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International Journal of Educational Science and Research (IJESR) ISSN 2249-6947 Vol.

3, Issue 2, Jun 2013, 1-10 TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

MEASURING COMMUNIY PERCEPTION REGARDING BETTERMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION MADE IN POOR URBAN AREAS OF FAISALABAD
HAQ NAWAZ ANWAR1, PARIS ZAKA ULLAH2, TEHSIN FATIMA3, NAJMA BANO MAQSOOD4 & SAJIDA PARVEEN5
1

Chairman Department of Sociology, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan Lecturer Department of Sociology, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

2,4 3 5

Department of Sociology, Government College University, Faisalabad, Layyah Campus, Pakistan

Research Assistant, Department of Sociology, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

ABSTRACT
A project named Faisalabad Area Upgrading Project was implemented in four low-income areas of Faisalabad city from 1995-2001by funding from UK and Pakistan Governments. This project included the Basic Education along with other components. The conceived objectives of education component were to ensure that the urban poor children, especially girls had access to, persist and participate in quality education. This study is an impact assessment by measuring the level of community perception. The primary data was collected through interviews from one randomly selected area. The data was analyzed by calculating frequencies and using Yehs Index of Perception. The results have revealed that the community has better perception about the delivery of basic education in the project pilot areas. However, the community perceived a moderate improvement in other aspects. The reactivation of community based organizations is recommended for further improvement.

KEYWORDS: Community Perception, Urban Poor, Clean Drinking Water, Minimum Infrastructure Threshold, Logical
Framework, School Management Committees

INTRODUCTION
The Government of Pakistan gave priority to poverty alleviation in 7th Five Year Plan (1988-93). This objective of 7th five year plan was accomplished through generous funding for social and physical development sectors. The active participation of the community, especially the poor was central to the overall approach of all projects. The Governments of UK and Pakistan agreed on a poverty alleviation project (Faisalabad Area Upgrading Project -FAUP) in 1989. The overall objective of this project was to improve the quality of life of poor living in low-income areas of Faisalabad city. There were two implementing agencies as ODA through GHKI, UK based consultants and Faisalabad Development Authority (FDA) through a Project Management Unit (PMU), especially established for this project. A Logical Framework of the project was prepared by the experts, consultants, project staff, and all stakeholders in the Faisalabad city including the communities as well in 1993. This project included the improvement of infrastructure, health, small enterprise development and Basic Education. Four pilot areas (Slums and Katchi Abadis) were selected for this project. The standard of education in these pilot areas was found to be very poor during preliminary surveys. The goal of basic education according to Logical Framework was Demonstrate a replicable community le d approach to the delivery of quality basic education to the urban poors. Further, the purpose stated in the same Log Frame was as, urban poor children, especially girls, enabled to access, persist and participate in quality basic education (PMU, GHKI, DAG and WEDC, 1993). Moreover, the following outputs of basic education component were envisaged in the same Log Frame:

Haq Nawaz Anwar, Paris Zaka Ullah, Tehsin Fatima, Najma Bano Maqsood, & Sajida Parveen

Sufficient school places available in the pilot area to meet the demand; Conducive Physical environments in all schools in the pilot areas; Cohort of competent/motivated resource teachers in all schools; Social, cultural and religious barriers to education reduced; Cost factor of education reduced; Active School Management Committees (SMCs); and Per-school opportunities provided. In the light of above outputs the following activities were proposed:

Optimize use of Government of Punjab and Faisalabad Municipal Corporations schools by running non-formal education (NFE) classes after school hours;

Construct boundary walls, latrines, provide shade and install drinking water facilities; INSET programme for selected teachers; Meetings in schools and/or at lane level; Incentive schemes for girls (text books, bussing and free places); Elect SMCs members and organize orientation session; and Promote non formal pre-schools. To accomplish the above activities, a strategy of basic education was envisaged that addressed the access to basic

education as well as the quality of delivery mechanism. In order to achieve this objective, the following parameters were identified (Alam and Naveed (2001) : Improvements in the physical infrastructure in selected schools in the pilot project areas to a minimum acceptable level. Improvements to the teaching and learning environments through, in Service Training (INSET), provision of learning and teaching resources as well as head teachers training in the selected schools in the pilot project areas. Setting of standards of achievements for all the schools in pilot areas. The existing situations of education services in the pilot areas were analyzed by FAUP team and the team pointed out two important issues: First, the schools rehabilitation should not be a piecemeal project. The notion of a minimum acceptable level of physical development was adopted. It was decided that each school in FAUP areas should develop a minimum infrastructure threshold (MIT) level using government rules and regulations and community should contribute 20% share of total cost of MIT in cash. The FAUP MIT level comprised the following: Supply of clean drinking water; Latrines for students and teachers;

Measuring Communiy Perception Regarding Betterment of Basic Education Made in Poor Urban Areas of Faisalabad

Electricity for the premises; Construction of Boundary wall; Rehabilitation or building of schools; and Provision of school furniture. Another strategic focus of the education campaign has been addressing the needs of adult education. Considering

that most of the adult population of the pilot areas in 1994 was illiterate, there was a need to improve access to education for all, particularly for women. Moreover, the training needs of teachers were identified and provided with suitable skills and competencies through INSET (In-Service Training). A total number of 144 teachers (75 male and 69 female) have been trained under the FAUP, INSET programme. The proposed strategy for improvement of basic education was implemented in four FAUP pilot areas from 19952001. It is anticipated that the implementation of this project may have brought some positive changes in the improvement of physical and social environment that may have some impacts on basic education which will have resulted into delivery of quality basic education to the urban poor living in low-income urban areas of Faisalabad. So, a research study was visualized to assess the impacts of this project through measuring the level of community perception.

METHODS
Merton (1957) referred methodology as the logic of scientific procedures. Social research is a systematic method of discovering new facts or verifying old facts, their sequence, interrelationship, casual explanation and natural laws that govern them. According to Nachmias and Nachmias (1992) the scientific methodology is a system of explicit rules and procedures upon which research is based and against which the clai ms for knowledge is evaluated. The first step in research methodology is to select the universe of the research. As Dixon and Marry (1957) said that any set of individuals or object having common observable characteristics constitute a population or universe. There were four pilot areas (slums and katchi abadis) of the FAUP. One pilot area called Chak No. 7/JB (old village and now becomes urban area due to extension of municipal limits of the city in 1984) situated on Sargodha road out of four was selected randomly. Total population of this area was the universe of the research study in hand. There are 1600 households in this area. A 5% sample (80 households) was taken for the study. The whole area was divided into five neighborhoods. Subsequently, a proportionate number of respondents from each neighborhood were selected by simple random sampling technique. This technique has been advocated by Kish (1965). A systematic random sampling technique was used to identify the individual respondents for interview. A well thought and well conceived Interviewing Schedule was prepared fo r collection of data. Pre testing of the each interview schedule was done on five respondents. After pre testing some questions were reshaped, reconstructed and modified to enhance the workability of the data collection tool. analysis and Yehs Index of Perception for inferential analysis were used. Yehs Index of Perception Yehs Index of Perception (YIP) was used to analyze the peoples perception level regarding the various factors (physical, environmental, cultural, social, economical and improvement made in schools) commenced under the FAUP for improvement of basic education in low-income areas of Faisalabad city. In comparing YIP, the scale of perception was After collection of the

data, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for its analysis. The simple frequencies for descriptive

Haq Nawaz Anwar, Paris Zaka Ullah, Tehsin Fatima, Najma Bano Maqsood, & Sajida Parveen

converted into a 4 point Likerts scale, identifying four levels of perception i.e. better; same, worse and indifferent. Subtracting the number of worse cases from the number of better cases and then dividing it by the total number of responses obtain the index number. Putting it into a symbolic form, the YIP, can be written into the following expression: YIP Where: B = the number of people who perceived better about one attribute. W = the number of people who perceived worse about one attribute; and R = the total number of responses. This index ranges from +1 to 1. A positive value indicates that there are more respondents who perceived better than those who perceived worse. The larger the value, the more intensive is the degree of better perception or worse perception. = B-W R

RESULTS
To analyze and interpret the data are the most vital steps in empirical studies. The generalization and prediction can not be achieved without this step that is the objective of all scientific researches. The analysis of collected data show that about 50% respondents in Chak 7/JB, belong to labor class and the total monthly income of a hug majority (78%) of households was Rs. 3000-6000. This reveals that the majority of community is very poor. Similarly, Table: 1 portrays that a huge majority (81.3 percent) of the community was sending their children to school as they were mobilized by FAUP team members. It means that FAUP has been able to mobilize the community through launching campaigns, restructuring and training of SMCs, to send their children to schools for receiving basic education. In addition, basic facilities such as boundary walls, clean drinking water, latrines, and development of grounds/parks were also improved by FAUP and community in schools situated in low-income areas of Faisalabad city. Table 1: Distribution of the Respondents According to the Mobilizing Factors Which Attract Them to Send Their Children to School Response Frequency Percentage Value of education 6 7.5 Mobilized by FAUP 65 81.3 Social factors 3 3.8 Economic factors 6 7.5 Total 80 100 Perception of Improvement Made in Basic Education The perception of improvement of environmental factors which are necessary for improvement in basic education tells us how effective and successful the FAUP has been for basic education. The higher the level of improvement perceived by the target population, better the impact of the programme. Th e users opinion about the change in different parameters was used for measuring the impact of improvement made in basic education in by FAUP in low-income areas of Faisalabad city. Perception Level of Respondents about Different Elements of Improvement Table 2 depicts that 32.5 percent of the respondents think that the introduction of different elements of

Measuring Communiy Perception Regarding Betterment of Basic Education Made in Poor Urban Areas of Faisalabad

improvement in schools did not bring any change for basic education in the area, while half of the respondents reported that the situation has even become worse. About 17.5 percent of the respondents think that the quality of teaching at school was better, while 27.5 percent of the respondents think that the quality of teaching at schools was same and more than half i.e. 51.3 percent of the respondents reported that the quality of teaching at schools was worse. Majority i.e. 70.0 percent of the respondents opinion was that the interaction of SMCs with parents was better . A large majority i.e. 77.5 percent of the respondents perceived better about the usefulness of education, whereas 11.3 percent of the respondents had no opinion. Table 2: Distribution of the Respondents Regarding their Perception about Different Elements of Improvement Level of Perception Same Worse No. % No. % 26 32.5 40 50 22 27.5 41 51.3 9 11.3 15 18.8 3 3.8 6 7.5

Elements of Improvement Availability of basic facilities at schools Quality of teaching at schools Interaction of SMCs with parents Usefulness of education

Better No. % 14 17.5 14 17.5 56 70 62 77.5

No Opinion No. % 3 3.8 9 11.3

Indices of Community Improvement Perception for Different Elements The data were analyzed by using an Index of Improvement similar to the Yehs Index of satisfaction i.e. the difference of better and worse cases was divided b y the total numbers of responses. Table: 3 indicates that a very high level of improvement has been perceived by the people in case of interaction of SMCs with parents and usefulness of education. However, no improvement has been perceived by the respondents in case of quality of teaching and provision of basic facilities at schools. Table 3: Indices of Improvement Perception for Introducing Different Elements of Improvement in Schools by FAUP Different Elements of Improvement Availability of basic facilities at school Quality of teaching at schools Interaction of SMCs with parents Usefulness of education Better 14 14 56 62 Worse 40 41 15 6 Index of Improvement -0.325 -0.338 0.513 0.7

Community Perception about Improvement Made Regarding Access to Basic Education for Girls It was one of the basic objectives of FAUP to improve the accessibility (to remove constraints) for girls basic education. Table 4: reveals that a huge majority i.e. 81.3 percent of the respondents perceived that the traditiona l attitude of not sending the daughters to schools was changed (better). Similarly majority i.e. 68.7 percent of the respondents perceive that the supply constraints like location-distance, availability of facilities and female teachers for girls in schools was improved (better). The same table shows that majority i.e. 66.3 percent of the respondents think that the demand constraints were same. This means that no improvement was made as far as demand constraints are concerned. The location of schools and the facilities available in those schools for girls, like farther distance and shortage of female teacher are among some of the factors that have determined whether parents allow their daughters to go to school or not.

Haq Nawaz Anwar, Paris Zaka Ullah, Tehsin Fatima, Najma Bano Maqsood, & Sajida Parveen

Table 4: Distribution of the Respondents According to Level of Perception about Improvement Made in Access to Basic Education for Girls Impediments to the Participation of Girls in Education Traditional attitude Supply constraints Demand constraints Level of Perception Same Worse No. %Age No. %Age 15 18.7 21 26.3 53 66.3 17 21.3

Better No. %Age 65 81.3 55 68.7 -

No Opinion No. %Age 4 5 10 12.5

Indices of Community Perception about Improvement Made Regarding Access to Basic Education for Girls Table 5: shows that a very high level of improvement has been perceived by the people in case of traditional attitude of parents and supply constraints like availability of female teachers due to which parents were reluctant to send their daughters to schools. Table 5: Indices of Community Perception about Improvement Made Regarding Access to Basic Education for Girls Impediments to the Participation of Girls in Education Traditional attitude Supply constraints Demand constraints Better 65 55 0 Worse 0 0 17 Indices of Improvement 0.813 0.688 -0.213

Perception of the Community about Improvement Made in Non-Formal Education Table: 6 portrays that a majority i.e. 76.3 percent of the respondents perceived that the accessibility to non-formal was better; while 23.8 percent of the respondents think that no improvement has been made in the accessibility. It is also revealed from the same table that majority i.e. 62.5 percent of the respondents think that the increase in awareness of community-marginalized one about education was same. A huge majority i.e. 81.3 percent of the respondents perceived that the discouragement of school system was better. It was considered by the community before the intervention of FAUP that state schools system was not good but now they have better perception about it. About 11.3 percent of the respondents perceived that betterment was made in un-affordability (income of the households increased), while 63.8 percent of the respondents think that un-affordability of education expenses was worse (no increase in monthly income of households). Table 6: Distribution of the Respondents According to their Perception about Improvement Made in Non-Formal Basic Education Improvement Made in Basic Education Increase in Accessibility Increase in awareness of marginalized community Discouragement of school system Reduction in un-affordability Better No. %Age 61 76.3 17 65 9 21.3 81.3 11.3 Level of Perception Same Worse No. %Age No. %Age 19 23.8 50 17 62.5 21.3 8 12 51 10 15 63.8 No Opinion No. %Age 5 3 3 6.3 3.8 3.8

Betterment Perceived by the Community in Non-Formal Education Table 7: shows that community has betterment perception in case of accessibility, and discouragement of state run schools system. The community had not good concept about the Government Schools before, the intervention by FAUP.

Measuring Communiy Perception Regarding Betterment of Basic Education Made in Poor Urban Areas of Faisalabad

They assumed that such schools are deprived of basic facilities. However, the community perception about increased in awareness of urban poor is moderate and community perception about affordability of education is worse Table 7: Indices of Community Perception about Development Made in Non-Formal Basic Education Due to Intervention of FAUP Improvements Made in NonFormal Basic Education Increase in Accessibility Discouragement of state school system Increase in awareness of marginalized community poor urban Reduction in Un-affordability Better 61 65 17 9 Worse 0 12 8 51 Index of Perception 0.763 0.663 0.113 -0.525

The Overall Community Perception about Improvement Made in Basic Education Services in Low-Income Areas of Faisalabad City The overall indices of community perception were calculated to assess that how the community has perceived about the improvement made in the delivery of basic education. In other words the purpose of FAUP, urban poor children, especially girls, enabled to access, persist and participate in quality basic education is met or not. Table 8 reveals that perceived improvement made in case of increase in literacy, enhancement in community participation in education activities, and success of awareness campaigns launched by FAUP in low-income arrears of Faisalabad city is very high. The perceived improvement in case of working/functioning of SMCs, students, retention rate, maintaining discipline in schools, students/teachers attendance and enhancement in teachers skills due to INSET is of medium level. The people perceived that no improvement has been made in respect of working of functional literacy centers. Table 8: Indices of Community Perception about Improvement Made in Basic Education Services in Low-Incomes Areas of Faisalabad City Measures Taken by FAUP Increase in literacy rate Community participation Awareness campaigns launched by FAUP Working/functioning of SMCs Students retention rate Maintaining of Discipline in schools Student/teacher attendance Enhancement of Teachers skills Working of Functional literacy centers Better 65 69 65 31 45 44 46 37 28 Worse 0 9 15 13 27 29 34 34 30 Index of Perception 0.813 0.75 0.625 0.225 0.225 0.188 0.15 0.038 -0.025

CONCLUSIONS
The main findings and conclusions drawn through the study about Measuring Community Perception, Regarding Betterment of Basic Education made In Poor Urban Areas of Faisalabad are placed below: A huge majority i.e. 81.3 percent of the respondents were sending their children to schools due to mobilization raised by FAUP team and still it persist. The community has perceived very high improvement made in literacy rate-increase in literacy and community participation in basic education which was the central to the approach of FAUP. The community has also better

Haq Nawaz Anwar, Paris Zaka Ullah, Tehsin Fatima, Najma Bano Maqsood, & Sajida Parveen

perception about the campaign launched by FAUP for improvement of basic education in poor urban areas of Faisalabad city. The community has perceived that working/functioning of SMCs, students, retention rate, maintaining discipline in schools, students/teachers attendance and enhancement in teachers skills due to INSET is good but not high. The community did not perceive proper working of functional literacy centers. It may be due to no follow up action or they may be not required. In the light of above conclusions, following suggestions are made: The reactivation of community based organization is recommended for proper follow up of working of SMCs, checking the teachers/students attendance and organizing refresher training for teachers. The functional literacy centers should be closed as the adult literacy has been increased and community has perceived very high rate in adult literacy..

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Measuring Communiy Perception Regarding Betterment of Basic Education Made in Poor Urban Areas of Faisalabad

13. Government of Pakistan. (2002-03). Economic Survey of Pakistan, economic advisor wing, Islamabad, Pakistan. 14. Hussain, A. K. (2000). Educating the working child, Dawn of Dec. 4. 15. Malik, S (2001). How the East was robbed" published in the daily" Dawn" July 22. 16. Marans, R. W. and W. Rodgers (1975). Towards Understanding of Community Satisfaction in a Hawley and V. Rock (ed), Metropolitan America in Contemporary Perspective, New York, PP.299-352. 17. Merton, P. (1957). Social Theory and Social Structure. Free Press, American Illinois, PP. 86. 18. Mustafa, Y. (2001). Getting rid of the Burden, Published in the daily Dawn" July 22. 19. Nachmias, C. F. and Nachmias, D. (1992). Research method in social science Published by Edward Ar nold. A division of Hooder and Stoughtous, London. 20. Raza (2004). Reasons of low enrollment in primary schools M.Sc. Thesis. University of Punjab, Lahore. 21. Schulze, R.T., Arts and J. A. Beegle. (1963). The Measurement of Community Satisfaction and Decision to Migrate, Rural Sociology, Vol. 1, 28(3), 279-83. 22. Sewell, (2005). Fathers education had a slightly stronger affect on male but both mothers and fathers education had almost equal effect for females. 23. Sindho (2002). Parents attitude towards their children education in rural areas of Faisalabad. M.Sc. thesis, Department of Rural Sociology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. 24. Zaidi, S.S. (1982). An Evaluation of Katchi Abadi Improvement Programme in Lahore, Pakistan, M. Sc. Thesis, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand.

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