Recognizing the need to improve the quality of education the Government of Pakistan, through its national educational policy (1998-2010), has placed a major thrust on improving the quality of elementary education in order to maintain an essential equilibrium between quantity and quality. As per the national educational policy (1998-2010) the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) in collaboration with the Department of Education & Literacy, Govt. of Sindh has established a Quality Assurance Resource Center (QARC) that aims at developing a quality assurance system in education that will enable support to good schooling and learning practices both in the public & private sector of education.

Quality Assurance Resource Center is striving to establish innovative approaches for the establishment of sustained public-private collaboration to respond to the educational challenges of Pakistan in its present manifestation of social inequity. One of the key features of QARC is the emphasis on the development and improvement of schools’ institutional ability to become ‘learning organizations’ responsible for the dissemination of quality educational services to all segments of the society.

It has been observed that currently no research-based quality assessment framework is practiced in public and private schools. In availability of such a quality assessment framework has not only led to the erosion of public schools but also allowed mushrooming of poor quality schools. QARC will develop a Quality Assurance Certification Program in order to influence educational quality at all levels. Such a program will also empower the parents to assess for themselves the right type and kind of schooling for their children.

Vision:

To develop a Quality Assurance System in education that will enable support to good schooling and learning practices both in public and private sector of education.”

Objectives:

• To develop a Quality Assessment System that will allow merit-based categorization of public, private and community/NGO schools.

• To introduce the concept of Quality Assurance Certification in all schools.

• To provide parents with factual information on quality of schools in order to empower them to select the best kind and type of schooling for their children.

• To introduce quality control mechanisms in all schools and create a justifiable balance between quality of educational service offered by a school and its fee structure.