The last few months have been crazy, to say the least. We moved from California to Virginia and the whole process was cumbersome. With two young kids, schooling was our first priority. In the US, if you are a tax-paying citizen, you can send your kids to the Public school in your district for free. Hence the house you choose needs to be in a good school district. The data on the students’ performance, school demographics, etc is all available online.
But back in Pakistan, a lot of the data is anecdotal and the class difference cannot be overlooked. You judge a school by how well the kids did who went there. You look at the building facilities and the relative ease (or difficulty) of getting admission. The affordability of education is an entirely different matter. We judge quality with the price tag. The question though is whether you are paying to become well educated or well trained? If you have no money, are your kids doomed to remain out of school, unemployed and poor?
Pakistan is number two in the world
When it comes to the number of Out of School Children in the world, Pakistan is only behind Niger in Africa. With the US spending 5% of its GDP on education, Pakistan spends half of it, 2.5% on education. Furthermore, with the population growth rate of 1.99 compared to 0.77 for the US, the number of uneducated children in Pakistan is likely to go up. The differences in access to education are linked to gender (girls are worse off than boys by almost half as many in school) socioeconomic status and geography (in Sindh, 52% of the poorest children are out of school, in Balochistan 78% of girls are out of school)
An estimated 22.8 million children aged 5-16 are out of school
-unicef.org
Is it really that bad?
Illiteracy is defined as not knowing how to read and write beyond a basic level, understanding simple directions, or having the capacity to complete tasks in a timely manner.
In the list of top 20 countries with the highest illiteracy rates, Pakistan is number 18. (reference). Besides Pakistan and Afghanistan, the rest of the 18 countries are all in Africa.
Can we do anything?
We all are too familiar with the tales of corruption in the Government, lack of funding, and the general feeling of hopelessness that are widespread.
I had no idea things were this bad until I sat down with my friend Marisa who is working with The Citizens Foundation in Pakistan. She has been working with them for the past two years and has experienced firsthand the quality of education they provide. I asked her to share her experience with me in my podcast and she graciously agreed. Here is the episode if you want to listen.
What is the Citizens Foundation?
It is an NGO that was established in 1995 to bring about positive social change through education. It was founded and run by citizens (hence the name).
Since the 25 years of its inception, they have managed to establish 1,687 schools with 275,000 students. They have customized textbooks, well-trained teachers, and purpose-built campuses. They focus on the whole process. Not only that, they keep looking for ways to improve the system.
Oh, and they also teach the teachers
They are also the largest private employer of women in Pakistan.
How well do the students do?
Given the remarkable emphasis on quality improvement and consistency, they boast that:
48% of our students score A+ and A grades
-TCF website
Is it just a school?
The remarkable thing is how they are making an earnest effort to bring positive social change. They offer several ways for you to participate
TCF Social Internship Program:
They offer opportunities to volunteer through:
- Alumni development: to help students get into the best universities in Pakistan is run with the help of University students who help prepare TCF students after grade ten.
- Office internships: for those who want to help with the administrative side of things.
- TCF Summer camp: An excellent way to volunteer during summer at selected TCF schools where third, fourth and fifth grade students are engaged for two weeks in game based activities.
Volunteer opportunities:
I was so impressed by the positive outlook that is promoted through the mentoring programs. They have three programs for that
- TCF Rahbar: where you can volunteer to mentor eight and ninth grade students
- TCF career counselling: tenth grade students interact with professionals across diverse industries
- TCF Baghbaan program: where the skills of volunteer are matched to the ongoing projects including community outreach , fundraising etc.
What can you do now?
The pandemic has turned everything upside down with education being impacted worldwide. To be honest, while I am considering volunteering, I know the time constraints are usually against us when we are back home visiting family.
Marisa and her team are trying to raise funds to fund 5 classrooms for a year.
Click to donate: (If you are in Pakistan)
https://fundraise.tcfglobal.org/fundraiser/923061817621
Outside Pakistan, You can donate using the link below (make sure to note Baghban team 3- Empower the future and email your tcf receipts to tcfbagbaannorth@gmail.com for the donation).
Link to the donation form
Other projects to support
You can also:
- Educate a child for one year for $120
- Educate a child from KG to 10 Grade for $1400
- Support a classroom for a year for $3300
- Support Agahi learners (provide literacy skills for ten women) for one year for $200
- Support a school for one year for $22,000
No matter which method you choose, I am sure it will go a long way in supporting the education of the students at TCF.
Let me know your thoughts about this by commenting below. What role are you interested in?
