Easypaisa & Sindh Reading Program: Improving early grade reading and mathematics in primary schools
Despite impressive economic progress in Pakistan’s second largest province, Sindh’s education indicators are quite low. Over a third of the population in Sindh Province is illiterate. Moreover over two-thirds of the women in Sindh are also illiterate. About 30 percent of school-aged children — about 4 million children aged 5-12 — are not in school.
Simply put, education is the key to lifting families out of poverty. Education is a basic human right of every person; it boosts economic growth and increases employment opportunities, all while improving health. Education is one of the most important investments a country can make in its people and its future.
To address these critical issues in early-grade reading and numeracy, Easypaisa has collaborated with the USAID-funded Sindh Reading Program which is working to improve the quality of and access to education in Sindh. The program works in seven districts and five towns across the province, bringing together local groups, government counterparts, and a small consortium of international partners.
Sindh Reading Program (SRP) is a five-year initiative launched in 2014 to support Sindh Basic Education Program’s goal of improving early grade reading, mathematics, learning, and teaching. The Sindh Reading Program aims to address critical issues in early-grade reading and mathematics through a number of avenues: continuous teachers’ professional development to increase teacher competence, improvements in assessment, distribution of supplementary materials to augment training and encouraging family participation. The program will continue to improve student access to supplementary reading and mathematics, targeting both instruction and materials — with the goal of enhancing family participation to support early-grade literacy.
As part of the SRP program, Easypaisa is disbursing project based salaries to the many teachers & volunteers working on the project. Easypaisa believes that the integral foundation of economic development for any country is quality education that can only be possible through qualified teachers that impart their knowledge to the young minds in Pakistan.
Muhammad Yahya Khan, Chief Financial Services Officer, Telenor Pakistan said, ‘For the progress and enrichment of any society, education is important. We are humbled to be a part of an educational program that helps in the overall development of our children and the society at large. Easypaisa, as always will keep changing lives for a better and a prosperous Pakistan!’
About Easypaisa
Pakistan’s first and largest branchless banking solution, Easypaisa, was launched jointly by Tameer Micro Finance Bank and Telenor Pakistan in 2009. Easypaisa has the largest financial footprint in Pakistan with over 80,000 Easypaisa shops in more than 800 cities across the country. Nearly 650,000 transactions are conducted on Easypaisa every day by 20 million active customers. In 2015, Easypaisa moved nearly 3% of Pakistan’s GDP. Easypaisa has the largest product portfolio of services for its customers including remittances, payments, savings and insurance and offers ATM cards and IBFT services that work with all banks connected through 1-Link in Pakistan. In February 2014, out of more than 250 Mobile Money services around the world, Easypaisa was awarded two GSMA Awards, including the “Best Mobile Money Service in the World” at the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain. For more information, please visit:http://www.easypaisa.com.pk
