Islamabad : United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with Sindh government has completed and handed over 47 schools out of 118 to School Education & Literacy Department (SE&LD). Rests of the schools are on different stages of construction.
Sindh Basic Education Program (SBEP) is a five year of worth $159.5 million was initiated by USAID in collaboration with Sindh government.
Government of Sindh is contributing additional $10 million in this program and is working collectively with USAID to improve quality and access to education for the children of Sindh in primary, middle and secondary schools.
The project is being implemented in seven districts of northern Sindh including Dadu, Kamber Shahdadkot, Larkana, Kashmore, Jacobabad, Sukkur and Khairpur district and five towns of Karachi including Bin Qasim, Gadap, Kemari, Lyari and Orangi. The project is now being extended to two more districts i.e. Shikarpur and Ghotki. By doing so, the entire northern Districts of Sindh province will be covered by SBEP and it will add additional 12 state-of-the-art schools to the exiting 106, thus making the total to 118.
The program is supporting construction of 118 schools affected by the catastrophic 2010 floods and the Sindh government’s policy of consolidating, merging and upgrading schools throughout the province.
Out of 400 schools in Sindh, 118 new schools will be constructed and the remaining 280 will be merged under a streamlined for structure to improve the efficiency and performance of the schools. 280 schools have already been identified by the Program for merging and consolidation.
The overall mission is to increase and sustain enrolment of young students in primary, middle and secondary schools in targeted districts in Sindh by developing a school environment favourable to teaching and learning. The construction of these schools with the necessary provision of facilities shall invariably increase the enrolment of students.
Sindh Basic Education Program is also supporting the Department of Education with the education reforms including Establishing Teacher Licensing and Certification, Strengthening the Education Management Information System including GIS, Strengthening education budgeting systems at the provincial and district level, Developing District Education Plans, Coordination and synchronization reform implementation, Strengthening school management and administration and capacity building of PMIU.
USAID in collaboration with the Education and Literacy Department, Government of Sindh aims to re-construct up to 106 schools and improve the quality of education and community involvement in additional 280 neighbouring schools under the Sindh Basic Education Programme. As part of this program, USAID is supporting the Government of Sindh in conducting a feasibility study to explore possible PPP opportunities for SBEP schools.
An Education Management Organisation (EMO) System has been launched under the project, which is providing technical assistance to Education and Literacy Department, Government of Sindh for constructing legal frameworks for EMOs.
Local community is also supporting the project and has donated land of worth Rs49.4 million by private landowners for 20 government schools in Khairpur, Sukkur, Larkana and Dadu districts.