Embassy of the United States

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PTA members and officials of the Federal Directorate of Education inside a USAID-funded classroom building discuss the construction of a new classroom at the Federal Government Girls School, Sanjliani.

Parent Teacher Association And USAID Team Up To Improve Sanjalian Girls School

Islamabad - The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) of Federal Government Girls Primary School, Sanjalian, a rural school outside Islamabad, inaugurated a new classroom in a ceremony at the school today. The event capped several months of the PTA’s school improvement work. Under a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) School Improvement Grant, the PTA organized a management committee, decided on school priorities, raised funds to augment the grant and has closely supervised construction. USAID and the Sanjlian PTA worked closely with the Federal Directorate of Education on this project.

The Director General of Federal Directorate of Education, Brigadier (ret.) Maqsood Ul-Hassan, USAID, USAID-partner the Research Triangle Institute, teachers, parents and students attended the ceremony. Speakers at the ceremony honored the exemplary commitment of the Sanjalian PTA, which raised Rs. 80,000 to contribute to the building of the classroom.

USAID Mission Director Jonathan Addleton explained, "Strengthening PTAs and School Management Committees (SMCs) involves parents in their children’s education and makes schools more accountable, which improves the quality of the education students receive. We want to thank the parents of FG Girls Primary School Sanjalian for their impressive commitment."

The PTA of FG Girls Primary School, which did not have prior management experience, identified the additional classroom as the school’s primary need because the school only had three rooms for six classes. The PTA is made up of six parents from the community and two teachers at the school.

USAID primary education programs focus on training teachers in the use of participatory learning methods, school infrastructure upgrades and improved school and education system management. USAID is spending more than $66 million to support education in Pakistan in 2006.

Rebuilding and equipping schools and providing teacher training will be key components of USAID’s $200 million reconstruction program in the earthquake affected areas over the next four years.

The United States, through USAID, is providing more than $1.5 billion in development assistance to Pakistan over the next five years to improve education, health, governance and economic growth.