Pakistan Project by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) Scoops Education Awards for Good Practice:  Achieving Quality in Education and Delivering Education in Difficult Circumstances. at the 17th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministerial Meeting in Kaula Lumpur Malaysia

ITA Submission for CEGPA 2009

17 June 2009

Whilst no official ministerial delegation from Pakistan  was represented at the 17th  Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) June 16-18, 2009,  a triennial affair, due to paucity of funds, 26 civil society members and education professionals were present not only on the four parallel stakeholders panels and the vice chancellors forum,  at the conference but also through their submissions for the Commonwealth Good Practice Awards. Saeed ul Hasan, represented Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) public trust a national level institution at the conference with a submission on Drop in Centres for child labor and vulnerable children. Two rigorously contested awards were won by ITA Pakistan along with Mauritius and Malaysia.   

   
The 2009 awards were presented by Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Honourable Tan Sri Muhyiddin Mohd. Yassin, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith and the President of the National Union of the Teaching Profession, Rtd. Lt. Hashim Adnan.
The pan-Commonwealth adjudication panel, which comprised of members from Jamaica, Malaysia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, United Kingdom, Uganda and Zambia described all submissions as of a high standard and worthy of being winners by virtue of having been selected from nearly fifty education good practices from across the Commonwealth.
The awards highlight good practice in education throughout the Commonwealth according to six action areas: achieving universal primary education; eliminating gender disparities in education; improving quality in education; using distance learning to overcome barriers; supporting education in difficult circumstances; and mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS on education systems.
The ceremony, held during the 17th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers, also marked the inauguration of the Steve Sinnott Award for Commonwealth Teachers. The finalist, whose good practice was deemed as having made a positive difference to the status, condition or professional development of the teaching profession in the Commonwealth, was a DFID Global Schools Partnerships project from the British Council , United Kingdom .

This year at the request of the Ministry of Education, Malaysia, three special awards were made for good practices in the action areas of Achieving Quality in Education and Delivering Education in Difficult Circumstances. The winners were:
Mauritius – Ministry of Education, Culture and Human Resources: From Individual to Community: Quality Teaching in Mauritius.

Pakistan – Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) Public Trust: Addressing the Vulnerable through Quality learning and protection – Drop-in Centres for Rag Pickers and Child Domestic Labour (CDL). ITA is also seeking CDL to be declared as the worst forms of child labor as per ILO Convention 182.  
Malaysia- Sabah State Education Department: Accelerating and Enhancing the Teaching and Learning Process through Buddy Stops