The Human Development Foundation (HDF) has launched a new educational initiative called Digital Study Hall Pakistan (DSHP) to disseminate targeted knowledge and skills training through digital video. The project seeks to make widely available the most effective and inspirational teaching procedures to students in underdeveloped areas.
The highest quality experts and teachers use the most effective teaching methods in a culturally relevant context. They are also able to engage and inspire students to learn and to expand their horizons. HDF aims to provide a uniform access of quality education and skills training to students across Pakistan.
Shortage of qualified and trained teachers in rural schools is one of the greatest hurdles in the spread of education across Pakistan. Teachers unqualified to teach subjects under their purview are commonplace, especially in rural government schools or non-formal/community schools run by civil society organizations.
In order to resolve this problem, HDF Pakistan has launched recorded teaching sessions by expert teachers. These sessions are generated at the Hub or a central location and repository, will be of great benefit to the teachers of the Spoke schools (the target schools where the sessions will be conducted).
Each session is planned so as to serve as a guide to students, as well as teachers. Working with the videos, teachers at the Spoke schools will learn effective methods to teach. The videos shall also serve as effective study aids.
The Digital Study Hall Pakistan program will enable the experts of the field to communicate their substantial expertise in a culturally relevant way. The videos are aimed to inspire students and broaden their horizons. The influence and impact of the teachers/experts at the Hub is expected to be wide, as the videos are to be made available to a large audience. In particular, HDF shall make these videos available through the internet and free of cost.
The Hub for the teaching of Grade 1 is at Islamabad and there are four Spoke schools in all. Two of these are at Karachi, one at Tando Muhammad Khan and the last one is in Islamabad. All Spoke schools have teachers who shall conduct the videos. Working as moderators, these teachers will learn the teaching techniques demonstrated by experts. Islamabad shall also host the Hub for the Teachers Training, while the two Spokes for it will each be in Islamabad and Rahim Yar Khan.
With this project HDF shall allow students of target schools to dramatically improve their performance and be in a position to compete with the rest of the world. This intersection of technology and innovation with the spread of education has been made because of support from the KASB Group.
Dr. Zubair Anwar-Bawany, Trustee and Group Legal Counsel of KASB, had this to say about the program and regarding their collaboration with HDF:
“HDF’s Digital Hall Study Project is a welcome initiative and we are proud to be involved in its development. We have seen how the pilot program has helped to recognise pupils throughout the school achieve well because of the good quality of teaching and learning and the consistent attention that is paid to each pupil’s communication and interaction needs.
From our own interactions with students at a recent on-site visit, pupils’ self-confidence rose in the climate of praise and encouragement. The KASB Group as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda is entirely committed to enabling every pupil to be a fulfilled and valued member of society. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. Together with their good achievement in key areas, this contributes significantly to preparing pupils exceptionally well for the next stage in their lives.”