Star Schools Programme

Schooling is the one practice that children have in common and the most common means by which societies prepare their young for the future. On any given day, more than a billion children are in primary or secondary school: 688 million in primary school and 511 million in secondary school. They are in permanent or impermanent buildings, in tents or under trees – sharing the experience of learning, developing their potential and improving their
lives. Knowing that these children face diverse circumstances and have distinctive needs, schools that are build on the assets that children bring from their homes and communities balance for the inadequacies that they encounter in their surroundings.

Challenges to Education in Pakistan

Pakistan is ethically, politically and, most of all, legally obligated to provide quality education to every child in the country. Demonstrating the dedication to the provision of education has become a comprehensive platitude in Pakistan. No one repudiate the challenges our children face inside and out of school, and all politicians and policy makers pledge to resolve this prolonged issue of the state. But there is a lot of contradictions
regarding legitimate figure for the total number of out-of-school children in the country. It is said that ‘If you can’t gauge it, you can’t recuperate it’. Pakistan is far-distant from achieving the universal enrolment that the Constitution guarantees for the children of Pakistan.

Pakistan lags behind in its policies for educating the girls therefore face numerous challenges. There are two main challenges which we need to overcome in order to achieve gender equality in education:

  • An established cultural attitude exists in some regions of the world that women should be restricted only to domestic and household roles.
  • Poverty and the costs of education limit access to education. Despite constitutional rights to free education in many countries, educational costs is still an encumbrance on many households, and poverty often forces parents to make economic choices that result in their daughters being exposed to child labor or child marriage, relentlessly limiting access to education.

 

Why Non-Formal Schools?

Non-formal schools facilitate the children especially girls to achieve, at a minimum, the knowledge and skills proposed in the curriculum e.g. Accelerated Learning Programs (ALP). They also benefit them to improve the ability to think and reason, build self-respect and respect for others, and reach their full potential as individuals, members of their communities and citizens of the world. Star Schools Programme embraces a multi-dimensional concept of quality and address the needs of the child as a learner.

Our Model

The Star Schools Programme involves the participation of communities in removing physical, social, cultural, and financial barriers to access quality education.

The model of Star Schools Programme is elaborated below:

  • It follows a flexible model that offers ‘pathways’ to quality rather than prescribe blueprints that are rigorously copied in all situations.
  • A heuristic model that offer opportunities to move towards the quality standards through a series of cumulative improvements rather than imposing an overwhelming ‘one off’ or ‘all-at-once’ approach.
  • A reforming model that requires serious reflection on basic principles and issues relating to the whole child as a learner and the conditions that make for successful learning rather than unreflectively applying to a number of technical inputs that are assumed to influence the quality of education.
  • It follows an Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) through the technical collaboration of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Our Management

STAR Schools Management provides practical guidance on the design, construction and maintenance of child-friendly schools as safe, a welcoming environment in which children can learn; emphasize links with the community, influence the pedagogic considerations and sustainability.

It provides practical guidance on the operation and management of child-friendly schools, elaborating on the role of school heads, teachers, non-teaching staff, pupils, parents, communities and local and national education authorities. It gives practical guidance on classroom processes in schools, emphasizing such key features as:

  • The role of teaching/learning aids and materials in creating a stimulating environment that is managed by the teacher and enriches the overall classroom experience for the learner.
  • The interaction between teacher and learners, with the teacher as an authority figure and facilitator of learning and the learner as an active participant in a democratic process that involves mutual respect.
  • The pedagogic process, which is both structured enough to facilitate measurable learning progress and is flexible enough to facilitate the use of a variety of techniques for promoting the achievement of learning outcomes.of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Our Collaborations

Our Emphasis

Star Schools Programme emphasis on the importance of cultivating a sense of community in schools through activities as:

  • Daily rituals, including morning assembly that may involve prayers, a school song and pledges to school, community or nation.
  • Periodic rituals marking rites of passage, such as special events for new students on opening day, a graduation ceremony for students completing school, an annual prize ceremony, Independence Day, Kashmir day, etc.
  • Rules and regulations that are fair, in the best interest of children, applied in a transparent, democratic manner, do not result in the humiliation or suppression of learners, and also do not undermine the authority of teachers and school managers and do not alienate schools from the communities they serve.

Star Schools Programme

The programme is a catalyst for the community

We represent the opportunity

We transform our children

We are the strength of society

We make our children dream differently

Because of the Star Schools Programme, the way they used to reverie in their past is different now!

 

Star Schools Programme also provide a ‘learning package’ that offers guidance and tools for addressing environmental risks and vulnerabilities to climate change within schools and their surrounding communities. These inquiry-based activities for empowerment include participatory risk-mapping and facilities-based environmental solutions to support children and their communities in adapting to changing conditions and reducing risk through preparedness and response.

 5 Ends of a Star Approach

Philanthropists, trusts, foundations and corporates all invest in education, often because it is seen as a silver bullet—intervening early through schools can have a significant impact on children’s lives.

“What gets measured gets done”

  1. Quality Learning:
    When it comes to EDUCATION, we look at these results:

    • Increased primary school completion: We measure success by identifying the percent of Star Schools Programme graduates who have reached
      the milestone.
    • Increased school enrollment: We measure the percent of kids who are enrolled in non-formal education.
    • Increased achievement of identified learning outcomes: We measure the percent of kids who achieve minimum proficiency standards for their age with help of this non-formal education (NFE).
  2. Psychosocial Behaviors: Star Schools Programme bring out HEALTHY BEHAVIORS in students, the students further have:
    • Increased knowledge:
      Star Schools Programme believes that students need to be equipped with information to make good choices. They may have no idea that certain behaviors put their health at risk, and different people and communities have different perceptions (and misperceptions) about health. By giving kids accurate information, we are helping them to make healthy choices for a lifetime.
    • Improved attitude:
      All the information in the world won’t help if kids don’t believe changing behavior is important. We are making sure students and their parents see these issues as relevant to them.
    • Increased self-efficacy:
      Finally, students have to believe they can really pull off these healthier behaviors. Part of that comes down to designing interventions that can work for them in their circumstances. The rest of it is instilling in kids the confidence and belief to keep it up.
  3. Nutritional well-being:
    Healthy nutrition and sufficient physical activity improves child well being and learning ability, leading to better academic performance. Star Schools Programme is planning on dissemination of the “Nutrition-Friendly Schools” Policy at the earliest. It aims to develop a whole school activity policy, which encourages all staff and students to be physically active, then implement, monitor, and evaluate it for impact.
  4. Community Empowerment:
    When it comes to EMPOWERING KIDS, we look at these results:
    Empowering kids means equipping them with the knowledge and social responsibility that helps them become agents of change. At Star Schools Programme, we help them voice their opinions and encourage them to actively participate as leaders and volunteers in their communities.
    These intermediate steps help students have:

    • Strengthened self-esteem
    • Increased sense of social responsibility
  5. Role Model: There are many reasons why students think of teachers as role models. One of the biggest reasons is the desire to become a role model for students to look up to, to learn from, and to remember for the rest of their lives. Everyone has felt the power and lasting presence of an effective teacher, who also had a bigger impact. Whether it’s learning the value of community service, discovering a love for a particular subject, or how to tap the confidence to speak in public, teachers are the ones who light the way for us in this world.Teachers being role models is not a new concept, and has inspired students to go into this field for ages, there are many ways a teacher can be a role model for the kids:
    • Being humble and emphatic
    • Encourage the kids to think for themselves
    • Point out positivity in the kids
    • Practice random act of kindness
    • Be a problem solver, not just a problem identifier. Bring solutions, not just complaints.There are many ways in which teachers act as a Role Model for the kids, Star Schools Programme emphasis the teachers to bring out leadership traits within themselves through continuous training and development workshops.

 

Success Stories

Innocent, eager Sana, age 13, is on the path to a brighter future. She attends a PAGE-ALIGHT STAR SCHOOL in her village. There, we encourage her early learning and development, including drawing and art to enhance creativity. We also train teachers and involve parents, caregivers and whole communities in encouraging girls’ education and learning opportunities.

He who opens a school door, closes a prison.