SERVICES

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Strategic Planning and Management of the Education Sector

Years of engagement with the education sector of Pakistan on policy and strategy as well as implementation level qualify the INSPIRE consult resources and associates as experienced agents of change. Our strategic planning expertise stem firmly from long years of hands on capacity building engraining strategic thinking, planning and management within dynamic change processes aimed at enhancing systems’ efficiency and effectiveness. With this rich experience we contribute par excellence advisory on education sector policy, governance and quality within a systemic context, thus enabling clarification of goals, alignment of strategies, and the use of capacity and resources to make a marked difference in the sector.

Significant experience in the education sector quality reform process, under a ‘systems approach’, enables INSPIRE consult to stand out as the reserve of specialized resources that can be deployed for clients’ specific needs. We are geared up to spearhead interventions aimed at contributing holistically to the reform agenda as well as targeted innovative interventions focusing on specific aspects of education quality including academic and supplementary material, teaching and learning processes etc. At the INSPIRE consult this domain enlarges to include technical expertise relating to standards in education anchored into the curriculum framework and its associated implementation and feedback processes.

This rich resource base caters to clients’ needs within the following range of services:

Governance and management in Education

  • Education Sector Policy and Planning
  • Institutional and Organizational Capacity Development
  • Education Research, Monitoring and Evaluation
  • Education Advocacy and Policy Dialogues
  • Education Leadership and Management
  • Community Mobilization for Education

 Quality in Education

  • Management of Curriculum Change
  • Academic and Supplementary Materials
  • Teachers’ Professional Development.
  • Teaching and Learning Content and Processes
  • Standards in Education
  • Assessment Systems

 Access to Education

  • Public Private Partnerships
  • Community based Initiatives
  • Innovative Approaches for Awareness

Many of the challenges faced in the social, economic and political development of the country are exacerbated to a large extent by pervasive insecurity and instability. The nexus of economic and social development continues to be constrained by insecure environments that nurture speculation and trigger aversion to initiative, enterprise and growth, thereby eliminating the genesis of many small and medium sized businesses. The legal and judicial system of Pakistan, in addition to the structural and institutional inefficiencies, is also overburdened with multiple petty cases that not even clog the law and justice system further but also lead to delays in the dispensation of justice. This brings to fore the need for strengthening the informal justice, more prominently than ever before to put people at the helm of the development of their society.

The bulging population segment of young people in the demographic landscape of Pakistan, within a sluggishly growing economy, bears the danger of providing breeding grounds for violence and militancy. Insufficient household income coupled with inefficient public sector schooling make the mal-regulated (often unregulated) informal and madrassa education systems the only choice for poor parents with regard to their education. Similarly, unemployment and scarcity of avenues for productive engagement of young people particularly may create spaces and pathways to activities that work to the detriment of the society and fuel a heritage of insecurity and violence.

Access to justice under a broader rule of law entails that all people are able to resort to the formal and informal justice system for resolving their problems and enjoying a safe and just society. Amongst others, the access to justice and security of the most vulnerable groups (women, ethnic and religious minorities, people of differing sexual orientation or gender identity, etc.) is a key indicator of how effectively the society upholds its general security and protects the right of its citizens to a just and effective rule. A related metric, and of particular relevance to Pakistan in the wake of the militancy and the government’s anti-militants operations is the need to explore the potential of strengthening locally available informal means of justice dispensation and the possibilities of creating linkages to the formal governmental system for effective steps towards community level rule of law and security.

A deep understanding of the issues with regard to the security and access to justice sector embedded firmly in the “systems approach” enables INSPIRE consult to view developmental goals within the sector in the larger context of relevance, effectiveness and sustainability. Participation and inclusion constitute the key pillars that support the strong foundation of the developmental approach based on empowering relevant stakeholders to conceptualize, implement and monitor the progress on the changes they steer.

INSPIRE consult brings together law enforcement, lawyers and the judiciary, teachers, social scientists, community notables and activists and justice experts to provide cross-disciplinary and interactive innovative methods to address many pressing issues in the overall security and access to justice and law enforcement ambit. Relevant INSPIRE consult expert resources investigate core problems through systematic application of research, knowledge and practical experience to devise innovative and relevant strategies and interventions aimed at addressing the justice system’s most intractable challenges.

The range of service that INSPIRE consult offer in the Security and Access to Justice ambit include:

  • Diagnostic missions, research and studies (including: scoping and mapping, perceptions, baseline, follow up and impact studies)
  • Strategic advice and design and execution of interventions (including capacity assessment development activities, strategic development and implementation of projects and policies)
  • Support to programme identification and development, monitoring and evaluation, negotiation and coordination with public/private partners and stakeholders
    • Partnership development, community sensitization, awareness, engagement and outreach.
    • Stakeholder consultations, inception and validation.
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution and Legal Aid Mechanisms
  • Research and analysis of models of Community and law enforcement authorities’ partnerships

Many countries around the world are witnessing the emergence of young people in their demographic landscape. While the population of the older segments dwindles, the Millennials now account for a much larger proportion of the workforce. A burgeoning amount of recent research points at the importance of addressing the needs of this population cohort, among which leadership readiness constitutes a critical gap that must be filled. The presence of a large working age population without effective leadership and management results in underutilization of a rich base of human resource. Such a state of affairs has serious implications for the pace and momentum of progress in developing and developed economies. It is imperative to address the leadership and management gap in both instances to ensure the momentum and consolidation of gains so far.

Leadership entails fostering champions and active contributors within an ethos of sound planning driven by the ultimate aim of organizational and institutional capacity development. These champions then become guiding forces within their respective domains and bear the potential of seeing the plans executed effectively. Over time, these emerging leaders are anticipated to direct the development of plans and their execution. This evolving set of expectations necessitates the provision of proper tool sets to these individuals particularly in the context of driving sustainable change. r

Effective leadership and management entail motivating team members through:

  • Active engagement in person, in a supportive and approachable manner.
  • Enhancement of primary skills including: communication, management and coaching
  • Effective use of emotional intelligence, which helps him/her relate to and engage with their teams and to redirect the latter’s ineffective approaches.

INSPIRE consult helps leadership teams align around core essentials that drive their collective success such as:

  • Team building which lies at the core of our methodological framework, we customize design and facilitate team alignment programs based on identified needs (through quantitative and qualitative assessment) to address areas that will have the most impact.
  • Engagement through multiple sessions with the overall team as well as those in management and leadership. The latter are also supported through individual one on one coaching sessions to help them tease out and focus their energies on areas identified for improvement.
  • On boarding and Off-boarding of teams and their leaders thereby helping teams in their development trajectories and enabling smooth execution of duties as well as transitions in an environment characterized by trust and mutual support.

Communication lies at the heart of all processes and is often one of the most important ingredients for success. Effective Communication is a critical tool, which harnesses and enables change and drives public debates on a vast range of issues. Right from their conception all development interventions whether aimed at the policy ambit or those in the operational sphere, require sound communications and outreach strategies for participatory conception, design and implementation for sustainable outcomes. While effective communication is critical in development cooperation involving multiple levels of stakeholders, it is equally important for communication within the organization to ensure that the key messages remain consistent. This enables confident and responsible dissemination of messages and efficient external communication whether for confidence building or thematic content.

INSPIRE Consult specializes in the conception and implementation of intervention specific communication strategy formulation and assists organizations in this regard, in many ways. At INSPIRE consult we approach change processes in a supply and demand framework and subject interventions to thorough analysis before the development of a strategic action plan. This methodology ensures that all angles of the communications needs such as awareness regarding the change process is optimally tweaked both for supply of new information or material as well as for generating effective demand for perceivably sensitive material or products.  The basis for such engagement lies in active stakeholder engagement interaction in person as well as through a myriad of media sources as relevant.

In the context of capacity development, customized training and coaching requires development of simplistic and effective resource materials. Likewise, educational material for schools and colleges ranging from awareness material to that relating to attitudinal change all has to based on the specific needs and particular socio-cultural context for it to make an impression on the readers and contribute to envisaged change process.

The INSPIRE Consult business model, draws from its network of highly skilled professionals to offer an array of strategically creative consulting services lying in the ambit of ‘communications and outreach’. We enable focused strategies and effective positioning to key audiences, generating influence with stakeholders and promoting internal alignment to business objectives at the same time. A focused and keen eye on timeliness ensures that communication process flows seamlessly into the engagement process ensuring service delivery. The objective is to execute all activities for the best strategic impact minimizing waste and noise for better return on investments.

INSPIRE Consult add value to clients through a range of strategy and communication consulting services. Some of the ways in which we can aid interventions are:

  • Strategic Communications Planning
  • Stakeholder Engagement
  • Key Messages Development and Dissemination
  • Project Management
  • Development of Media Materials
  • Social Media Management