Saira*, a lone assistant education officer in the district of Kasur, in the province of Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province, walks down a dusty, barren road.  To her left are fields of hay, to her right a kiln (or brick oven) where school children and their parents eke out a living doing back-breaking work.  There is a tall, yellow chimney with thick, black smoke billowing from it.  Beside the factories are the hovels where the children live: no running water, no electricity and no prospects either.  The Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, has given a mission to Saira . It’s an important mission: Enroll every child in the district in school and make sure they learn.

Schools in Punjab lacked almost everything

The job of assistant education officer is not for the fainthearted or the meek.  Saira needs to convince local parents that their children will do better to attend school every day than to work at the kiln or in the fields to earn a meagre wage.

Until a couple of years ago the schools lacked facilities, teachers often didn’t show up and there were no new textbooks for years a degree of cynicism.

Generations of betrayal along with poverty have destroyed expectation. Parents ceased to expect anything of government and government has too often met their expectation.

A new education roadmap changes dynamic

But things changed three years ago when the Chief Minister adopted an Education Roadmap. Now schools are getting better, facilities are improving, teachers are present every day and textbooks are available.  Now, Saira may see a chance of success. It won’t happen overnight, because thousands of teachers will have to tramp dusty roads day after day, go door to door, in villages and towns, to bring the children to school.

No more words, but actions

There are plenty of speeches echoing round the hallowed, elegant marble halls of the United Nations or the sleek modern atrium of the World Bank.  At these grand institutions world leaders queue up to decry the shame of 57 million primary-age children around the world still not being enrolled in school and assert the moral importance of finally achieving the much-heralded goal of universal primary enrollment. Reports from the World Bank, UNESCO and elsewhere add to the millions of words on the theme.

If speeches and reports made the difference every child would long since have been enrolled. Moral fervor has its place but it does not get the job done.

The battle for universal enrollment will not be fought in these halls nor will words lead to victory. No, instead, this battle is being fought day after day on the dusty roads, among the packed urban slums and in the humid hovels of Punjab and other places like it.

Words are cheap today; actions, however small, matter.  No point talking about tomorrow, what matters is what we do today. There is no silver bullet of technology, no easy solution, no quick fix; only the relentless, uncompromising drive for results being instilled throughout the entire system.

Successful enrollment in Punjab

In the last six months of 2013, Punjab ran one of the most successful enrollment campaigns in its history. Around half a million extra primary-aged children were enrolled in school over that period. Mainly in the rural south where enrollment has been lowest and girls are most likely to be out of school.

The ingredients of success are clear and practical. Nothing clever. Just applied common sense. After pilots in a couple of villages in different parts of the province, we learned what to do.

First, from the center of the system to the smallest administrative unit, the tehsil, there has to be someone accountable for delivering extra enrollment.

We put this in place. Second, during the enrollment drive the system’s leaders need to be on the case. In Punjab the Chief Minister approved the plan personally, launched the drive publicly and demanded regular updates on progress. Meanwhile, the education secretary called every one of the 36 districts every day throughout the drive to check on progress. Third, everyone involved was trained on specific, proven tactics just before the enrollment drive began.  This meant that there was a single common message and roles and responsibilities were clear. Fourth, the eleven districts with the biggest challenge were given priority attention.

Getting children in – one by one

Fifth, it’s all about the ‘how’ at the street level. Yes, use the big broad-brush arguments about the value of education but don’t depend on them alone. Over 30,000 teachers in the priority districts were given simple handbooks in Urdu and training to enable them to learn what works. The key to success with a door-to-door campaign is to take with you a child already in school. Let them persuade the children and let the parents hear what they say. Take a new textbook too and explain that the books are free. Enroll the child on the spot. Take them to school there and then, if possible. If not, come back at school time the following day and bring all the children from that street in together. Crucially, of course, the school has to be functioning effectively so that when the children come it is a positive experience.

In 2014, encouraged by last year’s success, more districts will follow. There is a new belief in the system and the provincial and district leaders, many of them new after last year’s elections, have greater experience. Moreover, the schools are continuing to improve. We have momentum.

We don’t need decades, we need dedication

UNESCO said recently that, at present rates of enrollment, it would take many more decades before every primary age child was enrolled in school and learning. Our experience suggests that need not be the case. On the contrary, with the right combination of political will as shown by the Chief Minister of Punjab and relentless door-to-door work, the task could be completed within a decade. We need more engaged assistant education officers and fewer speeches and reports.

*Saira Malik is a fictional character based on many personalities met over our time in Pakistan