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ContactMr Md Maqsud Alam Bukhari, Ministry of Education, Shaheed-I-MillatSecretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan.29. Integrated Instructional Materials ProjectAnalysis of reasons for declining standards in primary education inPakistan has pointed to deficiencies in curriculum and curriculummaterials. Research results indicate a need for further integration of theprimary curriculum across Grades I to III. In particular there is a need forthat curriculum to be integrated into two textbooks - one for mathematicsand the other for languages, Islaiyat, science and social studies.The project began in 1992 and is undertaken by Ministry of Education. Ithas defined an integrated curriculum as 'one that contains all of theactivities that schools are expected to promote for transmitting useful andcomprehensive knowledge to the student concerning their immediateenvironment'. The materials were developed through team workshops,and the strategy for developing a conceptual framework was to use thestory-telling dialogue method based on simple concepts of the immediateenvironment.Support for implementation of the new materials comprised: teacherorientation, supplementary materials, teacher guides and studentworkbooks. The teacher orientation included guidelines for assessingstudents’ skills in reading, comprehension and reflective thinking.The results suggested that the integrated curriculum is most successful inthe area of language development. Teachers also indicated a preferencefor textbooks developed for the integrated curriculum because of theirhigh quality and attractiveness to students. But many teachers continuedto be unable to conceptualize education in an integrated manner. Science,in particular, is still considered by many teachers to be a separate, standalonesubject.List of Projects by CountryContactMr Hashim Abbasi, Curriculum Wing, Ministry of Education, Shaheed-I-MillatSecretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan.30. Mobile Female Teacher Training ProgrammeBaluchistan is the largest province of Pakistan. It is thinly populated.Literacy rates among rural women are less than 5 per cent. As aconsequence, very few women train as teachers. Hence few femaleteachers are appointed. This fact serves to reinforce the stereotype thatList of Projects by Country © 53