The Aga Khan Foundation with support from USAID has initiated a pilot Early Childhood Development program in the Sindh & Balochistan provinces. The program entitled ‘Releasing Confidence and Creativity (RCC): Building Sound Foundations for Early Learning in Pakistan’, is being implemented in 100 government schools in Sindh and Balochistan. The program will directly benefit all children going to these schools especially those enrolled in kachi class. Other important beneficiaries of this program include teachers, head teachers, parents, community members, Department of Education & members of local government.

Partners:
The partners of RCC program have come together to pilot formal and non formal approaches that promote positive early learning opportunities, as well as good child care, nu- trition and health practices at home and in the community.

Technical Support Agencies
• Teachers’ Resource Center (www.trconline.org)
• Human Development Program – Aga Khan University
• Sindh Education Foundation (www.sef.org.pk)

Implementing Agencies
• Aga Khan Education Services, Pakistan (www.akdn.org/agency/akes.html)
• Health and Nutrition Development Society (www.hands.org.pk)
• The Society for Community Support for Primary Education in Balochistan (www.scspeb.sdnpk.org)

KEY AREAS OF RCC PROGRAM INTERVENTION
Human and Institutional Capacity Development This component focuses on early childhood development ‘ethos’; curriculum and materials development; teacher, school head and administrator development; capacity strengthening of NGOs, parents and communities to participate in their children’s education and education reform; mechanisms and resource centers for ongoing professional development of teachers and school heads and monitoring the quality of learning in the classroom; and the application of distance education technologies. Improving the Physical and Learning Environment This component focuses on creating incentives and innovative models for investing in the school environment, including matching grants, special awards and better access to and use of resources from other donor agencies, local government and public-private partnerships.

Community-level interventions This component focuses on community mobilization and training to increase participation of parents, communities, NGOs and the private sector in basic education in public schools. This is especially applied during the early years through training of school management bodies (PTAs, Village Education Committees), adult literacy, raising awareness about the importance of girls’ education and adaptation of other successful social mobilization models.

Training for Local Governance under the Government of Pakistan’s (GoP) Devolution Plans This component focuses on training local governing bodies such as Union and Village Councils and Citizen Community Boards to enhance their accountability and the effectiveness of community outreach/participation. It also seeks linkages with other programs promoting civic education, especially those serving women.

Learning, Dissemination of Lessons and Policy Dialogue for Education Reform This component reviews and distills research and learning that is already being undertaken by AKDN and other NGOs; and commissions new research to inform policy dialogue with the GoP. Critically-needed areas of research include: a comparative study and analysis of different school governance; management and financing models that exist in Pakistan and their relative effectiveness in providing quality and access; baseline data collection and school profiles; and tools for measuring skills attainment and learning at kachi level. A dissemination strategy targeting district, provincial and national government education officials will be developed.