher education is provided to improve their financial needs and family demands.

Vounteeers’s Views:

TCF is sure working as a catalyst. In some areas tcf was the first school and because of it education spread to the whole area not just that, now people are more familiar and hence comfortable in sending their kids to schools. Another thing that I noticed was the introduction of co-education in such areas made people come out of the stereotypes that prevailed in their society. Girls and boys both are treated equally. This I think counts a lot for a community to flourish.

Almost all Teachers were satisfied. Even if they faced problems they all knew that they were working for a cause and so thought it as sawab and their responsibility to teach such children. They were comfortable with the schools environment with out any male staff.

I never expected to see an organization which is determined to work in the education sector for the poor but with all the quality standards maintained that was great to see and the quality of environment was similar to any private schools though schools were in slums but seemed heaven in those areas.

Well my observation about TCF is that they are doing a great work but I feel they need to provide some skill to all the students because they come from a poor environment where money is a daily issue and parents cant afford to send

all their kids to schools due to financial burden but if the child learns a skill during school hours this would be a incentive for parents. The students lacked spoken English skills which I think they should have as world out is very competitive. If TCF could provide a child sponsor program as lot of us are willing to sponsor students for education.

TCF, is the only non profit school, that I know which provides quality education to the under-privileged. When we were given the job of interviewing people, I thought it would just be a hassle and no result from it but when we completed the job, I was shocked and awed at the fact that such talented people exist in our society and TCF is bringing their talent out and encouraging them to lead a respectable life. No one had anything negative to say about TCF; instead they appreciated the smallest things TCF did for them. TCF has professionally managed schools with an administration block, libraries, computer lab, etc, which is very difficult to get in local government schools. The teachers here are well mannered, nice to talk to, and charming.

The success of TCF is dependant on the dedication of all the people who work under this label. No doubt, they might have their own issues, but their dedication to their work, has made TCF successful. The teachers, principals, even the office people have high aims and they work collectively to achieve their goals. It seems like TCF is focused on making a difference in our society, and it has achieved a lot.

Conclusion:

TCF has a nominal fee structure in place in its schools. However, to ensure that quality education at TCF is affordable for every student, a pay-as-you-can afford system is in place, whereby scholarships up to 95% are awarded on the basis of need. As a result, many TCF students attend school by paying as little as Rs 10 (US$ 0.16) per month, including the cost of uniforms and books.

TCF's Education Program seeks to bring about a qualitative and quantitative change in the education sector through a relevant and comprehensive curriculum as well as an effective teachers' training program. The program's educational content and faculty's teaching methods are both periodically assessed through teachers’ daily diaries, regular monitoring and independent evaluations to ensure that the quality of education is up to TCF's Quality Standards.

A standard TCF curriculum is followed in all schools, which is broadly in line with the officially prescribed syllabi, but has been appropriately modified to meet the demands of modern day education. TCF has in place a comprehensive computer education program in its secondary schools that imparts basic computer training to its students. Each TCF Secondary School structure is designed to accommodate a computer lab comprising of 13 computers (12 for the students and 1 that serves both as a server and facilitates the instructor), ancillary equipment and required modular furniture.

What is good about TCF is that it believes in the holistic development of the child and therefore extra-curricular activities form an integral part of the curriculum along with reading, computers, art and educational field trips. Activities such as debates, essays, art, and other competitions along with sports form an integral part of the academic calendar at TCF.

Apart from that, TCF has insured that the quality of its infrastructure is maintained as well. Each TCF standard primary school has an administrative block, 6 classrooms and a library/art room. Whereas each TCF standard secondary school has 10 classrooms and well equipped laboratories for biology, physics, chemistry and computer studies. All essential facilities like clean water, separate toilets for boys and girls, and play area are also provided.

Personally we saw the difference in TCF as compared to other institutions. We were surprised to see that TCF had built such great schools in slum areas. It actually looked misplaced to us as compared to the condition of the slum area that we visited. Also a major difference was seen in the behavior of the school-going children and those who don’t go to schools. It was clear in the interviews that TCF makes children humans! It creates a civic responsibility and the confidence and the will-power to achieve their goals. They students were all very sure about what they want and pleased to get such services at such an affordable price. The students were thankful for the support of TCF in times when their parents refused to send them to school and TCF convinced them to.

TCF has triggered a change in the localities it is working for because it has been successful in changing the mindset of the people of the locality. It grooms the students and changes the old way of thinking. The main cause of success of TCF is that the whole system is very well managed and the co-ordination is seen very clearly between the management to the staff. Since TCF has the same policy and the same standards for all the schools, there is unity and discipline which is the reason why so much has been achieved.

The training programs conducted by TCF have made a lot of difference. It enabled the teachers to get a grip over the subject and explain it well to the students. The main objective was to impart knowledge well and not to make the students wrote-learn it. It was always a new experience to get training as new teaching techniques were taught every year and this helped the teachers to broaden their horizon. Also it was good that all the teachers took the training so in this way it was made sure that the same things and the same standards are being maintained in all the campuses of TCF. Other than that, it was good to see that TCF worked for all members, from students to teachers. They are given training, conveyance facility; leave with pay and the materials are provided to them as soon as possible when they demand it.

We all felt that there is a they need to provide some skill to all the students because they come from a poor background where finance is a daily issue and parents can’t afford to send all their kids to schools due to financial burden.

But if the child learns a skill during school hours this would be an incentive for parents. This suggestion was also made by the teachers and the students. The students also lacked spoken English skills, so English should be taught from be primary level so that the students get a grip over the language.

Recommendations:

There should also be character-building sessions for the students

Some crafts skills for (Girls) such as ‘Home- Economics’ should be taught in the school to help them for better future, in the same manner for (Boys) technical skills as a component of education to polish their innate skills and help them to become a respectable bread earner for their families further it can help them in them professional field. (it could be part of the curriculum or TCF could launch a special project).

Secondary school students should be provided with an opportunity of enhancing and developing their English Language profiency, communication skills, ethical values and extra coaching classes by arranging special classes in afternoon.

The research reveals that 99.9% passing out graduates are engaged in clerical jobs and further continuing their studies either in commerce or general group, they find difficult to continue with Science group as their parents can’t afford and financial conditions do not allow them to do so, besides they find difficult to understand the Accounting, and Economics and at the end of the day they give-up studies and adopt the labour.

If TCF provides an option of other groups apart from ‘Science’ then our students will be in a better position to avail the STANDARD CHARTERED bank scholarship. Furthermore , the trend of education is changing, now the economist and the business class easily understand and direly feel the interrelationship of EDUCATION and BUSSSINESS., competent students of BBA and MBA, have market values for flourishing the business.

The restricted dentition policy only for (V and VIII) and not failing the students in any other grades affects the quality of students.

Students should be given job opportunities or make arrangement for their placements for earning.

Students of passing out grade X should be provided with an opportunity of ‘internship’ which will give them experience of practical work and help them to take decision about their carrier

Open up college, and university in different localities.

Hire male teaching staff especially for boys of higher secondary

Offer teaching of Science in English-medium across the grades.

Medical services should also be provided to the students as well as to the people of the locality.

TCF should also keep afternoon shifts for Secondary level students especially for those who are child labours.

Recommendation for TCF School Staff:

TCF should consider about staff in following aspects

Improvise upon salary scale;

Introduce monetary benefits;

Provide substitute teacher to double unit school principals;

Emphasis upon enhancement of subject based knowledge in ‘developmental training’ program;

Introduce ‘Continuous Professional Development’ system/mechanism especially at school level

Arrange separate trainings for school principals to develop them as Academic Leaders’

References:

Alderman, Harold, Peter Orazem and Elizabeth, 2001, School Quality, School Cost and Public / Private School Choices of Low Income, Journal of Human Resources 36 (Spring): 304-326

Andrabi, Tahir, Jishnu Das and Asim Khawaja. 2002. The Rise of Private Schooling in Pakistan: Catering to the Urban Elite or Educating the Rural Poor? Working paper, Harward University, March 21.

Rury, John L. (2002), Education and social change: Themes in history of American education. Mahawah, NJ. Lawrence Erlbaum.

Weick, Kaul. (1976) Educational organization is loosely – coupled system. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21, pg 1-19