INSTITUTE FOR RURAL EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT (IREAD)

MISSION

IREAD's mission is to partner with rural communities in the developing world to create sustainable early childhood development centres.

The Challenge:

ECD resources for children in far-flung rural areas of Pakistan and Uganda are nonexistent, or scarce. Remote villages lack teachers trained in ECD, lack suitable places for children to learn, and are unable to provide basic school amenities like school supplies and training aids, uniforms, and lunch programs. Families in these communities live in severe poverty and lack access to not only education, but to other basic services. According to the United Nation, whose Sustainable Development Goal #4 is Quality Education, “The reasons for lack of quality education are due to lack of adequately trained teachers, poor conditions of schools and equity issues related to opportunities provided to rural children. For quality education to be provided to the children of impoverished families, investment is needed in educational scholarships, teacher training workshops, school building and improvement of water and electricity access to schools.”

IREAD is committed to providing children Pakistani and Ugandan children aged 3 to 6 the opportunity to get a strong start on an educational path that will help them break out of poverty and live healthy and sustainable lives. Knowing that girls can face barriers to education that boys don’t always face, we make special efforts to encourage their participation.

IREAD’s Solution:

IREAD builds Early Childhood Development Centres and trains and mentors teachers in ECD and provides them with ongoing professional development. We work closely with local leaders and involve them in building the centres, choosing teachers, and operating the centres. IREAD Centres in Uganda are certified by the Uganda Ministry of Education and follows their national ECD curriculum. Our Centres in Pakistan are monitored by Aga Khan Education Services and follow the AKES curriculum.

As at March 2020, IREAD has built 21 ECD Centres--11 in Pakistan and 10 in Uganda. Our ECD Centres welcome 2,000 students each year.

Teachers for IREAD ECD Centres are recruited locally, and we work closely with our local partners to choose them. The people who become IREAD ECD teachers are typically unemployed and lack otherwise lack the opportunity to earn a living and provide for their families. Some have the equivalent of a high school education, but more often they have only reached primary school. IREAD teachers are selected for their compassion, intelligence, dedication to their community’s children, and eagerness to teach.

The Impact

Early childhood development programs have proven to be a highly effective means of strengthening society by ensuring that its individual members live up to their full potential. Children who participate in early childhood development programs tend to be more successful in school, are more competent socially and emotionally, and show better verbal, intellectual and physical development than children who are not enrolled in such programs.

Parents/grandparents of children who have attended IREAD ECD Centres report have reported that their children are more confident than their peers, that they perform well in primary school, and are “very active, disciplined and hardworking.” Some parents report that because of the strong start their child received at IREAD, they were placed directly into Grade 2.

Our Five-Year Plan

IREAD has ambitious goals. Our target is to make it possible for 50,000+ ECD enrolments over the next five years. Achieving this will require building 25 new ECD Centres (4 in Pakistan, 21 in Uganda).

Thank you for giving generously!

It will cost $1.8 million to offer 50,000 ECD enrolments over the next 5 years. That’s only $36 per enrolment! Each new school will cost $67,250 to build.

Did you know? Because 100% of IREAD’s administrative costs are paid by a private family foundation, every dollar you give goes to support our providing ECD to children in Pakistan and Uganda.

Please visit us at www.iread.org. Our website has videos and plenty of pictures to help you understand our work, and the impact IREAD is making.