Dynamics of Quality Education in Low-Cost Private Schools
Quality has become a dynamic concept that has to adapt to a world whose societies are undergoing profound social and economic transformations. Encouragement for future-oriented thinking and anticipation is gaining importance. Old notions of quality are no longer enough "despite the different contexts there are many common elements in the pursuit of quality education, which should equip all people, women and men, to be fully participating members of their own communities and also citizens of the world" (Ministerial Round Table on Quality Education, UNESCO, 2003). Quality Advancement and Institutional Development (QuAID), a project of Aga Khan Education Service, Pakistan, has been closely working with 50 private schools in Karachi, 30 public schools and 23 community-based schools in Hyderabad.
The project intends to build institutional capacities of partner schools and present models through which quality education could be ensured and sustained. QuAID aims at developing schools as quality institutions through various ways and means and working on the holistic development of schools. Many steps have been taken to change schools into learning organizations and to translate this dream into reality, for example, providing need-based capacity-building sessions, on-going schools- based followup support mechanism, building teams for academics and institutional support, creating a forum to promote cluster-based support mechanism, and developing professional partnerships and linkages with well- known professional development organizations.
This paper highlights the mushroom growth of low-cost private schools, their existing practices and beliefs with respect to quality education, and QuAID interventions to provide ongoing support to unpack and understand the notions of quality at these private schools. The paper describes the formation of two models: ADT (Academic Development Team) and SDT (School Development Team). The rationale of introducing ADT and SDT models was to promote cooperative and collaborative culture at QuAID partner schools and help them come out of isolation. In addition, the purpose of establishing two teams was to build the capacity of potential stakeholders both from teaching faculty and management/administrative staff to go through the process of team-building and to activate them to strive in the area of quality advancement and institutional development.
The findings, in terms of the effectiveness of these teams, management and leadership responses, change in school milieu and project team's learning and reflection, will briefly be shared in this paper presentation. Lessons learnt, challenges faced and recommendations based on the findings of QuAID team will enable the audience to understand the operationalization and effectiveness of these models in terms of their functionality as collaborative teams, their capacity of working together, and the need to provide support at low- cost private schools.
The paper will also draw attention towards the kind of exposure these schools had before QuAID interventions. Their practices in working in discrete boxes had left them work in isolation with very little or no exposure of latest development in education world. These emerging needs and scenarios led the project team to develop their linkages and partnerships with renowned professional development organizations. In this paper, the presenter will briefly talk about the process of developing partnerships and linkages of partner schools with professional development organizations such as PTAN, SPELT, INTEL, iEARN etc., the impact of these linkages and partnerships along with schools responsiveness to QuAID strivings in this regard.