Send 50 Pakistani child workers to high school

This report takes you through the journey of the star graduates of the Paid to Learn schools for working children across Pakistan. In 2010, with the support of our donors & well-wishers, we achieved the milestone of expanding our non-formal schooling project to include secondary education for the top students. To date, 400 students have started this journey of secondary education in private and government schools that they were placed in by our team.

The net enrolment of our graduates in this program is currently higher in girls than it is in boys. Students are studying in classes VI to X in Zindagi Trust cooperative private & government schools, an experience which can be both exciting and challenging, given the obstacles of adjusting to an environment where their classmates have been enrolled in formal education all their lives, a concept alien to them.

What is really encouraging about this project is the role of our children in their environment. In the monthly progress reports, their teachers have appreciated these children who have become role models for the rest of the children in their respective schools in terms of their behavior and attitude. Their teachers also appreciated our graduates due to their stand-out curiosity and desire to learn, as opposed to rote memorization and focus on exam scores, thanks to the formative assessment techniques used to assess student learning at Paid to Learn Schools.

We are thankful for the patronage of the project from our friends at GlobalGiving and donors like yourself. A note with a prayer for all our primary graduates studying in secondary classes: May your journey of secondary education be vibrant and full of colorful rainbows!