'Take a Child to School': British Council Pakistan wins award for Ilmpossible

Young volunteers went door-to-door for enrolment of out of school children

The British Council Pakistan has won 'The Collaboration Award' at the Bond International Development Awards 2018 for its Ilmpossible: Take a Child to School programme at a ceremony in London.

The Bond International Development Award 2018 recognises and celebrates inspiring humanitarian and development work.

The Collaboration Award recognises effective collaborations within and across sectors and disciplines to tackle difficult issues. Out of ten submissions for this category, the British Council Pakistan , the Institute of Development Studies and the Stars Foundation were shortlisted as finalists.

Through Ilmpossible, over 225,000 children have enrolled at school across 65 districts of Pakistan. Over 15,000 young volunteers have been trained to run door-to-door awareness campaigns and work with parents for enrolment of out of school children.

There are over 3,000 community members who sit on ‘mohalla’ (neighbourhood) committees and collaborate with schools, the local education department and the communities to address barriers to school enrolment and retention through advocacy and self-help initiatives. This was achieved through the combined efforts of the British Council working with Educate a Child and a network of 28 local community-based partners across Pakistan.

While accepting the award, British Council Deputy Director James Hampson said: “Congratulations to my colleagues in Pakistan whose great work helped 225,000 children into the classroom out of which 40 per cent were girls.”

The second phase of Ilmpossible: Take a Child to School aims to enrol 200,000 out of school children, enable positive learning in 400 new public schools through life skills and sports. The project will also train 500 teachers to play a leadership role in their communities.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2018.