Pakistan Alliance For Early Childhood
Newsletter| Volume 10| January-March : 2021
|
|
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Greetings from PAFEC!
We hope you and your families are keeping safe in the face of this unmitigated disaster, the third wave of Covid-19, which is ravaging the world!
Doing what we can and should do together, PAFEC and its institutional members continued the dissemination of COVID-19 preventive and mitigation messages to stop the community spread of the virus in the first quarter of 2021 as well. Thanks to our international partners, especially UNICEF, these awareness and mitigation activities included training of influencers, incorporation of COVID-19 messages in the Early Childhood Development (ECD) courses and conducting webinars on topics related to the different aspects of ECD in the context of COVID-19. Recently, PAFEC in collaboration with UNICEF, initiated disseminating information about COVID-19 vaccination. Resistance to vaccines is a global challenge, especially in Pakistan where people in general are reluctant to follow science; hence it is critically important to engage with opinion makers and influencers at the community to overcome this resistance.
The newsletter covers detailed updates on these above mentioned activities.
In addition to the updates, the newsletter also brings you some useful global resources on the role of parenting in child development, nutrition of children, their safety, the importance of investing in the wellbeing of children to avert the learning crisis, strategies for implementing ECD programmes in these crises situations and much more.
I hope that you and the families and communities your serve will continue to benefit from the substance of this newsletter. Enjoy reading the Newsletter, give your feedback to improve it, and also please contribute your own content to this effort, which is a collective effort to build a better future for our children.
Happy Reading and Stay Safe!
PAFEC Team
|
|
Building Awareness to Fight and to Stop the Spread of COVID-19 |
|
Master Trainers Training in Wazirabad on COVID-19 Prevention and Mitigation |
Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood (PAFEC) and UNICEF have designed a three-month long ‘COVID-19 prevention and mitigation campaign’ aiming at creating mass awareness to stop the community spread of the virus. The campaign has been launched in the four districts of Punjab which are Faisalabad, Lahore, Multan and Gujranwala. Specific objectives of the campaign are as following:
a) Build capacity of communities through sensitizing them using different strategies
b) Create preparedness among communities to deal with virus in case of being infected and to mitigation the situation
c) Provide necessary health and hygiene guidelines information and identify services available for this purpose
|
Master Trainers Training in Lahore on COVID-19 Prevention and Mitigation |
The key components of the campaign include training of master trainers, influencers, disseminating COVID-19 prevention and mitigation messages through mosques, social media platforms, webinars and miking in all the four districts using ‘chingchies’ (the popular three wheelers). PAFEC has engaged four institutional members (AFAQ, Muslim Hands, Momentous Schools and Tiflee Education) to train influencers. The influencers have been divided into four categories, i.e. religious/community leaders, school principals, head teachers, youth workers, and community representatives. PAFEC and UNICEF launched the campaign in all the four districts by training 20 people from each implementing partner as master trainers. These master trainers are responsible to train the influencers. Each implementing partner is committed to training around 2,520 influencers making the total number of influencers 10,080. So far, 9,070 people have been trained who have started working with networks of schools, colleges, universities, mosques, civil society organisations, volunteers, and semi-government institutions for the campaign. WhatsApp groups of these influencers have been formed to disseminate this information further, adding local flavour and value. |
Training of Religious Leaders at Jamia-tul-Khair, Johar Town, Lahore |
|
Miking: 10 chingchies in each district are being hired to disseminate the campaign messages on every alternate day for a month. Audio-speakers are installed in the chingchies and recorded messages about COVID-19 awareness, prevention and mitigation are being played for 5-6 hours daily. Chingchies are laced and decorated with banners/posters with COVID-19 prevention messages written on them. |
Chingchies in Multan District are Disseminating COVID-19 Prevention and Mitigation Messages |
In addition to the above activities, messages and footage of the campaign activities are actively being disseminated on PAFEC and its partners’ social platforms and through other networks in the country through boosting the content. PAFEC and its partners are organising weekly webinars on the topics related to ECD, child protection, impact of online learning etc. Each guest speaker of the webinar is expected to talk about the importance of SoPs and give critical information to audiences about COVID-19. These webinars are organised as Live Stream sessions on Facebook, so that maximum people can benefit from them.
As a strategic and long-term activity, PAFEC has also initiated incorporating content and key message on COVID-19 in selected university courses and training modules and other materials of PAFEC partners to better understand and respond to similar pandemics in future. PAFEC will continue to engage its network organisations and partner universities, colleges and schools across Pakistan to organise sessions for creating uninterrupted awareness about the pandemic and the critical role of vaccines in its prevention.
|
Dissemination of COVID-19 Prevention and Mitigation Messages |
Chingchies Captains Ready to Take Part in the Campaign |
|
PAFEC Partnerships with Public and Private Universities for Developing ECD Workforce |
|
Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood (PAFEC) with financial support from the Foundation Open Society Institute has initiated a new collaborative programme with institutions of higher learning. In this connection, partnerships have been developed with eight public universities and two teacher training colleges so far. Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were also signed with the Institute of Early Childhood Education and Development (IECED) in Karachi and with Sukkur IBA University in February 2021. The purpose of the MoUs is to contribute towards universalizing holistic ECD in Pakistan through augmenting existing courses and developing new accredited degree and diploma courses for ECD/ECCE professionals and building the capacity of the relevant faculty members. This will be achieved by aligning the courses with the National Curriculum of Early Childhood Care and Education, bridging the gap between theory and practice and by building the capacity of the partner institutions.
|
|
The MoU at the Institute of Early Childhood Education and Development (IECED) was signed by Ms. Naheed Wasi, Director, IECED and Ms. Khadija Khan, CEO of PAFEC, and the ceremony was attended by, Dr. Shahzad Mithani, Advisor, PAFEC, and the faculty members of IECED. The MoU at IBA Sukkur was signed by Dr. Zafarullah Sahito, Head of the Education Department and by Ms. Khadija Khan, CEO PAFEC, after a detailed discussion with the Head of Education and the faculty members of the department. The signing ceremony was attended by all the faculty members and Dr. Shahzad Mithani, Advisor PAFEC. |
|
Group Photo at Sukkur IBA University after Signing the Memorandum of Understanding |
MoU Signing with the Institute of Early Childhood Education and Development |
|
New additions to PAFEC Family! |
|
Ms. Arooj Malik joined PAFEC in January 2021 as an ECCE expert. She is an educationist, author, early childhood coach and trainer, curriculum developer, philanthropist, climate change activist, women empowerment and humanitarian advocate, with an extensive experience of 25 years in the field of academics. She is one of the authors of the books being developed for Pre-Primary based on the Signal National Curriculum for Early Childhood Care and Education. She has also written and published fifteen books under the theme of “Let's Learn” for young children. She has been providing services to private and public sector educational institutions in mentorship and training to teachers, teacher trainers and to principals from her organisation called Training Institute for Mentors Excellence (TIME), Islamabad. |
|
Mr. Syed Zarak Shah joined PAFEC in January 2021 as an anthropological researcher for the UNICEF supported COVID-19 prevention and mitigation campaign. He is an experienced project management specialist with in-depth knowledge of data analytics acquired through successful delivery of development projects at UNODC and Philip Morris International, using strong digital marketing skills and making data informed decisions. He has successfully delivered awareness campaigns for UNODC against illicit drug trafficking in Pakistan. He has done his specialization in Project Management from the University of Boston on a postgraduate level and has done engineering from Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering, Sciences and Technology. |
|
|
Dignitary Visit to PAFEC Office |
|
Senator Fauzia Arshad, Chairperson UC 28 Islamabad and Regional President, PTI Women Wing Islamabad with PAFEC Team |
|
Senator Fauzia Arshad, Chairperson UC 28 Islamabad and Regional President, PTI Women Wing Islamabad, visited Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood (PAFEC) office on Thursday, 18 March 2021. The purpose of her visit to know about the work PAFEC is doing to promote multispectral ECD in Pakistan. Ms. Khadija Khan and Ms. Arooj Saqib, ECCE Expert, briefed the senator about the Alliance’s mandate, vision and work and how Ms. Fauzia Arshad can help PAFEC initiate a collaboration with her office to benefit the children of ICT. Ms. Fauzia agreed to have another detailed meeting to explore potential opportunities for mutual collaboration. |
|
ECD IN TIMES OF COVID-19- WEBINAR SERIES BY PAFEC |
|
Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood initiated a webinar series for parents, caregivers and ECD practitioners, on the theme of “ECD IN TIMES OF COVID” from the beginning of 2021. Below is a summary of the webinars being held from February to March 2021:
|
WEBINAR # 01
The first webinar of this series was conducted on February 4, 2021. The title of the webinar was “How Can Parents Support Social-Emotional Wellbeing of Young Children During and Beyond COVID-19. The Science of Love and Its Wonders in Early Childhood Development”.
Dr. Faryal Razaaq, CEO, The FEEEL PTV LTD was the guest speaker and Ms. Khadija Khan was the moderator of the webinar. The aim of the webinar was to help parents, caregivers, teachers and other ECD practitioners to provide the required support to children to ensure social, emotional, and mental well-being, especially during the pandemic. The areas which the speaker focused during her talk included, signs of mental wellbeing of children, importance of love and what are some practical steps to address mental health issues especially during the pandemic. COVID-19 as we all know has badly affected children’s social, emotional, and mental wellbeing around the world and the children in Pakistan are not spared from it. This situation requires parents, teachers and all other ECD workforce to equip themselves with the required skills and knowledge to provide care to children. Dr. Faryal Razaaq explained how love and affection plays pivotal role in a child’s life; she said that even chronic behavioral issues can be dealt with care and love in the formative years of children by giving them opportunity to express their feelings and emotions openly, listening to them attentively, fulfilling their needs and giving them love and affection. Adverse experiences have a negative impact on the overall development of children so parents and other caregivers should learn how to provide a nurturing care to children. For more details visit the below links:
|
WEBINAR # 02
The second webinar in this series was conducted on February 11, 2021. The topic of the webinar was, ‘The New Dynamics of Online Teaching and Its Impact on Young Children’: How parents and teachers can help children overcome the challenges of online teaching and help them continue their learning effectively. Mr. Aien Shah, Head of Education, Aga Khan Education Service, Pakistan (AKESP) was the guest speaker and Ms. Arooj Saqib was the moderator of the webinar. The speaker in his presentation focused on the new dynamics of online learning created by the pandemic, how AKESP addressed this issue, how the digital divide has created inequality among learners living in different geographical areas, issues of connectivity to broadband internet, the impact of digital education on teachers and students, how to keep students motivated and engaged behind the computers by gaining and retaining their attention, the lessons learnt by AKESP such as the opportunity created by the pandemic to engage parents to assist children in their learning to ensure the human factor which is essential for young children to learn and develop, and the different blended approaches AKESP followed to continue and maximize students’ learning.
This webinar also provided latest research and facts regarding teaching and learning during and post COVID-19 scenario. Moreover, it focused on developing an understanding about new dynamics of teaching and learning frameworks, development and digitization of content, cyber security protocols for children, learning gaps and compromises created by e-learning , more workable solutions, customization of the content incorporating local context, geographical dynamics and reinforcement and individual learning needs. For more details, visit the below links:
|
|
WEBINAR # 03
The third webinar in this series was conducted on February 25th, 2021. The topic of the webinar was ‘System Approach to Child Protection’. Mr. Amer Habib, Team Leader- Child Protection Oxford Policy Management and Ms. Naima Iqbal Chohan, Head of Technical Excellence International Resource Committee Pakistan were the guest speakers and Ms. Khadija Khan, CEO PAFEC was the moderator of the webinar.
The webinar aimed at creating awareness about the definition of a child, his/her rights and the different forms of child exploitation and abuse, ways and means to protect them from all kinds of abuse, issues of child protection in Pakistan, the systems which can be made functional such as how to educate parents, teachers, caregivers, and other members of the society about their responsibilities so that they are able to intervene timely to protect children and rehabilitate them in case of abuse by providing them the required support and care. He also talked about Systems Vs Adhoc approaches to child protection and the laws and Child Acts being developed in Pakistan so far and the bottlenecks in the implementation of these laws.
Ms. Naima Iqbal Chohan, who was the second speaker of the webinar, talked about COVID-19 and child protection issues, the negative impact of the pandemic on the children especially during the lockdown because of the isolation, limited access to child protection services, uncertainty of the situation, fear of the virus and loss of livelihoods. She added that all this resulted into engagement of children in hazardous and exploitative labour endangering their lives and depriving them from their rights. She shared the findings of the Child Protection Monitoring carried out by IRC, the organisation where she is working. According to the findings of this monitoring she said, children’s emotional abuse was observed one of the common issues, followed by child marriages and sexual abuse. She also talked about the common stress signs in children and presented tips for parents, teachers and caregivers to provide care to children and to protect them in emergencies and otherwise. For further details, follow the link below:
|
WEBINAR # 04
The fourth webinar of the series was conducted in the 2nd week of March 2021 on the topic of “Developing Inclusive Education in Pakistan through Action Research”. The panel of speakers included Dr. Debbie Kramer-Roy, Director (Education) European MSc in Occupational Therapy, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Ms. Madiha Sajid, Fellow HEA, UK, Chair Parents & Careers Network, UCL and Ms. Samreen Jawaid, Academic Coordinator, The AMI School were the speakers and Ms. Arooj Malik Technical Specialist ECCE PAFEC was the moderator of the session.
Ms. Madhia opened the webinar by sharing the following outline, the concept of inclusive education, individual differences in learning, ways to prepare classroom for inclusive education, and strategies to enhance learning in an inclusive context and the impact of the Action Research Project on the students, teachers, occupational therapists, families and community which she and her team had implemented in Karachi. She explained how it feels to be excluded ways to address it such as how to develop the inclusive curriculum, do teachers training, establish inclusive classroom setups, and how to teach with inclusive strategies. Inclusive approach helps to cater the needs of main stream as well as differently abled children so every child gets benefited, she said.
Dr. Debbie Kramer-Roy who was the second speaker of the webinar, explained the importance of inclusive education in the light of the laws on Child Rights(national and international). She highlighted the Article 23 of constitution according to which children with disability are entitled to all educational service. She stressed on each and every member of the society to understand the importance of inclusive education so that they are able to provide inclusive services in health, education and livelihood regardless of ability and characteristics. She elaborated on access to training, health care services, rehabilitation, services, preparation for employment, and importance of recreational opportunities. The early interventions and awareness can help prevent many issues otherwise negligence leads to child birth problems and later disability.
The third speaker, Ms. Samreen talked about the success stories and practical tips on how to embed inclusiveness into daily classroom routine and the successful model of their inclusive education programme run in Karachi. She shared her experience of how inclusive lessons, blended learning and inclusion in class room ensured “No child is left behind” in there school. This introductory workshop cum webinar, laid the foundation to develop an understanding of Inclusive Education through hands on activities, by providing the participants with practical ideas for classroom organisation though group chat and discussion in break-out rooms on case studies and different scenarios. For more details, visit the below link:
|
|
International Women’s Day |
|
Pakistan Alliance for Early Childhood celebrated International Women’s Day on March 08, 2021. A talk show was organised to celebrate the day. Justice (R) Majida Razvi, Chairperson, Sindh Human Rights Commission, Seema Samad, Civil & Environmental Engineer, Zarina Hasan, MBBS, MSc Virology (UK) and Dr. Shazia Maqsood, Health Coordinator, Human Development Foundation Pakistan were speakers of the webinar. The worthy speakers shared their life journey, experiences & challenges they faced while growing up and pursuing their career in their respective fields.
While sharing message on this day, Dr. Maqsood said that women should break the glass ceiling and make careers of their choice. Ms. Samad encouraged all the women to join hands for making the society conducive, safe and enabling for all the girls out there. Ms. Hassan said, “women should celebrate their inner beauty, beauty with in their souls, which is a reflection of their persona’. Women should rewrite their destiny and be the heroine of their own story, she further added. Ms. Hassan urged that women of all fields should hold their head up high and take every body along with themselves. The webinar can be accessed at:
|
|
Participation of PAFEC in the webinars conducted by PAFEC partners: |
|
Topic: Productive Learning at Home for Children in COVID-19
Speaker: Khadija Khan
Host: Yasir Khan
Date: 2nd February, 2021
Time: 9:00 PM
During the webinar, Ms. Khadija Khan talked about the importance and different aspects of learning environment at home during COVID-19. She said that, children can concentrate more on their studies in a quiet, comfortable, and dedicated space for therefore, it is important and it is the ultimate responsibility of parents to create learning environment at home which is free from all sorts of distractions. Ms. Khan explained how the overuse of screen time due to the pandemic is impacting the brain of young children and what parents and caregivers need to know so that they can create a balance for the children. She gave some practical tips to parents for role modeling in front of their children by spending time reading books, magazines instead of watching television and using their phones. She suggested to develop a family routine, involving children and adding academic activities such as storytelling, sharing experiences with each other, listening to children carefully by giving them more and more opportunity to share their learning and rewarding them for their small achievements. Concluding her talk she gave recommendations to schools for engaging with parents and building their capacity so that they can their children in their studies instead of forcing young children to spend substantial in front of the screen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
