On a sunny morning, a group of young children walk together in Chak 13 – a village in Southern Punjab’s Bahawalpur district – to a mud house. A sign reads “Non-Formal Education Center”. Greeted by their teacher Sunaina, the children sit on plastic mats spread across the courtyard.

Such non-formal education centers are community-based schools established in locations where formal schools are not available for children who have never enrolled in school or dropped out at some stage. As the children settle down, Sunaina asks for a volunteer to read a paragraph from the Urdu textbook.

Qurban Ali, 12, is the first to raise his hand. He reads eagerly and his classmates clap loudly after he successfully completes the task.

Though it is a modest setting, this is a dream come true for village children who are otherwise deprived of education, either due to the non-availability of a regular school in their area or the fact that their parents cannot afford to send them to one.

Chak 13 -A village is home to nearly 1,500 people but doesn’t have a single school. Most men work as laborers in the fields, while many women work as house-help in the nearby city. As poverty is rampant, children are frequently compelled to work to support their families.

Qurban, the eldest among his siblings and the only son, had been working at a relative’s barbershop in the village since the age of 10. His father Abid Hussain works as a laborer on the nearby fields while his mother sews clothes at home and sells them in the city.

A second chance at learning

When the non-formal education center was established in Chak 13, word spread fast in the small community. Qurban vividly recalls the day when he came back from work to find Sunaina and a community worker talking to his parents.

His father had refused to send Qurban to school citing their financial constraints. But what he heard next surprised him – not only was there no school fee, but the stationery and books would also be provided free of cost.

“My father kissed my forehead and told me that I would now need to wake up early every morning because I would be going to school,” shares Qurban with a smile.

Abid says that his perspective on education changed. “Earlier, I resisted my son’s education due to financial concerns. I failed to realize that without education, his future would be no different than mine. Education is the key to prosperity for our future generations. I have also decided to send my daughters to school later this year,” says Abid.

At the center, the children are taught an accelerated curriculum which helps them catch up the years of schooling they missed and reintegrate into the mainstream education system.

The centers are established within the community to ensure maximum enrollment, especially for girls, who are seldom allowed to venture out of their village.

Currently, 1,000 non-formal education centers with more than 40,000 students have been established in Punjab under the TALEEM program funded by GPE.

Bridging gaps through numeracy and literacy camps

Also under TALEEM (Transformation in Access, Learning, Equity and Education Management), 8,110 foundational literacy and numeracy camps were set up across 4,244 schools in 12 districts of Punjab. These camps served children at various educational levels—those struggling in regular classes, early dropouts, and those never enrolled in school.

Using the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach, these 8-week camps emphasize a holistic approach to child development, incorporating cognitive, emotional, and social learning.

Activity-based learning formed the foundation of the educational model. The goal: no child left behind.

Among the enrolled students, 57,620 were out-of-school children, with 27,000 of them remaining in school once the camps were finished.

Learning can’t thrive without safe and healthy school environments. In 2022, devastating floods swept through several districts in Punjab, severely damaging critical infrastructure such as classrooms, toilet blocks, and boundary walls.

These losses halted school operations in the affected areas.

In response to this disaster, GPE acted with urgency, allocating funding to support the rehabilitation of flood-affected schools – particularly for rebuilding water and sanitation facilities, crucial for student well-being and safety.

Laying the foundation for learning

Following extensive damage assessments, the scope of destruction was thoroughly evaluated. Monitoring and evaluation assistants, in collaboration with school directors, conducted a detailed review of toilet conditions and access to clean drinking water.

By ensuring access to clean, safe toilets and potable water, and thereby providing a healthier and more dignified setting, the intervention has directly contributed to improved student attendance, especially among girls, reduced dropout rates, and enhanced student focus and performance.

In Punjab, the law guarantees free and quality education for every child aged 5 to 16—but 9.6 million children remain out of school, particularly in remote or underserved areas.

With UNICEF as the grant agent and the School Education Department of Punjab leading implementation, the program set out to ensure inclusive, equitable, and quality education across the province.

Each of these interventions moves Punjab closer to a future where every child can access the quality education they deserve.