ENGLISH as the medium of instruction is impeding learning in multilingual settings, while students` attendance in schools is being affected bylong distances and threats to safety during journey to schools. The parents` financial difficulty is diverting admissions towards unregulated madressahs.

These findings have been identified in a report on `Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD): situation analysis of Multan,Vehari and Muzaffargarh` conducted by the Children`s Global Network, Pakistan, (CGNP).

The report launched last week has called upon the Punjab government to address the overcrowded classrooms, long distances to schools and improve poor facilities. It demands the government must grant policy recognition to needs of children under five years of age. `The government should also provide support to schools and facilities for health and education as well as create awareness among parents of children,` said CGNP Chief Executive Mehnaz Aziz while giving a presentation at report`s launch.

The study was conducted in two parts -series of discussions with teachers, parents and community leaders; and survey of ECCD centres and schools to quantify the problems to develop a clearer understanding of the nutritional and emotional care that children (up to six years of age) were experiencing in Multan, Vehari and Muzaffargarh districts.

Ms Aziz says the average enrolment age for `kachi` class has been identified as 4.7 years thatindicates a strong need for ECCD. She says most schools believe that syllabus is inadequate, while twothirds believe that syllabus is too difficult. The survey also finds that some 10 per cent to 15 per cent of children are expected to drop out before or during grade-I.

Ms Aziz says public schools are very well situated at each village as only four per cent of all surveyed villages lack a government school, while 43 per cent of villages do not have any private school.

The private schools, however, have been found better staffed and offering ECCD than public schools.

The CGNP chief executive says there is a limited awareness among parents and children about their diet and immunisation coupled with lack of health facilities.

Punjab School Education DepartmentSecretary Jabbar Shaheen says the government is planning to construct some 70,000 classrooms to accommodate more and more students in public schools.THE Forman Christian College (A Chartered University) has supported some 8,163 students with Rs432 million raised with the help of do-nors since 2008. Formanite Jehangir Khan Tareen has set up the Jehangir Khan Tareen Scholarship to support 29 students at the university.

In order to recognise donors` generosity to support over 8,000 students, the FCC`s Advancement Office last week organised a banquet to appreciate and thanl< the donors for their support to the cause of education.

Mr Tareen, speaking on the occasion, said the two years spent at the college as a student was the best time of his life. He said it was a great opportunity that he could give back to his alma mater in the form of scholarships. He acknowledged FCC`s role in providing quality education to students, who would otherwise not be able to access it.

Stating that education leads to the pathof enlightenment, Millat Tractors CEO Irfan Aqueel lauded FCC`s role in bringing about a change in the community.

FCC Rector Dr James Tebbe spoke about the infrastructural developments at the university and projects planned for the future.

Over 600 people including corporate representatives, donors and beneficiaries were present at the occasion. A wall bearing the names of donors was unveiled and crests were given to donors funding student scholarships and endowments.IN order to bring together authors, teachers and students on a single platform so that they may collectively contribute to the learning and devel-opment of children, a day-long Children`s Literature Festival (CLF) was held at Sanjan Nagar School last week. The school-based CLF was inspired by a series of nine children festivals organised across the country by the Idara-e-Taleemo-Aagahi and Oxford University Press (OUP) in collaboration with the Open Society Foundation.

Pratham, India, co-founder Farida Lambey as well as a number of writers, ac-tors, artists and teachers including Dr Arfa Syeda Zehra, Rakae Rahman Jamil, Musharraf Ali Faroogi, Saima Asghar Riaz, Sadaf Naeem, Khagan Haider, Nadia Jamil and Waseem Alam participated in the one-day festival and gave their time, services and expertise to inspire over 1, 500 students from the Sanjan Nagar and some nearby schools.

At the CLF, the Citizens` Archive of Pakistan held cultural presentations for children and the Discovering New Artists (DNA) group conducted creative writing sessions to help students improve their critical thinking and knowledge. Story-telling sessions by Musharraf Ali Faroogi and Nadia Jamil attracted a large number of students.

The Alif Laila Book Bus Society and the OUP mobile libraries offered students to look and read books. The Little Art, Google Pakistan, the Lahore Waste Management Company and the National Book Foundation were also there for the education of children.

The CLF organisers hope that such initiatives will multiply with more schools participating in this social movement and replicating the CLF to open the door for development, learning, and new opportunities. mansoormalikl73@hotmail.com