These schools were set up approximately 3 years ago but despite the community’s interest, were struggling with the quality of education, teacher training, resources, infrastructure and a lack of funding. Given the immense interest of the community in educating their children and the number of students already enrolled in the schools, Ibtida in collaboration with the Indus Resource Center (IRC) agreed to adopt the schools.

The goals of the schools will be accomplished in phases. Phase I will consist of the following:

+ Improvement of overall quality of teaching in the school
+ Teacher training
+ Reducing the student-to-teacher ratio
+ Improving infrastructure so students can have an environment where joyful learning is possible
+ Minimize the drop-out rate

As with all other Ibtida supported projects, there will be an emphasis on gender equality; health and hygiene; environment awareness; and human rights education.

The schools are located in district Dadu, along the Super Highway in Khanote, Habib Morr, and Manzoorabad. These are rural communities, where the average household has 7 to 10 members. Most of the children’s parents work for daily wages (approximately $3 per day.)

View our other projects: Nilore | Mansehra | Landi Arbab

Mansehra Junior Model School was started in April 1999 in Mansehra with 2 teachers and 30 children ranging in age from 5 to 12 years.

Mansehra, with a population of approximately half a million people, has several private and government schools. However, the quality of education offered at the government schools is quite poor. The private schools are better managed and offer relatively better quality education, but they are too expensive and beyond the reach of the lower income population.

Mansehra Junior Model School caters to children from low income groups and provides them with an alternative to the poor quality government schools and the expensive private schools. The school is housed in a custom-built building that has a playground, a move that took place in Fall 2004. Uniform, textbooks and stationery are provided free of cost to the children.

As at the Nilore School, there is an emphasis on subjects such as art, an awareness of the environment, and personal hygiene and safety. The subjects that are taught include math, science, Urdu, English and social studies.

View our other projects: Nilore | Landi Arbab | Sindh

Landi Arbab primary was started with a single kindergarten class of 30 girls, ranging in age from 5 to 8 years. Prior to this, none of these girls had ever been enrolled in any educational institution.

The girls received 6 weeks of orientation/training for general awareness about cleanliness, etiquette, and manners prior to formal learning. The teacher used a child-centered teaching methodology and an activity-oriented approach, thus discouraging rote learning.

As of November 2007, 139 girls were enrolled in the school.

Ibtida started this school and worked with it for almost 3 years. In 2007, the school was successfully turned over to the local community who with the help of a local NGO is operating the school. Currently, Ibtida does not provide any financial assistance to the school.

View our other projects: Nilore | Mansehra | Sindh

Nilore Junior Model School was established in March 1999 in a small village, 25 km east of Islamabad, Pakistan.

The school was started with 19 children - 11 boys and 8 girls ranging in age from 5-11 years. As there were no schools in Nilore at the time, most of the children were illiterate while one or two had attended religious seminaries (madrassas).

As of 2008, more than 200 children are enrolled in the school; 14 children from the original group of students are now in Grade 9. There are a total of twelve teachers, all of whom were hired from the village. The school is currently housed in a purpose built building.

The school’s curriculum has incorporated new concepts such as art as a subject, human rights, environmental awareness, and personal hygiene and safety. Subjects taught in the school include include math, science, Urdu, English and social studies.

View our other projects: Mansehra | Landi Arbab | Sindh

Nancy Riffer, Director
New York, NY

Saud Anwar, Director
Connecticut

S.M. Jilani, Director
Marina Del Ray, CA

Rafia Zakariya, Secretary
Bloomington, IN

Salman Halim, Webmaster
New Jersey

PAACT
Connecticut, USA

ADP
Massacheussetts, USA

Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School
Massacheussetts, USA

2006: Federal Tax Returns
2005: Federal Tax Returns
2004: Federal Tax Returns

+ The overall literacy rate in Pakistan stands at 28%. For males, the rate is 39%. For females, it is 25%.

+ Pakistan spends less than 2.5% of its GDP on education, a level well below the 5% minimum recommended by UNESCO.

+ Despite the government’s claim to fight literacy, 10 million children of primary school-going age are not enrolled in any educational institution.

+ More than 50% of children enrolled in schools drop out before they reach 5th grade.

+ In 1990, for every 100 girls of primary school age, only 30 attended school. Among girls of secondary school age, only 13 were enrolled in school. Among girls of the third level (grades nine and ten), only 1.5 out of 100 were in school. Despite these harrowing statistics, Pakistan has never had a systematic, nationally coordinated effort to improve female primary education.

+ The disparity between rural and urban areas is even more marked. In 1981, only 7% of women in rural areas were literate, compared with 35% in urban areas. Among men, these rates were 27% and 57% respectively.

+ Pakistan ranks second among the countries of the world with the highest number of out-of-school children, second only to Nigeria.

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Statistics and information from the Asian Development Bank and Dawn

The fifth grade of Khanote School in Sindh has become a partner classroom with the Baldwin School, Pennsylvania, through Girls Learn International - a non-profit learning initiative, involving American school students in the international effort for universal girls’ education. Both Baldwin and the Khanote School are all-girls schools. As part of Girls Learn International, American students will engage in a variety of educational, communication, advocacy, and outreach projects on behalf of the Khanote School.

This past December, the Baldwin chapter’s 17 members held a very successful fundraiser. They baked, decorated and sold Gingerbread girls, and raised over $200 to send to their Partner Classroom.

The members also completed their first Cultural Exchange Project. The students mapped out their lives by compiling a colorful scrapbook, including photos of life at Baldwin.

The Baldwin Chapter has set out on a great start and we at Ibtida anticipate that this partnership will promote cultural understanding and strengthen the values of peace and pluralism that we promote.

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A Science Lab for Nilore

Ibtida, in conjunction with the Association for Development of Pakistan - a Boston-based non-profit organization, has established a science lab in Nilore Model School.

The science lab will be used to teach Physics, Chemistry and Biology experiments to students in Grades 6-10. Experiments will be tailored specifically for the appropriate grade level and will be supplemented with other experiments not included in the current science curriculum.

Setting up a science lab at Nilore Model School is crucial in promoting concept-based science learning, which takes students away from rote memorization, prevalent in schools without science labs.

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New Pakistani Children’s Magazine

When two of Alice MClerran’s picture books were translated into Urdu and published by the BookGroup, a Pakistani non-profit educational organization, she found a friend in their translator, Amra Alam. Their email exchanges continued as Amra became editor of a new children’s magazine in Pakistan, Suntra.

Amra has now translated 3 of Alice’s stories for Suntra, sending her friend sample issues as the stories appeared. Recognizing the value of an attractive and affordable magazine could have for students in our schools, Alice has donated funds that allow ibtida to provide each of the 3 schools with 15 year-long subscriptions.

We’re thrilled with Alice’s generous donation and hope it’ll be possible to keep the issues coming in future years.

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Donate

Your contributions are 100% tax deductible and go a long way in helping educate these children.

+ $45 - The cost of one year of basic education for one child.
+ $500 - The cost to pay for a child’s entire education through Grade 5.
+ $3,000 - The cost of sponsoring an entire school of 60 children for one year.

Many companies offer a matching gift program for donations. Please contact your company’s Human Resources department for details. Your donation could be doubled or tripled.

To make a donation by mail, please send a check to:

Ibtida
108 Arch Street #701
Philadelphia, PA 19106

A receipt for your donation will be mailed to you.

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Adopt a Project

Our schools and projects continue to expand. There are needs that have to be fulfilled including computer labs, libraries, and training programs.

We often connect supporters with specific projects for which they raise funds. The supporters can choose to dedicate specific projects and can play an active part in the growth of our schools.

To learn more, please email us.

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Subscribe To Our Newsletter

We send out a bi-annual newsletter detailing our progress to anyone interested in the work and development of Ibtida.

To receive our newsletter by email or regular mail, please email us.

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Volunteer

Ibtida relies on the dedication of its friends to continue to serve its mission. On your next visit to Pakistan, you can volunteer to work and teach at one of our schools.

To learn more, please email us.

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