In Chitral, the farthest most district of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in northern Pakistan, a sea change of transformational teaching and learning is happening.

In 2016, the Aga Khan Foundation’s School Improvement Programme (SIP) began in select schools in Pakistan’s mountainous northern region. Now the programme is being implemented in over 270 government and community schools in 10 valleys in Gilgit-Baltistan and 6 in Chitral.

SIP focuses on improving children’s learning outcomes by strengthening the capacity of all stakeholders to support them. One central part of the programme builds the capacity of teachers to transform their classrooms into engaging environments that spark students’ curiosity and passion for learning.

TEACHERS AS CHANGE AGENTS

As part of SIP, teachers receive training on instructional leadership, school development planning, early childhood education and development, the Reading for Children programme, multi-grade teaching, and education communities of practice. These teachers then train peers at their home schools on what they learned and form clusters across neighbouring primary and secondary schools to share best practices. This has had a profound impact on how teachers deliver lessons and how students receive them.

“Before, it was very boring for students,” one teacher from the very remote Khot Valley says frankly, referring to the prior instructional style that relied on rote memorization. “Some students stopped coming to school. Now we are using various materials and classrooms have become interactive places for students to learn.”

Because of this, she says, students are inventing concepts and being creative. Shy students who would recede to the back of the classroom are now taking centre stage and speaking up boldly. Finding what interests these children and making that connection to the lesson at hand is a key way to engage them.

“We don’t only rely on the textbooks now,” says Jafar Saib, a teacher and lead member of the Quality Assurance Team in Chitral. “We use newspapers, internet, and other sources. Now we know how to channel our energies. Before we were not engaging, and now we are fully engaging. Nobody asked us about our teaching before. Now we are being asked about our challenges and problems—and being given guidance and feedback.”

He speaks proudly of the work he does alongside his colleagues, working together to solve problems jointly. As a lead teacher-trainer with direct access to the Professional Development Centre, Chitral (PDCC), he has even helped inexperienced teachers become better equipped to teach in subject areas outside his own expertise:

“I visited a school [in my cluster] and a very young teacher was struggling with Maths. I’m not an expert in Maths, so I went to PDCC and they gave me the tools to help her.”

In addition to promoting peer-to-peer learning, one of SIP’s greatest strengths is its ability to tap into core motivations of teachers to engage and empower them to be true champions of educational change. Many of them note that teaching is now enjoyable. One likens the joys of teaching to nurturing a plant:

“It is like a seed. If it grows, you are happy. If it doesn’t grow, you are not happy,” she says. “When the student understands the concept, it is a pleasurable moment for the teacher.”

TEACHERS IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT

In Garam Chasma (“hot springs”), Shanila Parveen is at the frontlines of the educational transformation sparked by SIP. She is the sole teacher at a primary school. Every day, she walks 3 hours to school—and three hours home—to ensure that her students get a quality education. Through support and training from AKF, she helped start the early childhood development centre in her school and mobilized mothers to help her lead the classes.

Shanila notes the recharged energy in her students, thanks to both her new tactics and the physical change in the school. Before SIP, her school did not have carpet or decorations. Now its floors are carpeted with walls covered in colourful drawings. But the true driver of change is her new teaching skills and the renewed motivation she has to apply them.

“SIP has given me direction to work hard and manage multiple grades,” Shanila says. “Other teachers are saying, ‘How can we do this? How can we manage multiple classes plus ECD?’ But it is possible, with the right tools, training, and support.”

The mothers of the school note a change, too, and credit it to both SIP and the efforts of Shanila.

“Now, my child comes home and tells me everything the teacher does. She is excited to talk about her teacher now,” one mother says. “The teacher’s motivation inspires us to take part.”

Another mother underscores the importance of having committed, engaged teachers in her children’s school: “We can’t afford other schools. If the government provides us with motivated teachers, it changes the entire quality of the school. We want quality in all the government schools.”

And now that SIP is being implemented, parents feel that their children are truly receiving high quality education. Other parents in Garam Chasma have taken note of this shift, too, with some parents even deciding to move their children from private schools to the SIP-support government school.

“I moved my child from private school to here because I know what’s happening here,” one mother says. “I can observe the libraries and the ECD classroom. I am so happy with my children’s progress, and the teacher’s motivation.”

SIP promotes professionalism in schools and creates a space for teachers to talk politics and discuss local goings-on. This has had ripple effects in the valley.

“We’ve gained respect in society,” one teacher says. “Before training, community was not interested in government schools—there was a preference for private education. Now the community is involved in school learning.” He cites that 15 students have come from private school to his SIP-supported government school.

TOWARD IMPROVING MORE SCHOOLS

The SIP approach is rooted in the belief that all members of a school community—from parents and teachers to government officials—can make tangible contributions to improve learning outcomes for children. And while SIP has seen early success in the schools where it has been implemented, many schools are still left behind. As of 2018, only 21.5% of the primary, middle, and high schools in Chitral are SIP-supported. Yet the desire for expansion is there. One SIP teacher explains:

“Many people from outside schools, including private schools, have approached us saying, ‘Just tell me how this model works.’ Seeing the increased enthusiasm of the teachers and the interaction of parents—they want to be a part of it.”

With SIP’s ability to harness the strengths of the local community, build the capacity of teachers, and enrich the lives of children and families, the hope is to spread the message to those schools and settings left in the dark. So that people across all of northern Pakistan—no matter their background or setting—can be champions of educational change.