Director United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for Sindh and Balochistan Michael Hryshchyshyn has said that the US government is proud to partner with the government of Sindh in the joint initiative of promoting education for all.
He stated this while addressing closing ceremony of Sindh Capacity Development Project (SCDP) supported by USAID here on Tuesday. Secretary Education Qazi Shahid Parvez, officials of Sindh government, educationists and civil society representatives were also present on the occasion.
Mr. Hryshchyshyn articulated, “We, along with our partners from the School Education and Literacy Department, focus on improving the quality and accessibility of education.
Under the umbrella of Sindh Basic Education Program, SCDP has assisted the GoS to strengthen education reforms to improve education service delivery in Sindh”. He further added “Now, it is the joint responsibility of all of us to sustain the reforms initiated under SCDP and to ensure that quality education reaches to all children of Sindh.”
The USAID-SCDP is a four-year project that is completing its project life in August 2019. The project provided critical support to GoS’s Program Management and Implementation Unit (PMIU) to manage and implement USAID Sindh Basic Education Program, a $165.0 million U.S government supported program, in partnership with the Government of Sindh. SCDP also provided support to SELD’s key institutions such as M&E Directorate, Directorate of Non-Formal Education (NFE) and Public Private Partnership Node.
Mr. Qazi Shahid Parvez lauded the efforts of SCDP for providing extensive assistance to the education department. Mr. Qazi termed Non Formal Education (NFE) Policy 2017 as a breakthrough event that set the platform for further reforms in NFE. SCDP provided technical assistance to SELD in the development of the first ever NFE Policy which was approved by Sindh Cabinet under the chair of Chief Minister.
SCDP also provided key support in the development of ‘PPP Guide and Toolkit’, which is now extensively being used by the government officers and development partners to strenthen public private partnerships in education in Sindh.
To improve the school monitoring system in the province, SCDP also assisted the GoS’ Directorate of M&E to develop M&E Strategic Plan.—INP
