Under the Public Sector Development Program, one of the pioneering initiatives taken by the Sindh Education Foundation is the Support to Private Education Institution Programme (SPEIP). SPEIP is striving to transform private schools into dynamic learning spaces for all and is being implemented in 300 private schools in nine districts of Sindh namely Thatta, Badin, Dadu, Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar, Tando Mohommad Khan, Khairpur and Karachi. SPEIP focuses on institutional development and qualityadvancement support to low-cost private and community based schools in areas of teacher’s development, school management and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Since December 2004 SPEIP has been undertaking trainings for teachers and school management bodies of all partner schools in the area of quality advancement. Some of the trainings that were conducted in the last quarter are as follows:

In June 2005 training was conducted for 405 teachers from 135 partner schools. The training was divided into 2 broad themes entitled ‘Teachers as Critical Thinkers’ and ‘Information and Communication Technology in Education.

During the past quarter learning material was also distributed amongst SPEIP partner schools. The learning material comprised books, teaching aids, sporting equipment and teaching aids for katchi to grade 5 of all 300 schools. This resource material distribution was complemented with teacher training workshops for 900 teachers of the same schools. The training titled ‘Diversifying Learning’ revolved around the effective use of these learning materials for diversifying & improving learning within these schools.

In September 2005 training sessions were designed for members of School Management Committees (SMCs) of 300 partner schools. The trainings focused on the following topics: role of school management bodies, effective school culture, resource mobilization and school development planning. The trainings were attended by 900 SMC members.

This quarter SPEIP welcomed 32 new schools in their program from district Karachi. 14 of these schools are working under the QuAID program of the Aga Khan Education Services, Pakistan. 18 other are various private schools based in Karachi. To initiate the intervention, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremonies with new partner schools were held on 5th August 2005 and 6th August 2005 respectively.

The Support to Private Education Institution Programme (SPEIP) is a pioneering initiative taken by the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) under the Public Sector Development Program which is striving to transform private schools into dynamic learning spaces for all. SPEIP focuses on institutional development and quality advancement support to low-cost private and community based schools in areas of teachers’ development, school management and Information & Communication Technology (ICT). SPEIP is being implemented in 300 private educational institutions in Sindh.

One of the areas that SEF provides support to schools that have partnered with SPEIP is that of quality advancement. As a result, SPEIP conducted training workshops to build the capacities of its teachers. These workshops were held between January 17 and February 9, 2005 for 5 districts of Sindh. The participants of these trainings engaged in critical analyses and discussions regarding teachers’ beliefs about education, learning, students, parents, and teachers themselves. The training was divided into two broad themes entitled ‘Teachers as Critical Thinkers’ and ‘Information and Communication Technology in Education’. The beneficiaries of these workshops were 351 teachers from 117 partner schools.

This quarter SPEIP welcomed 50 new schools in their program from district Karachi. 14 of these schools are working under the QuAID program of the Aga Khan Education Services, Pakistan. 36 others are various private schools based in Karachi in Malir, Sachal Goth and Rashidbad towns. To initiate the intervention, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremonies with new partner schools were held in August 2005.