SMB Girls School Project- revisited

They found that the problem is not money, there is enough available. It is not political will, despite our numerous short comings, good projects still get sanctioned. It is the psychological mindset that poor children deserve no better than what they get in a government school. A mindset that implies that they have a choice…

1. Reducing class size from 80 to 40
   
2. Building new rooms to accommodate additional sections
   
3. Getting rid of the cane or corporal punishment
   
4. Introduction of new interactive subjects covering art, music and story telling
   
5. Training teachers
   
6. New books, stationary and art material provided free of cost
   

In 1999 the group added two more schools in Mirpur Sakro (District Thatta) to implement the same model outside of Karachi. In 2003 the process was repeated for a government elementary school in Rahim Yar Khan (Punjab). In each instance they found that the community of students, teachers and parents was more than willing to work with the program, that government teachers, with a little training and hand holding, could teach just as well.

Sami’s grand plan was to prove that with the right combination of vision, direction and support, the school system in this country can work – within its limited resources. It was meant as an acknowledgement that no NGO or donor agency can replace the government in delivering education to our young children. And the dialogue started with these four experiments will help set policy direction in education reform.

Nishtar School – Three

Four experiments down the road, Sami is now on his fifth. This time he is not doing it alone. He is aiming at something much larger and visible and he has put everything he has learnt in the last 12 years to work.

Fatima Jinnah Girls School, Nishtar Road, Karachi is home to an entire generation of women. 3000 girl students, 1200 of them in the primary section. From families who have no real incentive to keep their daughters at school because the education they receive does not lead to a brighter future. They hope that it does, that it may, but it won’t.

Taken one child at a time, it is a tragedy. 46,000 barren schools, it is yet another meaningless statistic, another hopeless cause.

But that is Sami’s point. Is it really? What can you do about it? No don’t wait for the next generation, fix the one in front of you. One child, one school at a time.

Take a government school and start with the mindset. No, poor children do not deserve the education they receive! They deserve better.

To begin with, rather than a rundown building with stray dogs in the class rooms, it would be nice to have something that looks like a school. It would help if the teachers would receive some appreciation for what they do (a best teacher award) and a more sane work environment (better working hours, an organized and effective administration and more control). And do you know why art is not taught? Because art supplies and paper are expensive… So you shouldn’t have the pleasure to while away a morning drawing happy faces as a four year old just because you go to Fatima Jinnah Girls School, Nishtar Road, Karachi? Or should you?

And what about books, change all of the above and still work with broken materials? And labs? For English and computers and science… A library? Perhaps we have gone too far? The poor don’t need books, they need food and shelter and charity…

Why should my child go to a school with all of the above and the one on Nishtar Road shouldn’t? Are they really that different? Sami doesn’t think so…

Do you?

The Nishtar School Project – What can you do to help?

We need money primarily to make a point. Even with the same raw materials, the same teachers, the same students, the same community, you can dramatically turnaround a school.

The money is needed to:

1. Renovate the school building, clean up the grounds, rebuild the bathrooms, fix the plumbing and the wiring
   
2. To build well equipped labs for Computers, Science and languages
   
3. To provide supplies and materials for arts and to finance teachers for additional extracurricular subjects including languages, fields trips and vocational training
   
4. To change the curriculum to a more functional composition, already tried and tested at the CAS school using book groups books and daily worksheets
   
5. An air-conditioned library and a power generator
   

The capital improvement budget is 12 million in addition to the 10 million already raised, committed and allocated. The operational budget is Rs.500,000 per month.

This is not a social experiment. The end state is a self sustained school that becomes a prototype for change for the government, the education department and the development, funding and donor agencies. Proof that the bumble bee can fly…

How can you help?

We need one hundred and twenty pledges for Rs.100,000 (US$1500) for the capital expenditure required to physically improve the infrastructure at the school. We also need 100 pledges for Rs.5000 (US$85) per month for the next one year to run the school. If you would like to help, get us one of each.

The payment need to be made out to the Book group. For tax purposes in Pakistan, the contribution is deductible and tax exempt.

In addition to money we are also looking for full time volunteers as teachers, helpers, trainers as well as low maintenance individuals with two useful pairs of hand and no inhibitions about the type of work they would end up doing.

If you would like more detail on the initiative or the fund raising exercise, or need bank account information for a wire transfer or would like to volunteer for the effort, please contact any of the following individuals:

CAS /Book Group – Contact point