Abstract:

Despite extensive efforts by global and local stakeholders, the UN goal of achieving quality and equitable education for all school-aged children by 2030 as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-4) is still far from becoming a reality and the high numbers of out-of-school children (OOSC) around the world remains a cause for alarm. The COVID-19 pandemic further marginalised these children as attention shifted to adapting the education system to ensure the continued education of enrolled children. The failure of existing efforts by national and international stakeholders to incorporate the concerningly high percentage of OOSC within the education system, particularly in developing countries such as Pakistan, points to a lack of contextual awareness and a need to deviate from traditional approaches to addressing this challenge to discover more innovative options.

This paper presents an overview of an iteration of Digitally Operated One-Room Schoolhouses (DOORS) in rural Pakistan during COVID-19. It highlights an adaptable, sustainable, and scalable way international quality education can be provided to children from the most disadvantaged background through the amalgamation of centuries-old one-room schoolhouses with contemporary education technology tools using blended learning methodologies.

EDvantage Digital Learning System (EDLS) is a network of one-room schoolhouses operating on the DOORS framework to provide free, inclusive, and quality education to OOSC in Pakistan. The multi-grade (educational level) model integral to EDLS is a centuries-old practice that has been proven to create an enhanced sense of community and belonging, enable students to progress at their own pace, encourage peer-to-peer learning, develop crucial social skills within the children and create a stronger student-teacher relationship. EDLS prides itself on adopting a GLOCAL approach (global standards with local understanding) to provide 21st-century learning to students through a unique combination of blended learning and in-person facilitation. International quality of education is maintained through the meticulous design of learning material such as worksheets, assessments and projects created from the curriculum of Australian and Pakistani schools and delivered digitally by experienced teachers while local contextual needs are met through the presence of a trained on-campus facilitator hailing from the local community to bridge any cultural differences and communication barriers between the students and the online teachers. To understand the local contexts, in-depth surveys into the community through local partners appointed as campus administrators and interviews of the parents of OOSC in that community are also conducted before the establishment of a new campus. The presence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professionals ensures smooth running as ICT is an essential component of the DOORS framework. EDLS has achieved significant progress within a short span of time. The initiative is framed by the deep challenges of meeting SDG-4, yet there is some cause for optimism based on findings to date. This paper analyses this model's effectiveness, sustainability, and applicability within OOSC contexts in remote and rural areas of Pakistan and globally towards achieving the goals outlined in SDG-4.

Keywords:

Out-of-school children, SDG-4, one-room schoolhouse, ICT, multi-grade model, rural areas, blended learning.