Outsourced assessment: Government initiates evaluation of literacy projects

The Punjab government has initiated third-party evaluation to access basic literacy programmes in all 36 districts, hoping to get a better picture of the literacy situation as well as gauging the effectiveness of its projects.

A total of 1,008 non-formal educational institutions (NFEIs) – 28 from each district of the province – will be evaluated. The documents project that the evaluation will take nine months to complete and is expected to end by September 2017.

Rates increase, but universal literacy remains a distant dream

The evaluation process will be carried out in the following categories of non-formal schools across Punjab: non-formal education feeder schools (NFEFS), adult literacy centres (ALCs) and non-formal basic education schools (NFBES).

The survey will be qualitative and quantitative, meaning that it will check the numbers of buildings, facilities and centres along with testing the students and checking the curriculum.

The documents set the parameters as testing the very basic knowledge of literacy: reading, writing and arithmetic while also checking the enrolment, availability of staff and other facilities at the centres.

The L&NFBE department is tasked with formulating policies and projects for access to quality literacy and non-formal education to illiterate out-of-school population. The department is mandated with increasing the literacy rate through provision of non-formal education and to decrease gender and regional disparity in literacy rate.

Sheikh, Ammar. Outsourced assessment: Government initiates evaluation of literacy projects. The Express Tribune, February 13, 2017.