LAHORE: Roshan Rahain a non-profit organisation that is committed to educating children using alternate forms of art has launched first-of-a-kind financial literacy programme “Hisaab Kitaab” in Pakistan.
Hisaab Kitaab is a 3-month long programme in which Roshan Rahain’s team reached out to approximately 3,000 children from different private and public schools in Lahore, some of which included schools for children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Pakistan has the lowest financial access in the world. About 100 million adults in Pakistan (roughly about 80% of country’s population) don’t have access to formal and regulated financial services. The lack of financial access creates multiple problems for people including having to face financial shocks, unexpected expenses and being excluded from savings services.
The literacy programme taught children about the importance of savings, techniques of managing day-to-day transactions and handling cash using the medium of music and other engaging activities along with role playing.
Appreciating the program, coordinator of a private school stated, “The activities conducted by Roshan Rahain were extremely creative and the role playing idea was superb as kids not only enjoyed themselves but also learned a lot through these activities”.
Similarly, a representative from the Sharif Education Trust stated, “We need more of these activities & educational sessions, the use of music to learn financial literacy was very creative and this is an important subject for children in these times especially”.
Roshan Rahain founder Shaigan Azhar shared “Children have a great ability to learn new things. The use of music and other techniques has proven impact on their ability to learn. We are extremely thankful to our sponsors & schools for believing in us and helping us reach out to children. Moving on, we hope to expand our reach to other cities of Pakistan reaching as many children as possible”.