ISLAMABAD: The World Bank plans to finance an education programme of Sindh government with a loan of $100 million to improve the quality of teaching practices and student retention in early-grade primary classrooms in 10 selected districts of the province, it emerged recently.

Appraisal of the “Sindh Early Learning Enhancement through Classroom Transformation” project is expected to start in March this year, while the loan from the International Development Asso-ciation (IDA), a part of the World Bank Group, will be approved by the bank in August this year.

The project proposes to upgrade 900 dilapidated schools in 10 selected districts and includes construction of classrooms, toilets and drinking water facilities.

A World Bank document related to the project says the districts and exact locations of the schools have not been finalised at this stage, but these will be selected based on a set of criteria, including the need for interventions including low-learning outcomes, presence of the minimum capacity for service delivery and gender- and income-based equity considerations.

According to the concept document, almost 50 per cent of the children leave school by grade-5 of primary education, and another 27pc leave the education system during transition from primary to middle schools. Statistics show that there are 44,296 primary schools in Sindh, of which 32,421 schools are classified as functional (73pc). However, 17,696 of these primary schools (40pc) are operating as a single-teacher school. Insufficient basic facilities, such as electricity, water, sanitation and hygiene, are also a widespread issue across more than 34pc of the schools.

Programme envisages upgrade of 900 dilapidated schools in 10 districts

As the ratio of primary schools to elementary schools or middle schools in the government system is 16 to one in Sindh, there is currently very limited space for students in grades six and onwards. This is likely affecting the retention rates in primary schools and transition to grade six.

This limited availability of up-to-date data on student outcomes and progress throughout students’ time at school means that teachers and district and taluka-level officers face great challenges in identifying at-risk students and they often fail in doing so and are consequently unable to provide the support that at-risk students need to stay in school To improve the quality of teaching practices and student retention in early-grade primary classrooms, the project aims to better teachers’ pedagogy (methods, strategies and styles of instruction), increase reading and mathematical competency of grade-three students, improved learning environment and implement a mechanism for reducing students’ early-grade dropout.

Improved teaching will be accompanied by improvements in the physical learning environment of primary schools through the upgrading of large primary schools from grades one to five and elementary schools from grades one to eight, and rehabilitation and upgrading of satellite primary schools i.e. near the upgraded elementary schools.

The project plans to focus on improving students’ basic numeracy and literacy skills through enhanced teaching and assessment practices along with socio-emotional and parental support.

The School Education and Literacy Department (SELD) of Sindh and the Reform Support Unit under the leadership of SELD Secretary will be engaged in this project.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2020