Our Projects
Ibtida has identified projects in Pakistan that fall within the purview of its mission. These projects lay emphasis not on charitable but on quality, secular primary education.
Our current projects include:
- Nilore Junior Model School (Nilore)
- Mansehra Junior Model School (NWFP)
- Landi Arbab Primary School for Girls (NWFP)
- Schools in Rural Sindh (Sindh)
All of these projects are run as non-profit schools.
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Nilore Junior Model School
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.
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Mansehra Junior Model School
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.
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Landi Arbab Primary School for Girls
Landi Arbab Primary, an all girls school, was started in September 2002 in Landi Arbab. Landi Arbab, a suburb of Peshawar in the North-West Frontier Province, has a population of 70,000 (excluding Afghan refugees). There is only one government primary school serving this entire population.
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.
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Schools in Rural Sindh
Ibtida has adopted a cluster of 3 girls’ schools in rural Sindh.
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 Khanott, 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.)
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