Advocacy forum for education stressed

In a bid to bring together all the stakeholders in the field of education, the Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) on Monday organised a one day Education Policy Forum Orientation Workshop. Aimed at avoiding duplications and supplementing each other's work, the workshop stressed the need for forming an advocacy forum for the promotion of education in the province.
Representatives of different NGOs, teachers and officials of education department attended the workshop. The workshop decided that an advocacy forum would be finally launched after extensive discussions among and within the concerned organisation and a date for which would be announced soon. Earlier, Sajila Sohail, programme Manager of Social Sector and gender issues, highlighted the works done by the SRSP in different areas of NWFP.
The Sarhad Rural Support (SRSP) has been working for socio-economic uplift of the remote rural areas of 14 districts of the NWFP since 1989. She said that SRSP's expertise lies in social mobilisation and particularly development, which has proved to be a very successful vehicle to promote primary education in the rural areas. An example of this, she said, is the successful implementation of community-based schools in the field.
She informed that the SRSP started its education programme in 1997 with the establishment of 29 community-based schools in Mansehra, Battagram, Kohat, Karak and Hangu with the assistance SAPI/PDP. When the project ended after two years, it was realised that further capacity building was required for the schools so as to strengthen them technically and financially.
She said that in 2004, the project was re-initiated with its replication in other programme areas with 40 schools in different district including Peshawar, Nowshera, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram and Chitral.
Thus, through this project, SRSP has been successful in developing a masters cadre of 82 teachers (31 men and 51 women); 420 village education committee members and over 3000 students. The SRSP successfully completed several education projects in Dir Upper, she said, adding, the education programme of the SRSP gained more vigour after the earthquake disaster, as the organisation promptly responded to the challenges emerged in the targeted areas.