Join Community Awareness: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1526118087639297/

Low-cost private schools playing important job

April 22, 2015

RECORDER REPORT

Notwithstanding the Sindh government's failure to evolve a plan to get enrolled about seven million out of school children (OOSC) to schools, the Low Cost Private Schools (LCPS) partnering with Education Fund for Sindh (EFS) are proving a viable alternate solution for promotion of education in the province.

The EFS for Taleem Aam Programme has so far brought more than 86,000 out of school children to schools. Taleem Aam Programme of EFS focuses on bringing OOSC to school through Education Voucher Scheme (EVS), under which these children are enrolled in LCPS of their area and their fee is being paid by EFS.

So far over 500 LCPS have joined the programme to enrol OOSC with an objective to improve the quality of their lives.

During a visit, this correspondent witnessed that one of such schools is working in the slums of Bilal Colony, AIMS Public School, where 334 out of school children were enrolled through EFS' Taleem Aam Program last year, out of which 287 students were promoted to new classes while only 13 children dropped out.

"We have multiple examples in our locality where parents, due to affordability issues, were not sending their children to school. Resultantly, these OOSC were falling prey to child labour, drug abuse and criminal activities.

Through EFS efforts these children have been brought to school. Now they will surely evolve as a responsible member of society," said the principal of the school Mohammad Riaz.

Riaz said the process was initiated by identifying and registering children in the target areas for children who belong to the age group of 5-10 years.

"Once registered in the EFS database, they are then enrolled in an EFS partner school situated within the area and are supported by EFS for the tuition cost, books and uniforms," said Asad Mughni, Manager Brand & Corporate Communications- EFS.

"For EFS, girl child education is of prime importance so out of the currently enrolled OOSC 47 percent are girls.

To encourage awareness of the programme and support of parents towards child's education, EFS team actively engages the local communities through visits and ground activation schemes," added Asad.

Talking about school partnering process, he said, "All partner schools are 'EFS qualified' and have to come up to EFS standards. The schools are then reimbursed the vouchers (tuition, books & uniforms) for each child being enrolled after verifying the monthly attendance roster."

'In the first phase of this scheme, he said, our target is to enroll 130,000 children in LCPS in the districts of Karachi, Khairpur and Qamber Shahdadkot by 2016. One of the parents of these children said that their child was working as a mechanic at a tyre shop and they could not afford the education expenses. Due to EFS' Taleem Aam opportunity his child is now going to school, he added.