CDGK # 3 (City District Government Karachi) is a primary school that was established in 1984, and was upgraded to the status of a secondary school. Even though the school has it’s fair share of problems in the form of political instability, small staff (total 8 teachers including 5 CRI trained teachers), and students coming from families with a poor educational background, it is successfully imparting quality education to over 250 students, aiming to let the children face this world with confidence and pride

School Atmosphere
All of the students and teachers have a strong sense of ownership. The staff, students and head teacher are all united in their concern over the school premises. Mrs. Parveen Akhter, the head teacher is always available to facilitate her staff and students and this has created strong bonds between the head and the rest of the school.
    
Teaching and Learning Process
Ms. Nazneen , A CRI trained teacher, said “CRI has helped us bloom and given us new ways to think and now all of us are putting efforts to apply new approaches to maximize learning outcomes.” The trained teachers have become a source of motivation for other teachers in school, as their use of methodology has brought enormous success. The focus of the CRI trained teachers is mainly on integrated learning, as that will bring life long results. Working in groups, morning meetings, the use of CRI material and participating in co-curricular activities has really boosted the morale of children.

Ms. Imtiaz, another CRI trained teacher, said “I and other CRI trained teachers plan different integrated lessons. While designing activities we keep in mind the level and needs of the students and we incorporate real life examples to teach different concepts.” Ms. Haseena, Ms. Shehnaz and Ms. Shahida added that they make sure daily to write the morning news, have students with name tags, and maintain portfolios, and bulletin board of parental involvement.

The Learners (Students)
Literature mentions that integration at primary level helps children extend their thinking, develop confidence and make decisions. Hence, integration enables students understand different concepts with different perspectives which allow them to think more widely. Ms. Shahida, another CRI partner teacher   mentioned that they keep students engaged in different activities like selecting their particular jobs weekly, making 100th day charts, maintaining the weather chart, celebrating the “Apple day”.

The creative work displayed in classrooms in the form of creative charts and posters shows the students’ interest, eagerness and motivation towards learning.

Parents Involvement
Ms. Haseena said that she and her fellow teachers make sure that the parents participate in school activities. Parents not only attend the morning meetings but also come to school to participate in different activities and share information with students. The Head teacher and teachers explained that this not only keeps the students motivated and parents well informed about their children’s progress but also builds up confidence in the mothers who are coming from a illiterate, poverty-stricken areas.

CRI appreciates the struggle with which the school has come up to this current level of providing quality education to the future of Pakistan.