Punjab Government has decided to launch a new project "Non-Formal Primary Education and Functional Literacy for Rural Women in Selected Barani Areas" with the financial assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) form January 2005. Asian Development Bank will provide $400,000 as Administering Technical Assistance to the Government of Pakistan to be financed on a grant basis by the Poverty Reduction Co-operation Fund for this project.
According to an official source, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) strategy in Pakistan gives high priority to human resource development, including literacy and skills development among women. Low levels of literacy among women, especially in the rural areas, have been of particular concern since literacy is a first step in skills development and hence an improved capacity to undertake livelihood activities.
With this in view, consultations on improving literacy levels and basic skills among women were conducted with the Government, local elected officials, and representatives of civil society during the technical assistance (TA) Fact-Finding Mission for the proposed ADB Sustainable Livelihood in Barani Areas Project, Punjab (SLBAP) in May 2003.
A concept paper was prepared, aimed at improving literacy levels and basic skills among women in conjunction with the livelihood opportunities to be provided under the proposed SLBAP. The concept was endorsed for funding by the Poverty Reduction Co-operation Fund at its Fourth Strategy Meeting in January 2004.
To further discuss the scope and implementation arrangements of this TA, a reconnaissance mission was undertaken in June 2004 followed by a Fact-Finding Mission in August. During these missions, detailed discussions were also held with concerned government departments, district government officials, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and development partners experienced in non-formal literacy and skills training education.
At 45 percent, Pakistan has one of the lowest literacy rates in the South Asian region (58 percent for males and 32 percent for females). There were an estimated 49 million illiterates in the country in 1995, out of which 28.4 million were women.
The need for increasing literacy and a realistic emphasis on providing education for all was laid out in the National Education Policy 1998-2010. Basic education, comprising early childhood education, elementary education, and adult literacy, have been assigned top priority in this policy.
The policy provided for non-formal education by emphasising that non-formal systems will be adopted to complement the formal system.
In the Perspective Plan 2001-11, Education For All was assigned a central position in implementing this policy. Education sector reform strategies have been developed and attempts are being made to address the literacy issue down to district level.
Non-formal education for rural women is also an important pillar in the poverty reduction strategy of the Government and of the provincial government of Punjab.
The Government's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper recognises that the incidence of poverty affects women more adversely on account of their weak position and draws attention to the country's high rates of female illiteracy and the 8 million girls out of school.
The Government therefore assigns a high priority to empowerment of women through literacy.
Barani areas in Punjab are areas that do not have access to canal irrigation and are characterised by low economic productivity and a high incidence of poverty. Out of the 10 districts in the proposed SLBAP, four are in the lowest poverty quintile with an estimated 47 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
Sources of livelihood are limited and people are very dependent on agriculture for their food and income.
The goal of the proposed SLBAP is to improve the social and economic well-being of the population in the barani areas. Specifically, the project is aimed at improving the livelihood system of the poor households in the project areas with an emphasis on vulnerable segments of the rural population, including women.
The project approach will include linkages and partnerships among the main stakeholders, such as poor people, through the organisation of groups of poor women and local governments to develop good governance at the grassroots level.
One of the primary constraints to development in the project area is the very low literacy rate, especially among women, which in rural Punjab is only 21 percent, far less than the rate nation-wide.
Accordingly, a dedicated component (Literacy through Skills Training) has been included in the design of the proposed SLBAP aimed at direct poverty reduction by targeting a particularly deprived section of the population, namely poor women and girls.
The activities, supported through extensive community mobilisation, will be aimed at small groups of between 10 and 15 women. Support for group formation and supervision will be financed by SLBAP.
The themes or thrusts on women's literacy were also identified by ADB missions during consultations with the Government, development partners, government agencies, and NGOs involved in nonformal education programmes:
(i) skills training should be an integral part of the functional and literacy programmes, as it is apparent that women are uninterested in literacy alone, and need some economic incentive to participate in literacy programmes;
(ii) the TA should be focused in a few selected unions of the barani districts to test more appropriate delivery processes and produce more impact on the local communities;
(iii) the TA should be carried out through NGOs to help build their capacity as well as to ensure the ownership of the programme by the community;
(iv) establishing a women's literacy resource center under the TA would be an innovative aspect of the Project and would provide future support for district governments for the implementation of nonformal education programmes;
(v) the target area of the TA should be different from the target areas of the programmes implemented by other development partners and the Government.
The total cost of the TA is estimated at $500,000 consisting of $60,000 in foreign cost and $440,000 in local cost.
ADB will finance the entire foreign exchange cost of $60,000 and a portion of the local currency cost amounting to $340,000 for a total of $400,000. The funds will be sourced from the Poverty Reduction Co-operation Fund and will be used for financing international and local consultants, NGO contracts for course material preparation, field staff training, and the field-testing and mass production of training materials.
The balance of the local cost (amounting to $100,000) will be financed by the provincial government of Punjab, primarily in kind and will consist of the provision of office space, venues for workshops and training, space for teacher resource centers, salaries of counterpart staff of DLNE and school teachers, and logistical support for carrying out the baseline and follow-up surveys.
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