Aspects relating to the quality of education being imparted and the existence of a conducive learning environment in the classroom, were assessed along the lines of:  

1)         Pedagogy
2)         Classroom Displays
3)         Teaching Aids
4)         Lesson Planning
5)         Classroom Facilities

An overwhelming majority of teachers had been using the lecture-based method of teaching for most of their teaching careers and continued to conduct their classes in the same manner. The other methods of teaching commonly observed in classrooms were individual work and takhti/slate/copy method. The number of teachers using innovative and recent methods of conducting lessons such as, role play, inquiry based tasks, cooperative learning and group discussions were negligible.

Based on observations by the research team it is easy to see that pedagogical techniques in Sindh are currently not tailored for all children, especially those with different aptitudes and abilities. This is a cause for concern especially in schools for the under-privileged because such children are already under pressure from their families to dropout of school and earn money. Hence when they try and apply themselves in school but do not seem to perform well due to varying interests, they decide to leave school-permanently.

Classroom Displays: In both rural and semi-urban/urban settings researchers witnessed an alarming dearth of displays in classrooms. Artwork, charts or other display material commonly found in affluent private schools was a concept almost alien to the teachers and students of the sample public schools.

Teaching Aids: In line with the trend in frequency of classroom displays, the above table indicates that teaching aids were also observed to be severely lacking in most schools. Data collected from sample schools shows that on an average only about 15% of the schools visited had teaching aids available in classrooms for the benefit of teachers and students, while the rest did not.

 Lesson Planning: When considering the existence of a lesson plan with the sole exception of Karachi, most teachers in the remaining districts - 90% and 80% in Khairpur and Sukkur respectively - worked according to an ordered plan (Graph 5.6). Laxity was observed however, in the maintenance of a written record of lessons. Based on certain indicators the lack of a proper timetable necessarily points towards an absence of planning, prevalence of inconsistency and lack of informed decision making.