Dream come true for the destitute

Street children get free education and food

The ‘street to school’ initiative in Karachi is aimed at working for the educational uplift of students who have never been to school and often find themselves roaming on the streets of the city aimlessly.

Hassan Adamjee, a young lad from Karachi, accepted the challenge to work for the development of children as well as the youth who could not seek education owing to circumstances. The centre of his welfare organisation ‘Open for Everyone’ is located in the Gharibabad area. It is an academy for poverty-stricken children who do not have sufficient resources to acquire an education and are compelled by circumstances to do odd jobs or beg on the streets of the metropolis to keep their households afloat.

Children of the age group 3 to 6 are admitted to the academy where they get all the basic facilities including the lunch boxes provided by the administration. Besides, they are also engaged in different extracurricular activities to surface their hidden skills. During a discussion with this scribe, Adamjee said that initially, it was a cumbersome task to gather together the data of out-of-school children and then convince their parents to admit them to the school, but with time, they realised the worth of education and it became a success. “Now we are successfully running this project along with three others that also focus on improving the quality of life of the deprived ones,” he said and added that only education could change the fate of nations.

Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children with an estimated 22.8 million children of 5 to 16 years not attending school; representing 44 per cent of the total population in this age group. In the 5 to 9 years age group, some 5 million children are not enrolled in schools and after primary-school age, the number doubles, with 11.4 million adolescents between the ages of 10 to 14 not receiving formal education.  Disparities based on gender, socioeconomic status, and geography are significant. In Sindh, 52 per cent of the poorest children (58 per cent girls) are out of school, and in Balochistan, 78 per cent of girls are out of school.

When asked about the current enrollment of his academy, he said that the current number of students in the school and 15 teachers including the administrative staff there to facilitate the students. Talking about other projects of the Open for Everyone welfare organisation, he said that they are working on a project that is Adults in School under which youth of 8 to 16 years age group that have never attended school are trained in a way that they could join 4th or 5th class. This organisation also holds different awareness sessions for the parents to keep them aware of the achievements of their children. “We have also started a digital literacy programme to educate our students about modern technology including computers,” apprised Adamjee.

Furthermore, he apprised that different social organisations and philanthropists had been assisting him in this cause since 2014. Danish Alwani, who leads a group of youth engaged in social work, visited the school along with his team and intermingled with the students. “I came to know about this school a few days back and have arrived here to extend my support because I know that these little stars of today will make Pakistan’s future bright tomorrow”, said Alwani. He also said that such institutions will portray a positive image of our country globally.

An effort can change the lives of many who have never even dreamed of achieving something big, such initiatives significantly alter the course of society and put it on the path of constant uplift.