ISLAMABAD-World Learning Pakistan (WL) under the (USAID funded Advancing Girls’ Education and Skills (AGES) program signed a MOU with Elementary & Secondary Education Department (ESED) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

This MoU aims to increase access to education for girls in middle and secondary grades and improve their school retention.

AGES is a four-year initiative with a mission to provide access to education and skills training to girls to empower them economically.

Through this initiative, at least 4,500 adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 19 years will be identified and enrolled at the AGES supported Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) schools and centers across Peshawar, Buner, Swat, Torghar, Mardan or Kohat.

An integral part of this collaboration is to finalize the ALP curriculum, develop a school identification mechanism, select teacher hiring criteria and link the student assessment techniques with KP’s formal education requirements.

Govt. of KP and WL will also work together to introduce physical education and play based pedagogy in public schools to develop leadership skills, build confidence and improve girls’ retention rates in middle and secondary grades. 

At the MOU signing ceremony, Secretary School Education and Literacy Department Govt. of KP Mr. Mukhtiar Ahmad commented, “Early education and out of school children are a priority for us.

The KP Government is looking forward to working together and identifying areas to benefit from each other’s expertise. Education is not a race, it’s a journey and we must all work together in this journey!”

Country Representative World Learning Nadya Karim-Shaw said, “Perhaps the most exciting part of this MoU references solutions that respond to the growing numbers of out of school children, not just girls, who reach Grade 5 and find that their options for continuing education are cut short because of the lack of schools”.

Senior government officials and other development sector officials attended the ceremony.