Destitute get education without any fee

Muhammad Ayub, a fire in-charge in Civil Defence Department, has been teaching the underprivileged students without any fee for the last 27 years, considering it the best way to serve the community and promote education.
On Wednesday, the World Teachers’ Day was celebrated around the globe to highlight the importance of teachers in the society. In Pakistan, where the professional teachers do not remain ideal anymore, Ayub is the person who came forward to safeguard the sanctity of the profession by serving the poor students.
In a small park situated in F/6, a posh sector of the federal capital, Master Ayub has placed some blackboards where he teaches more than 200 students. “I came to Islamabad in 1976 from Mandi Bahauddin and started teaching poor students in 1982,” Ayub said while talking to Pakistan Today. Narrating the moment which forced him to join the cause to fight illiteracy, he said one day he was on his way to home from office when he saw a poor boy collecting garbage. “When I asked him about the reason to work instead of studying, the poor boy replied, “Can you bear the expenses of my studies?”
“The question was pushed me to do something for the society and he was my first student,” he added. He said during the last 27 years, he shifted to many places and convinced the people and a number of children to study instead of indulging in immoral activities. “Most of my students are garbage pickers, shopkeepers or balloon vendors,” he said. When asked any one gave donations to him, he said the Pakistan Education Foundation and late Ahmed Faraz, a renowned poet, assisted him but no other department of government move forward to promote the work. “My father is working as a servant in a house and he cannot afford the fees; therefore, I joined the academy of Master Ayub,” said Sohail, adding that he could now materialise his dream of becoming a pilot.
Many of the Master Ayub’s students are now serving in different government departments, including the Capital Development Authority and Poly Clinic, while some senior ones are also voluntarily helping their teacher. However, after teaching for more than 27 years in an open sky, Ayub is now mulling to establish a school in a nearby slum area but financial constraints are a hurdle and he needs donations to further his efforts.