PAKISTAN ALLIANCE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD |
Volume 14| Januray-March, 2022 |
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Greetings from PAFEC!
Year 2021 was the year of recovery and reflection after dealing with the COVID-19 Pandemic and learning to manage its fallout. The highlights of the review year include successfully implementing the ECD workforce development programme in collaboration with major public universities and teacher training colleges and initiating a series of workshops on the promotion of positive parenting. PAFEC welcomed 2022 with even more exciting initiatives. These initiatives include signing a contract with the National Institute of Banking & Finance (NIBAF) to integrate Financial Literacy into the National Curriculum from grades 1 – 12 and reaching out to around 100, 000 students across the country through training teachers on basic concepts of Financial Literacy. This newsletter brings you updates of the first quarter of 2022 on the above initiatives and many more.
Enjoy reading the newsletter and give us your feedback to improve it.
Happy Reading and Stay Safe!
Khadija Khan
Chief Executive Officer
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As part of the ECD workforce development mandate, Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood (PAFEC), designed and initiated an online certificate course on Early Childhood Development from June 2021 onwards. The course has been offered to three cohorts so far. Cohort 3 course began on Thursday 20th January, 2022 in which around 160 students participated. The participants included faculty members and students of PAFEC partner public universities, and teacher training colleges (Allama Iqbal Open University, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Lahore College for Women University, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University Peshawar, Sukkur IBA University, The Institute of Early Childhood Education and Development, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology, University of Swabi & The Women University Multan, Pakistan) and independent ECD practitioners. This certificate course has been designed considering the needs of ECD teachers, parents, aspirants, caregivers, researchers, and entrepreneurs to develop foundational understanding of Early Childhood Development among them.
The course encompasses early development, learning and care with a particular focus on discovering connections between theory, research, policy, and professional practice. The course aims to provide a clear understanding of the holistic development of a child’s social, emotional, cognitive, language and physical needs in order to build a solid and broad foundation for lifelong learning, optimal development, and wellbeing. More specifically, the course focuses on phases/stages of child development, significance of 1st 1000 days, factors affecting brain development, milestones, positive and playful parenting, the Single National Curriculum Framework on Early Childhood Care & Education, global best practices in ECD, Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on Goal 4.2, Nurturing Care Framework, UN Conventions on the Rights of the Children (with a focus on the four principles, i.e., best interest of a child, non-discrimination, survival & development, and participation) and health, nutrition standards for children between the ages of Zero to eight, landscape of ECD in Pakistan, rationale for early investment and proposed ECD/ECCE programme for Pakistan.
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Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood (PAFEC) signed a contract with the National Institute of Banking & Finance(NIBAF) to integrate Financial Literacy into the National Curriculum for Primary Level Education (Grade 1-5) and for Secondary Level Education (Grade 6-12). In addition to integrating Financial Literacy into the curriculum, PAFEC will also be responsible to reach out to 95000 students across the country through training teachers on Financial Literacy concepts. These project are part of the State Bank’s National Financial Literacy Programme for Youth’ (NFLP-Y). PAFEC won these projects through a highly competitive bidding process.
PAFEC is currently executing these projects through its technical team, comprised of competent technical individuals with vast experience of developing educational policies, curriculum, and capacity building of practitioners in the field of education and financial literacy. Given the vast experience of the team in this sector, PAFEC and NIBAF will jointly achieve the targets of the project successfully which will ultimately serve the purpose of educating the future generation of Pakistan in financial literacy.
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Contract Signing with National Institute of Banking & Finance(NIBAF)
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Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood and POWER FM 99 Islamabad jointly designed a radio programme, consisting of 12 episodes, titled as “Corona aur Hamari Zindgiyan”. Radio plays an important role in creating awareness among masses on social issues and providing educational opportunities for learners. The different episodes of the programme focused on various issues related to child rights, violence against children, impact of psychological and emotional health of parents/caregivers, positive parenting and its impact on child upbringing, online education and screen time and its implications for children, inclusive educational programme, education sector reforms during corona and issues of early childhood development practitioners. The programme was hosted by Dr. Fahad Abbasi, while eminent child rights’ activists, experts of early childhood development, health professionals and academicians were invited as guest speakers in different episodes. Below are key details about each episode:
First episode of the programme was on the impact of COVID-19 on Children’s Health; the discussion focused on the effects of COVID-19 on children’s health, the complications it has created and how parents can take care of their children. Dr. Naeem Zafar was the guest speaker who is a pediatrician and is the president of PAHCHAAN, an NGO which works for child rights and protection. He said that though the pandemic did not impact young children in terms of infection that much but since it disrupted the health and welfare services including Immunization, and Lady Health Workers’ visit due to which children became more vulnerable. Those children who had previous chronic illnesses and low immunity were impacted and children who were born during the pandemic got many adverse health results, he said. Moreover, he said the pandemic impacted the development and mental health of children because of the isolation and lack of adequate food and care.
Second episode was on Violence Against Children; the discussion focused on the increase of violence against children during the pandemic and how the cases were dealt. Akhter Syed who is a national coordinator for Child Rights Movement was invited as guest speaker. He explained the overall situation of violence against children in Pakistan and specifically talked about the different forms of violence children faced during COVID-19. He emphasized on parental awareness and support mechanisms to address this issue.
Third episode of the programme focused on the stress and anxiety created by the pandemic and how it impacted everyone. Dr.Bashir Hussain Shah who was the guest speaker of this episode, said that the sudden disruption of routines of children & parents and the fear of the pandemic created stress and anxiety. At the beginning, he said, people, especially children and elderly people found it very difficult to cope with the situation which created more problems for them, however, gradually they became aware of the issues and started finding solutions. The government and private sector initiated online schooling, health services and awareness raising on the issues related to the pandemic which benefited people.
Forth episode of the programme focused on Child Sexual Abuse and Prevention. Baber Bashir, the Executive Director, Rozan was the guest speaker. He said that child sexual abuse had not only increased in Pakistan during the pandemic but globally the number of cases had increased significantly. The situation in Pakistan was alarming even before the pandemic as every day 10 children were and are sexually abused in country, he said. Children, he said face more physical and emotional violence at home by their extended family members and in some cases by their immediate family members. He shared tips to teach children how to protect themselves and emphasized on parental education to prevent this issue. Referring to child protection laws, he said that necessary laws exist but their implementation is not effective, and moreover, parents and society are not aware of such laws. The need he said is that parents should be made aware of the laws, protection mechanisms available for child protection in the country.
Fifth episode of the programme was on Positive Parenting Skills and the impact on child development. Arooj Saqib, a parental education expert and educationist was the guest speaker. She talked about the different ingredients of positive parenting and how parents can learn the required skills. She said that becoming parents does not mean to bringing a child into this world only; the responsibility is much more than this. It is a life-long journey of relationships, responsibilities, full of delicacies, challenges and rewards which all the parents, both mother and father need to fully understand, she said.
Sixth episode of the programme was on Screen Time and Developmental Delays in Children.
Dr. Shahzad Mithani an educational policy and child protection expert with Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood was the guest speaker. Talking on the topic he said that the pandemic changed the life styles that we were used to in Pakistan. Due to the lockdowns and online education, children even younger ones started using mobile phones and other gadgets. Previously, he said, parents were reluctant to give mobiles to young children but during COVID-19, physical activities decreased and the use of screen was significantly increased. Referring to research he said that the amount of time one spends on these gadgets impacts the overall health and lifestyle of that individual. Since young children’s brains are fragile and more prone to get affected by the dangers of screen, therefore, it is not recommended to show more than 30minute screen to children from age 5 to 12years of age and zero screen time for children less than 5 year olds. However, he said parents are not aware of the disadvantages of screen time, hence they leave their children in front of screen for unlimited hours and unmonitored which need to change.
Seventh episode of the programme was on the problems faced by the education sector during COVID-19. Muhammad Rafique Tahir, former Joint Educational Advisor, the Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training was the guest speaker. Discussing the issues caused to the education sector by the pandemic, Rafique Tahir said that the country was already grappling with the issue of out of school children and poor learning outcomes and the pandemic added more miseries to this situation. Due to the closure of schools for almost two years, students lost their precious time leading to more learning gaps and pushing more students, especially girls out of school, he said. The government was not able to preempt the situation at the beginning as the infrastructure, teachers, students, and parents were not ready for online and blended learning models, he added. However, with the support from private sector, the government launched tele-taleem and programmes on radio to reach out to the maximum student population in the country, and the private sector offered online education to ensure continuity of learning, he said.
Eight episode of the programme was on Inclusive Programming for Children with Disabilities. Zulqarnain Asgher who is first blind psychologist and also president of Potohar Mental Health Association was the guest speaker. He said that the pandemic impacted persons with disabilities and children more than other segments of the population. He highlighted in detail the issues faced by the disable people and especially by the disable children due to the disruption in the services, inadequate infrastructure and lack of inclusive progarmmes to address the needs during the emergency situation. He said that there are some inclusive programmes running in the country but the need is to develop more focused and coordinated inclusive programmes for normal as well as emergency situation.
Ninth episode of the programme was on Balanced diet for Children During the Pandemic and beyond. Badar Uzaman, Programme Officer, SUN Secretariat was the guest speaker. He said that people are generally not aware about balance diet and the importance of nutrition, especially for the development of children. During COVID-19, he said children of low income families suffered because of the shortage of food, job losses and lockdowns. He talked about the importance of healthy food and healthy life styles which are the requirements of all human beings. He said that people, especially parents should be given awareness about balanced diet which includes fats, minerals, proteins, vitamins and carbohydrates and its importance for healthiness.
Tenth episode of the programme was on Learning Losses during COVID-19. Khadija Khan, Chief Executive Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood was the guest speaker. Initiating the discussion on the topic, she said that COVID-19 has burdened common people including students and parents in different ways. Referring to the surveys conducted by UNESCO & UNICEF on learning losses, she said that students have lost several years of learning due to the school closures in just less than two years’ time and the students’ attitude towards learning has changed. The real problem she said is neither children, nor parents are aware of these issues and they do not realize how these learning losses, educational delays impact the overall capacity, capability and intellect of students in the long run. This will have far reaching effects on study behavior among students she said. Talking about solutions she said that it is important to devise strategies with the involvement of parents, using blended and creative solutions to address the learning gaps, especially among young children.
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Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood conducted its 9th meeting of the Board of Directors (BoDs) on Tuesday, 16 February, 2021, virtually. The meeting began with the verses from the Holy Quran, followed by introduction of the participants and approval of minutes of the 8th Board Meeting. The meeting was attended by seven Board Members and PAFEC staff. The agenda of the meeting included legal matters of PAFEC, activities and progress being made since the inception of the Alliance, challenges faced during COVID-19, key features of PAFEC, future progarmmes and partnership. Moving forward the Board approved Income & Expenditure Report 2021, Annual Budget 2022 and formed two committees, i.e. Technical Committee and Finance & Audit Committee. The meeting concluded with a discussion on the existing financial standing of PAFEC, source of funding and future strategy for sustainability. |
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Board of Directors' Meeting |
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Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood initiated a series of workshops on Promoting Positive Parenting Practices in collaboration with Pahchaan and Child Rights Group, Pakistan Pediatric Association. The first workshop of this series held on December 10, 2021 in Islamabad and the second workshop took place in Lahore on March 10, 2022. Dr. Tufail Muhammad, Chairman CRG-PPA, welcomed the participants and Ms. Khadija Khan, Chief Executive Officer, Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood, shared the objectives and background of the workshop. Dr. Nausheen Hamid, Parliamentary Secretary Health, graced the occasion as a chief guest.
The workshop consisted of panel talks, keynote speeches, and a question and answer session. The workshop concluded after a detailed discussion on the questions asked by the participants and sharing a set of key recommendation, mentioned below. Renowned key professionals and experts in the field of Early Childhood Development, health, child protection and early learning and parental education were part of the panel. The key topics covered in the panel talk included Child Protection, Safeguarding, Inclusive Practices of Upbringing Children, Age-Appropriate Developmental Requirements of Children, Importance of 1st 1000days, Responsive Parenting and Recognizing Danger Signs and Taking Timely Action, Positive Parenting Practices, Developing Book-bonding, Mental Health and Well-being of Parents During COVID-19 and its Impact on Child Development and Digital Influences, Impact of Screen time on Child Development & Safeguarding and Parental Responsibilities. The keynote speakers talked on Positive Parenting Practices and models implemented elsewhere and Helping Families Overcome Difficulties in Raising Young Children. Concluding the workshop, Dr Naeem Zafar presented the following recommendations:
Develop multi-sector policy and programmes to promote parenting guidance and support with a focus on stimulation and early learning, responsive care, and safe environments free from all forms of abuse, exploitation, neglect, and discrimination.
- Empower families and other significant caregivers with time, knowledge, resources, services, and skills to provide nurturing care for their young children.
- Professionalize Early Childhood Development(ECD) sector in Pakistan by developing high quality trained workforce (parents, caregivers, families, individual ECD practitioners, and policy makers)
- Government and Donors should fund research projects, focused on developing guidelines for policy makers and programme administrators and managers on how to scale up effective parenting programmes as widely and rapidly as possible.
- The research should take in to account organizations, programme and system level factors as well as quality improvement. Support for scaling up the programmes developed through this research might include cost tools, measurement toolkits, and implementation guidelines.
- Parents support groups under the supervision of public private partnerships need to be formed at district and tehsil level so that the message of positive parenting can reach to the grassroots.
- Parental Education should be made mandatory and packages for parents should be developed by ECD experts and offered across the board; without parent involvement early years upbringing cannot be successful, for that educating parents is a must.
- Government should support communities to provide ECD services to children and parents from conception – 3 through establishing community-based ECD centers in common places and dedicating ECD sections in hospitals and with basic health units
- Mothers are required to be a part of the early years training; therefore, all centers must have the facility to accommodate mothers coming with children at least for beginning few months
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Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood(PAFEC) held a certificate distribution ceremony for the students of Lahore College for Women University who successfully completed the second and third cohort of the online certificate course on Early Childhood Development-The Promise of Endless Opportunities. The certificate distribution ceremony was held at the Lahore College for Women University on 9th March 2022. Prof. Dr. Bushra Mirza, Vice-Chancellor of the University, Mr. Muhammad Rafique Tahir, Former Joint Educational Advisor, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training Pakistan, Ms. Khadija Khan, CEO, PAFEC and faculty of LCWU graced the ceremony. A total of 24 students of LCWU received the certificates.
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PAKISTAN ALLIANCE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD (PAFEC)
www.pafec.org
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