Daily Times

Annabel Gerry, Development Director at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) UK in Pakistan took stock of the ‘Siyani Sahelian’ second chance programme for girls’ education, being implemented by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) with the support of FCDO UK and in collaboration with the Government of Punjab.

Michael Houlgate, British Council Area Director for Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, and Amna Khan, Provincial Representative and Social Development Adviser, FCDO Pakistan also accompanied Gerry on the visit.

The Siyani Sahelian programme aims to tackle gender inequality for disadvantaged out of school adolescent girls (aged 9-19) in three districts of South Punjab – Muzaffargarh, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan. The visiting dignitaries witnessed the entire programme interventions with holistic inter-sectoral approach and innovative partnerships, and interacted with the beneficiaries.

Speaking on the occasion, Gerry said, “The UK is committed to ensuring girls have access to 12 years of quality education. “I am very proud to see how UK support has enabled 20,000 out of school girls to return to school through the Siyani Sahelian programme,” she added.

“We can’t end poverty without gender equality. That’s why girls’ education is central to the UK’s drive to tackle poverty and boost economic growth,” Gerry further said.

The programme combines accelerated academics with ICTs, health, menstrual hygiene, life skills, digital skills, vocational training, entrepreneurship and economic empowerment, being provided with the help of knowledge partners like SOC films, Her Ground and Edkasa. More recently, ITA has partnered with British Council and CIRCLE to provide the adolescent girls with English language and digital skills. British Council’s English and Digital for Girls’ Education (EDGE) project is working to enhance the English proficiency, digital skills and awareness of social issues of some 300 adolescent girls across Punjab while CIRCLE is training 100 students on basic digital literacy and WordPress to equip them with marketable demand driven tech skills.

Shedding light on British Council’s EDGE Project, Houlgate said the project aims to improve the English language and digital literacy skills of adolescent girls who risk dropping out of the education system. “The girls meet in EDGE clubs, safe spaces in community centres near their home and work together on specially created material which incorporates English, digital tasks and discussions on social awareness. There is no teacher but peer group leaders, girls of similar age with good leadership skills facilitate the sessions, and apart from learning new skills the girls have the opportunity to become more confident and build up their self-esteem,” he explained.

The 250 girls at Siyani Sahelian Bahawalpur hub were delighted to have visitors come and ask them questions on English, Science, Urdu and Maths apart from life skills and vocational skills. They shared their future plans and also their struggles in life – with the brightest of faces. They were full of hope and with wonderful placards asked for their rights to education, empowerment, protection, health, environment and more.

ITA CEO Baela Raza Jamil said, “Gender Equality can only begin with Girls’ Education and with ALL girls learning 21st century life skills, including positive opportunities to learn and use digital and STEM education in their daily lives.”

She added that Second Chance programmes have been a high-impact and low-cost inclusive investment for vulnerable girls who have suffered premature withdrawal from schools, early marriages and disabilities but they can achieve everything through such an ambitious accelerated programme that has so far reached 36,000 adolescent girls in remote areas of South Punjab.

“We need to Build Back Better during and post Covid-19, keeping girls’ education in the forefront,” Jamil said, adding, “Girls truly hold half the sky even in difficult times.”