Women empowerment plays an important role in the development of the country. The Sindh Education Foundation Government of Sindh’s (SEF) Women’s Literacy and Empower Program (WLEP) envisions ‘the creation of a world that is just, equitable and peaceful in which women are equal partners in determining the direction, and governance of the societies for the benefit of all.’
Learners and teachers of the Women’s Literacy and Empowerment Program attended a certificate distribution ceremony organized by SEF on 30th of November, 2011 at a local hotel in Karachi. A total of 200 participants present on the occasion comprised NGOs, civil society members, government officials, media personnel, educationists and representatives from the corporate sector.
WLEP’s integrated curriculum implemented across the women’s literacy and empowerment centres is aimed at addressing several key areas of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including primary health service, early childhood education, and women’s economic empowerment through teaching and vocational skills. WLEP conducted assessment papers in 23 WLECs; 405 learners attempted the examination out of which 300 learners cleared the exam. The Ceremony saw certificates being handed out to 76 of the 300 qualified learners who have met literacy levels according to the provided curriculum. Additionally 24 learning facilitators from WLEP who have played a key role in implementing the vision of the program and achieving the targets also received certificates.
Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali (Managing Director, SEF) extended heartfelt congratulations on behalf of the Foundation to all the qualified learners and appreciated the efforts of the learning facilitators. Stressing the key role of the Women’s Literacy and Empowerment Program, Prof. Anita shared the challenges faced and also the successes SEF has had in increasing educational access for social and economically marginalized groups in Sindh, particularly the adult women. SEF’s leading educational innovations when it comes to women development and amongst SEF’s various initiatives, WLEP has always been at the forefront in providing opportunities to empower women of low-income communities, she underlined.
Eminent Chief Guest at the Ceremony, Dr. Habiba Hasan, a pediatrician by profession and a women’s rights activist, stated that the commitment and tireless efforts for women empowerment made by the SEF under the guidance and supervision of Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali are to be lauded and without a doubt a boon to this nation. She added that WLEP initiative has not only empowered women and provided them with opportunities unavailable to them before but has also tried to bring a fundamental change in the mindset of people vis-à-vis the equality of women and their crucial role in development of society.
Prof. Rehana Mughni (Program Advisor, SEF) spoke about the latest book ‘Dard Kay Rishtay’, which is the latest addition to SEF’s adult literacy books series. The resource, authored by Prof. Mughni will be used for educating women enrolled in the WLEP. Prof. Mughni highlighted how the adult literacy stories published by SEF facilitate in the development of learners by bringing relevant social issues to limelight and in some cases providing solutions to resolve these for benefiting communities. The stories are sourced from various parts of the Sindh province and collected over years of first-hand interaction with communities at the grassroots. She stated that the stories are a manifestation of the Foundation’s continuous efforts towards developing issue based resource materials for educating adult women learners.
Overview of the Sindh Education Foundation was given to the audience by Ms. Parveen Ghuryani (Sr. Assistant Manager, SEF) highlighting interventions undertaken by the Foundation in the public, private and community schooling sectors. A detailed overview on the adult education initiative was provided by Ms. Zeenat Raza (Coordinator WLEP). She congratulated the marginalized adult women in remote areas who successfully completed the basic literacy component of WLEP and also benefited from skill development courses, health interventions through awareness sessions and health camps (health profiling, screening and vaccination) as well as enhanced their awareness about Early Childhood Development. She said that through the program, job opportunities were created at the grassroots level for facilitators and learners and that it started awareness raising campaigns for the social and political empowerment for women. She was happy to add that registered bodies at grassroots level have been established and that WLEP aided in the CNIC development of over a 1000 women.
Ms. Musarrat Palijo (Manager, SEF) gave a presentation on the Code of Conduct for Employees as set out by the Government’s ‘Sexual Harassment Act 2010’. SEF has translated the code into Urdu and Sindhi languages and provided these to all the staff members and partner communities. The presentation explained the provisions which the employees are expected to observe for creating a congenial working environment.
WLEP remains one of the Foundation’s key interventions aimed at creating opportunities for women at grassroots so that they are equal partners in development. The certificates given to the learners by SEF will enable them for admission in 6th class in formal schools.
