‘Over 80,000 out-of-school children now in classrooms’

Karachi
Over 500 schools in the province have partnered with the Education Fund for Sindh (EFS) for its ‘Taleem Aam Programme’ to impart quality primary education to over 80,000 out of school children (OOSC) over the past two years.
Overall, EFS has, to date, enrolled over 120,000 OOSC through different programmes, EFS chief executive officer Adeel Aslam announced during a performance recognition ceremony held on Thursday to honour the 150 partner schools.
“The EFS and its partner schools are working together to address the education crisis in Pakistan and create a sustainable future for these children. Though EFS plans to cover the whole of Sindh, we are currently working in 52 union councils, 20 towns and three districts of the province including Karachi, Khairpur and Qamber Shahdadkot,” he said.
“In 2015, we plan to expand into 45 more UCs of Karachi in addition to consolidating our presence in Khairpur and Qamber Shahdadkot. This will enable us to provide education to an additional 50,000 OOSC.”
While lauding the support from low cost private schools and their essential role, he said the schools played a vital role in making education accessible to the masses. “These partnerships have helped us deliver on our commitment of enabling access to quality and cost effective primary education for all OOSC in Sindh,” said Aslam.
The principal of a partner school – Ahmed English Grammar School located in Bilal Colony –said there are a number of children in her school who had previously been working as child labourers.
“They are studying today only because of the EFS’ efforts. Similarly, there are many examples of girls who had never been to school and are now setting an example for other girls in their families,” she said.
Ratan Salem, head of the EFS Capacity Building Unit, said the focus was not only on enrolment but also on initiatives to develop the capacity of partner schools through student assessments, faculty trainings and increased involvement of parents and communities.
Established in 2012, EFS is a not-for-profit company, registered under section 42 of the Companies Ordinance 1984, which aims to tackle Pakistan’s education crisis.