KARACHI – A ceremony was organised at the tent village in Musharraf Colony, Keamari Town to distribute certificates to the children of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) for passing their non-formal education exams. During the ceremony, representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) urged the Sindh government to recognise the results of the non-formal education exams so that these children could be helped cover their educational loss caused by the last year’s floods. A project called the Children-Friendly Spaces (CFSs) has been initiated by the Islamabad-based NGO – Potohar Organisation for Development Advocacy (PODA) – in collaboration with the Karachi-based children rights organisation – Roshni Helpline.
The programme includes non-formal educational activities, and the participatory organisations that also had support from ‘Teachers Without Borders’ have asked the Sindh Education Department to recognise the flood-affected children’s education in a non-formal set-up.
PODA Executive Director Sameena Nazir said that the project is aimed at facilitating the flood-affected children to participate in educational, sports and recreational activities in a non-formal setting. “These children lost their homes and their schools, and were in a complete state of shock and grief and traumatised when they joined our spaces,” she said. “However, after spending about six months here while learning and spending some quality time, they have been completely transformed. They are now more confident and enjoy what they do.”
Roshni Helpline President Muhammad Ali told the media at the ceremony that more than 300 children, aged between five and 18, participated in the programme at CFSs.
They participated in educational, sports and recreational activities from 9am to 5pm daily, except for Sundays. After completion of six months, the exams for grade I, II and III were held to test their abilities, and on passing, they are now being awarded with the certificates, result cards and awards.
“Our aim was to motivate, facilitate, support and monitor these children taking part in different activities while learning and spending some quality time at the CFSs,” Mr Ali said. “The education component was especially focused to help these children continue their education when they did not have access to proper schooling facilities, and now urge the provincial government to approve and recognize this schooling so that students are promoted to next class when they rejoin their broken schools in their hometowns.”
Among others who attended the ceremony were representatives of NGOs, Keamari Town Administration, media networks and the flood-affected children and their parents. A media executive, Sajjada Zaidi distributed certificates and prizes among the position-holders. In her remarks she appreciated the work of Roshni Helpline and PODA in engaging the flood-affected children into educational and recreational activities. She said that the CFSs project would help in building the children’s personalities.
