The NOWA Pirbhat DIL Project, previously known as the Pirbhat Girls Community School Project, was initiated by the Non-Governmental Organization Resource Center (NGORC), a highly respected support organization which aims to strengthen the non-governmental sector in Pakistan by empowering community-based organizations. To establish these schools, NGORC worked in collaboration with NOWA, a leading voluntary organization in the education sector in the district of Khairpur. The singular most notable accomplishment of this NGORC-NOWA partnership was that, for the first time in Pakistan, local Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) were mobilized to establish easily-accessible schools for girls in remote villages. These CBOs successfully undertook the challenging task of identifying local teachers, motivating the communities to register students, and taking on many responsibilities of running the schools.

Initially, this project only received funding for two years from the Government of Pakistan under the Social Action Program. However, these funds ran out in August 1998. At that point, NGORC requested that DIL provide financial assistance to these schools for a period of at least three years or until they became self-sustaining. Recognizing the effort and dedication that had already gone into establishing these schools, and fully realizing that without continued monetary support these schools would abruptly cease to exist, DIL agreed to fund and support this noble venture.

DIL has been working very closely with the project staff over the years and is proud to report that the quality of the schools has improved considerably since DIL’s involvement. Student dropout rates have significantly decreased while teacher and student attendance rates have improved substantially.

School Improvement Program (SIP)
Under DIL’s School Improvement Program, furniture, wall charts, and educational supplies were provided to all the schools. The teachers, students and communities worked very hard to make the classroom environment attractive and conducive to learning. To accommodate student enrollment increases, additional rooms were constructed by community members at their own cost or with funds provided by DIL (combined with free labor from the communities). Computer labs have been established in 7 schools and every school now has a small library.

Teacher training
Since a majority of DIL schools are situated in remote areas, teachers come from the same locality or nearby villages. Almost all rural Pakistani teachers have attended substandard schools and were themselves taught with rote and recitation techniques. Few have had training or preparation before beginning their work as teachers. Because of this, DIL places utmost importance on teacher professional development in order raise the standard of education that students receive at DIL’s schools. Teachers require continuous pedagogical and content knowledge training and over the years DIL has placed much emphasis on this.

• In 2002, Education Resource Development Center (ERDC) provided teacher training, which included workshops on various topics, such as lesson planning, English and Math.
• In the later part of 2002, Society for the advancement of education (SAHE) provided subject-based training to NOWA’s teachers.
• In 2004, teachers received School-Based Training from Devcon, an association for rural development in Khairpur. This training was geared towards observing and training the teachers in their school environment.
• In 2006, ERDC delivered a one-year Teachers’ Training Program including courses in English Skills development, the teaching of Math, Learning Resources use, early childhood education and the teaching of Science for teachers as well as a course on effective school leadership for the Field Promoters.