From street to school

We see many street children begging, collecting rubbish or selling things on road sides. These children are on the streets and not in school because of two main reasons. First, they are reluctant to go to school as they are weak in their studies and second, because their daily effort is earning them some money which is benefiting their families. Therefore, to ensure these kids also go to school we need to convince their parents to send the kids to school and we also need to provide alternative income avenues to their families. The government of Pakistan can ask multinational FMCG companies for help in this regard. These companies can help provide alternative income to these families by allowing them to sell their products on discounted rates, door to door. A certain limit can be set on quantity. As long as the children go to school regularly, the families would be able to avail the products every month for their sale. Similarly, school teachers could be provided gift packs every month of these FMCG products in return for three to four hours of additional tuition every day to help these children overcome their education short falls. This way the street children go to school, the families earn an income, the FMCG companies get additional promotion and customer conversion, while teachers and schools also get additional benefits for their additional efforts at bringing street children to school.

The FMCG companies and the government can contribute for a financial saving policy for street children that can be availed by them at the end of their 12-year education. If this programme is run for 15 years than all the street children will be educated in Pakistan.

Engr Shahryar Khan Baseer

Peshawar