In the middle of destitute and shoddy slums of the federal capital girls are likely to outnumber boys in acquiring education despite gruesome socio-economic challenges and lack of proper educational facilities. The scenic federal capital resting in the foothills of Margalla hills embraced a variety of ethnicities living in the country with open arms and nurtured the best brains out of simple innocent minds.
The students of Pehli Kiran (the first ray of hope) School run by a non-governmental organization (NGO) has managed to educate a plethora of deserving students belonging to the downtrodden factions of the slum areas.
There are some ten makeshift schools run by the NGO for providing education and assist in acquiring technical and entrepreneurial skills to the masses of slum areas mainly targeting children and the youth. Principal Pehli Kiran School number-3 Aliya told APP that there were 360 children enrolled in the school comprising 42% girls and 58% boys where the enrolment of girls was increasing and the NGO was striving to bring the latter’s strength at 50 percent.
“This school imparts Montessori to primary level education till grade 5 in English medium.” The Montessori level curriculum from play group to grade-I was developed by the NGO whereas from grade-II onwards the curriculum proposed by the Federal Directorate of Education was taught to the students, she added.
The teachers were imparting the slum students in bilingual method with the aim to develop good comprehension, understanding and correct use of English language. The school principal mentioned that the NGO was focusing on girls’ education in various slums of the federal capital and that’s why many mentors teaching at Pehli Kiran schools were females.
As many as 3,400 students were enrolled in the ten different institutions run by the NGO, in two different shifts of morning and afternoon. She added that the teachers were also doing community mobilization and advocacy on children education in the slum areas as most of them were daily waged labourers were least bothered by their child’s education dropout.
“When we visit their homes, they send their children easily to schools otherwise they keep their children to stay at home when they get to their work,” Aliya said.
To a query, she said there were also Afghan refugees residing in the slums that were reluctant in educating their mature children in coeducation. Therefore, the Pehli Kiran institute made efforts to respect communal norms and traditions and managed separate education for teenage girls above 14 years of age. She said the community demanded the NGO to develop proper setup and boundary walls around the makeshift schools for a secure and better educational environment.
Replying another query, she said the Pehli Kiran authorities were assisting the slum children interested in acquiring technical skills to get enrolled in technical training institutions.
