Nazia Bano, recruited as librarian at The Citizen’s Foundation, can be seen every day at the TRC library. She is learning how to manage a library from our librarian, Shahida Parween. Her work entails classifying, accessioning and shelving books. During her internship, which has been totally hands-on, she has been a great help to Shahida. Nazia’s 3-month internship ends in December 2007. We wish her well in her new job and are there for any support she may need in the future.

TRC celebrated its 21st anniversary on Monday 26th November 2007. The office was bubbling with excitement and positive energy. Lit diyas and plants greeted the guests as they walked in. Posters displaying TRC’s journey and landmark achievements adorned the office. Guests included founder members, people who have had a lengthy association with TRC and members from TRC’s Governing Body over the years.
The festivities began with TRC’s first GB reminiscing about the creation of TRC, followed by introductions of the current team and staff of TRC. Former members and the founding GB expressed excitement, pride and great interest in the work that TRC has done and all the new initiatives it has embarked upon. They went around the room exploring learning resources, publications, and other materials produced by TRC. Members of TRC, old and new mingled well and were filled with a sense of pride and joy.
Refreshments were served and TRC’s progress and growth was marked by a cake cutting ceremony; the cake was in the shape of the new logo. The event went well and TRC was infused with a renewed spirit and commitment to improving the quality of educational provision.
A three day edu-tainment event was being planned since November 2006, which would have “celebrated” ALL the wonderful people associated with TRC since 1986. When the political situation in the country became uncertain and Emergency was declared, a decision was made to scale down the celebration. So it turned out to be a low-key, but meaningful event.
To all of you who have been associated with us, members (both institutional and associate) staff, workshop leaders, children, teachers, parents, suppliers of school equipment/books, partner NGOs, education department officials, ministry officials, donors, consultants, evaluators and friends … a BIG thank you for being there and for contributing to TRC over these 21 years. Though you were not with us on the 26th of November 2006, you were certainly remembered.

TRC was born from a seed; it was the beginning of a concept which has grown and matured, and evolved over the years, to become a provider of imagination and inspiration to the public and private education sector.

TRC’s new logo embodies the spirit of the organization as it enters its 21st year. The tree is a universal symbol of life, knowledge, and enlightenment. TRC empowers teachers to tap into their inherent potential, and the tree symbolically represents the enabling environment that TRC provides.

On 30 October 2007, 27 officials paid a visit to the TRC premises to be acquainted with and learn more about the work we do. The visiting delegation consisted of men and women from the AJK Education Department, Unicef and the Aga Khan Development Network. Members of AKU-IED facilitated the visit. The visitors were given a short presentation on the philosophy, activities and future goals of TRC by the TRC Team.
The officials from AJK were thoroughly impressed by all that TRC has achieved in the last 21 years. They engaged with the material presented and asked many questions. The presentation ended with a lively group discussion about issues and problems faced by teachers in the public sector and officials in education departments in general. The discussion closed with excitement and eagerness to bring about substantial and sustainable change in education provision in Pakistan.
The group was then shown the library and resource room. They were each given a copy of our latest issue of Ilm O Amal, our bi-annual publication for teachers. The visit ended with a demonstration of ‘Nazmon ki Dilchasp Duniya’ one of our popular learning resources. They were extremely inspired by it and expressed a keen desire to work with us in the future.

We are acutely aware that the Film Club has been inactive for a couple of months. We were short staffed, moving to our new premises and didn’t have an interim venue where we could host regular film screenings. But now we are back and right on schedule!

The next screening is:

Film: The Pursuit Of Happyness
Date: 27th October 2007
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Venue: TRC
Duration (Film & Discussion): 3 hours.
Fee: Rs. 150
Please phone and make a reservation. Seats are limited and will be available on a “first come, first served” basis.

In our role as Technical Assistance partner for the RCC project, now supported, in its third phase, by the Royal Netherlands Embassy (RNE), we were requested by SOCIETY (RCC implementing partner) to train ECE teachers for some additional schools they are working with this year.

The TRC team conducted a six-day, 48-hour workshop titled “Ibteda-e-Bachpan ki Taleem Qaumi Nisab ki Roshani Main” in Mastung, from September 03 – 08, 2007,

A total of 24 public sector teachers attended the workshop. Their knowledge was enhanced about the principles of ECE, Holistic Development, An ECE Learning Environment, Observation and Assessment, and the Learning Content outlined in the National Curriculum for ECE.

A range of methodologies were used to deliver the workshop including brainstorming, group work, role play activities, work stations and interactive group discussions.

The participants were enthusiastic and eager to incorporate knowledge gained from the workshops into their classrooms, and they said they look forward to TRC workshops in the future.

The TRC Team went to Azad Kashmir at the request of Save the Children UK (SCUK), who are supporting the development of 40 ECE Government Schools in Bagh and Muzaffarabad, in collaboration with the Education Ministry in AJK.

We conducted two concurrent workshops, titled Ibteda-e-Bachpan ki Taleem Qaumi Nisab ki Roshani Main from August 20 – 25 2007. Our 48-hour workshop module walks teachers through the National Curriculum for ECE (NC-ECE). Some of the topics covered in this workshop are holistic child development; setting up a quality, active learning environment for young children; observation and on-going assessment of learning outcomes and of course, the six key learning areas in the NC-ECE: Personal & Social Development, Language & Literacy, Basic Math Concepts, Creative Arts, Health Hygiene & Safety and The World Around Us.

The participants were excited about their new learning and found the workshop content engaging and meaningful. As always, a range of participatory and interactive methods were used to deliver the learning content, including brainstorming, group work, reflection and discussions, role play, work stations and interactive group discussions.

Some primary and some secondary government school teachers had been identified to work with young children in the newly established ECE Centres. A number of them were apprehensive about ECE and were worried that they were being demoted to teaching such young children … our team succeeded in clarifying any misconceptions they may have had about ECE. By the end of the workshop, they were really keen to translate their new learning into action.

SC-UK has discussed follow up workshops and school visits for the participants. So we may be back there in the near future.

The National Curriculum for ECE 2006-07 is now available on the Ministry of Education, GoP’s website. You can view/download the curriculum here:
http://www.moe.gov.pk/curriculum.htm

Members can have a look at the revised ECE Curriculum in the TRC library and a few copies are available for borrowing.

A 9-hour workshop entitled “Dars o Tadrees Mein Kahaniyon Ka Kirdar” was conducted in Orangi Town on August 3rd and 4th, 2007 for 8 schools run by DIL.

15 participants attended the workshop and were from DIL’s Kindergarten schools. The key components of the workshop were “How Children Learn”, “The Importance of Stories in the Early Grades”, “Using Low Cost Teaching Aids in Story Telling”.

The participants were vocal and active and found the workshop content meaningful, interesting and useful.

A range of methodologies were used to deliver the learning material, including brainstorming, whole group discussions, group work, story telling with puppets, participatory lectures and role-plays.