Civil Services Academy backs new push to re-enroll out-of-school children

LAHORE: In a powerful show of cross-sector collaboration, the ILMpact Consortium convened a two-day Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) workshop in Lahore, uniting key stakeholders to address Pakistan’s ongoing education crisis, with a specific focus on the country’s alarming number of out-of-school children.

The workshop was headlined by Farhan Aziz Khawaja, Director General of the Civil Service Academy (CSA), who attended as chief guest. He underlined the urgent need for localised efforts to bridge Pakistan’s education divide. “Despite many interventions, the issue of out-of-school children remains critical. Local-level sensitisation—from tehsils to households—is where real change begins,” he stated. Signaling a landmark moment, he announced formalisation of a strategic partnership between the CSA and the ILMpact Consortium to support targeted, community-driven educational interventions.

The event brought together a formidable lineup of partners from across the education and development sectors, including SDPI, British Council, Think Equal, NRSP, SRSP, ITA, Mojaz Foundation, Muslim Hands, Sightsavers, PAMS, and Pratham—demonstrating a unified commitment to tackling one of Pakistan’s most pressing social challenges.

Dr Shabbir Zaidi, Additional Director of CSA, emphasised the strategic potential of Pakistan’s future civil service leadership. He proposed that probationary officers from the 52nd and 53rd Common Training Programs be deployed as communication ambassadors. These officers would collaborate with provincial School Education Departments to drive on-ground implementation, facilitate monitoring mechanisms, and lead community engagement initiatives—embedding accountability and innovation into the system.

Zeeshan Ahmed, Senior Officer of the British Council’s ILMpact Project, shared the operational vision of the initiative, noting that clear reporting structures, consistent monitoring, and inter-partner coordination will be critical to the program’s success. “This is not just a project—it will be presented as a model to the federal and provincial governments,” he said. He outlined a multi-pronged strategy that includes the introduction of a Special Learning Program for children who have been out of school for extended periods. The program aims to accelerate their academic reintegration by addressing learning gaps and aligning them with age-appropriate grade levels. Additionally, the project’s Remedial Learning component will offer targeted support in foundational subjects such as English and Mathematics, ensuring students receive the academic reinforcement they need to thrive in mainstream education.

This high-impact workshop marks the beginning of a transformative partnership between the Pakistan Civil Service Academy and the British Council’s ILMpact initiative. It represents a rare and promising convergence of policy, practice, and grassroots engagement—all geared toward the singular goal of reintegrating Pakistan’s out-of-school children and strengthening the country’s education system from the ground up.