A DAY WELL SPENT
Darvesh Karim, Aga Khan University, Gilgit
It is said that many factors are involved
and helpful
for educational development and enhancement of any school, among them are
equal opportunities
for children to learn, strong leadership and availability of teaching staff to run
the school smoothly, initiating effective curricular activities as
well as extra-curricular educational activities, parental trust, and their
involvement; and to ensure it, the presence of an active SMC, which
always ready to help the school keeping in view the needs of
school all the
time. If all
these factors continuously be available to a village school or a city school
throughout the year, then there is no reason why the school should not develop,
the children should not get quality education, and the school should not become
a quality institution.
For the past three years, I have been involved in an
educational project working on the girls right to participate in
education in
the backward and far-flung areas of Gilgit-Baltistan. The
project was implemented during the academic year 2018-2019 in the
remotest areas of two districts in Gilgit-Baltistan, District Ghanche and
District Astor. An intensive plan was developed to help improve
education in public sector schools of this mountainous region. The
specific objectives of the project were to enhance the physical appearance of
schools and to make the teaching-learning process more effective, as well as
to increase social mobilization and ensuring parental involvement in school activities. A
comprehensive strategy was formulated to achieve these
objectives including training of teachers, formation of SMC/MSG and training
opportunities to hone their skills, provision of educational
resources, sports kit, and carpets with underlay for the students to sit on the
floor comfortably as schools were lacking furniture.
The overall effects of this educational project interventions
are now
beginning to be seen in schools, as they have displayed for the first-time self-made School
Development Plans and teachers have been trying to follow it since the commencement
of the academic year. In addition to the
educational
activities, special attention is paid towards parental involvement. As a result, the role of
parents and the community in project schools is growing, and home-school
relationships are developing significantly. We understand that the whole
village, the surrounding environment, and the support/cooperation of the parents
play a important role in the success of a child. In
simple words, family,
community, and the school support are always important for a child's
development. When family members, community and school join in the
support, students improve their academic performance and learning outcomes.
Community involvement has always been the focus of attention for schools, and
the said project also focused on the key segment of
society to
improving educational standards. However, the participation
level
has always been different in different contexts. Some schools have been very
successful in the community engagement process, while others need more efforts to succeed. If schools
are successful in engaging the community, they can improve students' learning outcomes as well as their
day-to-day routines and learning processes.
I often had the opportunity
to go to schools to work on the same project and have got
exposure working
with different communities. I once happened to go to the only primary
school in a remote village in the beautiful district of Astore in Gilgit-Baltistan. I had
to stay for a whole school-day to perform some activities. It was a
wonderful and memorable day I spent there. I think, the environment, the
activities, and the educational scene that was witnessed in the school was certainly ideal.
If the
same atmosphere and activities sustain and continue for the development of the
school, it can certainly emerge as one of the best schools in
the area. 
Figure
3: Meeting with teachers
It was the
pleasant
month of May right after the winter chill which
was continued since October and the layers of snow had recently cracked
and melted.
Winters in this area usually start from October, snow and coldness prevail till April. Thus,
the area remains harsh for almost seven months of the year. Farming and other livelihood
activities
start from the month of May when the beauty of spring use
to be at its peak. It was a
sunny day, and the faint heat of the sun was warming the earth and the bodies. The
taste of sitting in the sun in this weather is difficult to
express in suitable words. So, all the elders, male
and female of
the village were out of their houses enjoying the sunshine
and its warmth, while some were engaged in farming in the
fields. Since
there was a shortage of classrooms in the primary school, the teachers had also
arranged classes to all the children outside in the sun and the
teaching learning process was continued while enjoying the sun. With
this environment, I reached the school. I already knew the teachers and the children, so they
gave me a
warm welcome. 
Figure
4: Students in pairs to work on an
art competition.
My
tour to this school
had several purposes. The main purpose was to conduct an art competition among the
children,
secondly, I had to observe one or two teachers’ classes, who had attended
the trainings during winter break. The environment was conducive to achieve these goals. So, I teamed
up with the teachers to select some students from class 3rd,
4th, and 5th grades who showed willingness to take part in the drawing
competition. Drawing material were given to students to draw
according to their imagination on a particular topic. Then I observed the classes of the concerned teachers and gave them feedback. By
then the
educational environment and teaching learning process of the school
had became so
attractive that I called other teachers to observe a
demo lesson given by me. Due to lack of classrooms, we had already introduced
multi-grade teaching to the teachers. Therefore, it was much effective to arrange
a demo-lesson by
combining the students of class II, III, IV and V.
Figure
5: The Community's active involvement
to help school management to fix the underlay and carpet.
Being a small village, the
news of my arrival had reached homes. So, some parents and SMC members also
visited the school. Due to the lack of furniture for children in the school, a
few days back we had provided underlay and carpet as a missing
facility. The
parents came to help the teachers to lay-flat that carpet and underlay in classrooms. As soon as they arrived, they started measuring the classes, then began to
cut and install the carpet. School had then a mixed learning
environment and atmosphere by involving all the stakeholders that on one hand the
children are engaged in drawing and on the other hand the teachers are busy
with teaching, co-teaching, and demo
lessons. We all, (teachers, parents, SMC members, and myself)
were probably thinking at times that, how can we increase the understanding and awareness
of the children as much as possible? How can we all facilitate them to
learn according
to our own level best? How can we help, so that they can get good
education, and learn something new?
When the parents and SMC members
have completed their task, taking advantage of this
opportunity, I arranged a meeting with them to discus regarding the project
activities and other matters of concern. It was an outstanding session in which we
interacted on the
importance of education, importance of health and hygiene, and supervising schoolwork
at home. Meanwhile, I used to go to the children who were busy in drawing
and continued
to provide them with support and guidance in their work. Finally, a meeting with all the
teachers was conducted in which we discussed how to further improve
and strengthen
the school education system; how to make parental involvement
more effective and sustained; how to improve the teaching methodology in classroom
keeping MGT in mind. Then I collected the drawings from the students, thanked them for
an enthusiastic participation in the activity. I could feel the happiness and
satisfaction of
the children. I thought, it was the most fruitful day
for me and for the school as a whole. When I was leaving the
school after
completing all the activities, the words of a young girl,
who participated in drawing competition, made me even happier. The girl asked
me,
"Sir, I had a lot of fun at school today. When will you come again, sir?" Feeling the
sparkle of these magical words in my heart, I left the school and the
beautiful village with a feeling of satisfaction, thanked all the teachers
and children, and happily left towards hotel which is about an hour
drive away.
Figure
6: Students with their creative work
