Scaling Impact of a Play-Based Child-to-Child Approach to make Pre-school to Primary School Transition Fun and Inclusive (SIPCA) – a research project funded by #GPEKIX and #IDRC recently conducted its scheduled school monitoring visit from 12th August to 03rd September 2025. The SIPCA Maldives research team visited 10 schools across the Maldives that are implementing Child-to-Child (CtC) model under the SIPCA Project. During the visit, the team observed CtC sessions led by the students of 5th grade (Young Facilitators – YF) to the students of UKG (Young Learners – YLs).The SIPCA Maldives research team visited 10 schools across the Maldives that are implementing Child-to-Child (CtC) model under the SIPCA Project. During the visit, the team observed CtC sessions led by the students of 5th grade (Young Facilitators – YF) to the students of UKG (Young Learners – YLs).It was truly inspiring to witness the YFs interacting and engaging with the YLs through various playful activities, stories and games. A very positive child-to-child learning environment was evident throughout the scheduled halfway monitoring visit during the implementation period. In addition to session observations, the team met with and gathered feedback from various stake holders, such as school management, SIPCA implementing teachers, Young Facilitators and Parents of YFs and YLs. Each group shared their experiences, observations, insights and positive impact the SIPCA project brought to their school. Notable outcomes included the growth and development of communication skills and leadership skills, which were evident from YFs. The eagerness of YLs towards learning, improvements to their literacy, numeracy, the bond between YFs and YLs and their social emotional enhancement reflect their readiness to school.SIPCA research team from IUM received a very warm welcome and heartfelt hospitality from all the schools, sharing their enthusiasm, spreading positive vibes and expecting a bright future for this program. All the schools expressed a strong desire for continuation and scaling up this program to other grades for sustainability and long-term impact. #KIXEMAPHUB1-7-300x225.jpg 23.47 KB2-6-300x225.jpg 16.79 KB4-5-300x225.jpg 21.35 KB12-5-300x225.jpg 23.21 KB13-2-300x225.jpg 19.53 KB23-768x576.jpg 150.6 KB

Scaling Impact of a Play-Based Child-to-Child Approach to make Pre-school to Primary School Transition Fun and Inclusive (SIPCA) – a research project funded by #GPEKIX and #IDRC recently conducted a school visit to Muhyiddin School on 13th July 2025, one of the schools implementing the play-based child-to-child model under the SIPCA project.During this visit, the SIPCA Maldives research team observed an ongoing child-to-child session, where Young Facilitators from the 5th Grade facilitated the Young Learners from UKG students through playful activities and storytelling. The visit was also attended by consortium members from Agha Khan University, Pakistan and University of Colombo, Sri Lanka who also expressed a keen interest on the session dynamics and learner’s interaction.The principal of Muhyiddin School and the senior management extended a warm welcome to the school and classrooms, sharing their enthusiasm, and expectations towards this project in their school. They have also given an overview of the school’s other initiatives highlighting success stories and best practices from both academic programs as well as life skills programs.The project is being implemented in 10 schools with diverse population, across the Maldives. As part of the project’s implementation plan, the SIPCA research team will continue the school visits to all the participating schools across the Maldives, in accordance with the project implementation calendar.#KIXEMAPHUB1-9-768x505.jpg 87.7 KB6-8-300x225.jpg 16.47 KB5-8-300x225.jpg 16.46 KB

Scaling Impact of a Play-Based Child-to-Child Approach to make Pre-school to Primary School Transition Fun and Inclusive (SIPCA) – a research project funded by GPE-KIX, IDRC successfully held the SIPCA Maldives Uptake Forum 1, at the Islamic University of Maldives on 12th July 2025. The project is a joint venture between the Islamic University of Maldives, Aga Khan University, Pakistan and the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The initiative is led by Dr. Mariyam Shareefa, Assistant Professor and coordinated by Dr. Visal Moosa, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation of Islamic University of Maldives. This forum brought together educators, researchers, and policy makers to share experiences and insights from the implementation of the Play-Based Child-to-Child model in the local schools of Maldives.Teachers from the 10 participating schools in the SIPCA project across the Maldives presented their experiences, highlighting the benefits, excitements and challenges encountered in implementing the model so far. Principals and senior management members of the SIPCA Schools also joined to support their teachers and share their perspectives. The forum was further enriched by the presence of officials from the Ministry of Education, NIE, KIX committee members (Maldives), management members from Male’ schools and Management members and lecturers from IUM, as well as the SIPCA project co-investigators from Agha Khan University, Pakistan and the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.During the forum, in addition to the implementation experiences from the schools, a panel discussion on the International Perspectives on implementing Play-Based Child-to-Child model in the classrooms was held. The panelists were the co-investigators from Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The participants and stakeholders had a meaningful discussion, exchange of ideas and reflections during the forum, further advancing the vision and inclusive and playful learning.1.jpg 618.52 KB2-300x200.jpg 17.24 KB3-300x200.jpg 12.03 KB6-300x200.jpg 15.4 KB8-300x200.jpg 12.56 KBIMG_8774-300x200.jpg 16.5 KB