Success story
For one Pakistani village , poverty is no longer an obstacle to education
Many of the people in Nusrat ’ s village are laborers . They barely make enough money to meet their basic needs , much less afford “ luxuries ” like school supplies .
With government schools being too far away , private schools being too expensive , and without supplies like pencils , books , and uniforms , many children in the area − and throughout Pakistan − never go to school . Instead , they do menial jobs to help support their families . Pakistan currently has the world ’ s secondhighest number of out-of-school children − an estimated 22.8 million children aged 5-16 .
When Nusrat moved to this village several years ago , she was shocked to see just how many children were out of school . She wanted to do something about the problem .
“ I always wanted to establish a school for children , but I didn ’ t have the financial resources ,” she said .
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It ’ s no less than a miracle ”
In 2020 , she got her chance . CAI was funding a program to establish community-based schools – schools run out of community buildings or people ’ s homes . Nusrat jumped on the opportunity and was hired as a teacher . She immediately spread the word in the village that children who enrolled would receive free books , uniforms , backpacks , and stationery . Parents would not need to spend any of their wages to pay for supplies . Her hard work was rewarded when 56 children , who previously had no access to education , enrolled in the school .
“ It ’ s no less than a miracle ,” she said .
The school in Nusrat ’ s village is just one of 60 community-based schools CAI is supporting in Pakistan . Poverty should never keep a child from learning .