Stories: INEE Helps in Planning - From Just Planning to Planning Justly - Pakistan

This story was collected as part of INEE's 20th Anniversary commemoration to highlight how education in the midst of crisis and upheaval has made a difference for our members and those they work with (learners, youth, teachers, caregivers, etc.). For more stories, click here.

INEE Helps in Planning:

From Just Planning to Planning Justly

Name: Syed Israr Ali

Organization: Hope '87

Location: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

HOPE’87 is working in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan since 2009. The province has 9.75 million children of school-going age. Of these, 3.16 million are out of school, including 2.02 Girls). 

The training on INEE Standards and EiE guidelines helped me in planning for education in emergencies from a new perspective. As a result, we devised the OOSC (Out of School Children) Enrolment Strategy based on INEE standards and INEE EiE guidelines. The Elementary and Secondary Education Department of the province has approved this strategy. The foundational standards of INEE are the cornerstone of this strategy. This is being achieved through the formation and strengthening of Village Education Committees, Development of Community Action Plan, Participatory Organizational Maturity Mapping (Social Audits), and participation of youth and children in all activities. These activities are helping HOPE’87 to enroll and retain at least 164,495 children (50% Girls).

This OOSC Enrolment Strategy calls for door-to-door visits for enrolment of all without any discrimination. All those left out from education are being covered. Equal access is being promoted by the establishment of 850 community-based Girls Community Schools. Feasibility, resource mapping, community contribution, and participatory monitoring are being ensured through active community participation. Girls and child-friendly school policies are being designed with active community participation and women representation on parent-teacher committees have been ensured.  

Children, as an age group with special needs and vulnerabilities, are at the center of this strategy. The action works through three levels; the first level is the community through education committees for the assessment, design, planning and implementation phases This is being complemented by social audits. The second level is the community schools where child-friendly policies are being developed and implemented and the third level is the engagement of government stakeholders for planning for EiE.

The training on INEE Standards and EiE guidelines has changed my way of planning EiE response. I have learned to plan EiE smartly, robustly, and justly. 
 

The views expressed in this blog are the author's own.