A dream comes true

The story of a young mother who’s dream to continue her education came true when she learned about Plan’s Non Formal Education (NFE) project.

Plan Pakistan’s area of operation includes working with slum dwellers in urban areas. Most of these slums are populated with Christian minorities who were low caste Hindus before they converted to Christianity. Even after converting, the concept of “untouchables” remains deeply embedded in Pakistani society. Consequently, financially disadvantaged Christians remain a marginalised group and are usually confined to limited employment opportunities such as domestic and sanitary work.

The girls in Plan’s target areas usually drop out from school at an early age due social discrimination and start working with their mothers as domestic workers or taking care of sibling at home. Being too young, having no education and a lack of skills pushes them into low-paid labour. Educating their children – especially girls – is not a priority for them due to the high cost of urban living. The Fast Track secondary Education (FTSE) programme was initiated to promote girls’ secondary education through an alternative model of non-formal education in two years and equip them with vocational and technical trainings so their socio economic conditions could be improved through a dignified job.

*Saiqa Khalid lives in one of Plan’s partner communities. Saiqa was born into a poor family – her mother has worked as a domestic worker for most of her life and her father is a sanitary worker. A very low household income and lack of opportunities resulted in Saiqa being married off at an early age. Saiqa has two children and prides herself as a courageous and responsible mother.

Says Saiqa:  “When I was of a school going age my parents forced the responsibilities of marriage on to me. Due to poverty my dream of getting an education remained a dream, but I did not abandon it. I often thought about continuing my education and I was always amazed when girls my age complained about school and found it hard. I always thought of being able to go to school as a blessing.”

Since Saiqa was a member of a Plan partner community, Plan staff was not an uncommon sight for her. One day the Plan team introduced the concept of Fast Track Secondary Education (FTSE) to the community. The most attractive feature of the project for Saiqa was that it aimed to provide education opportunities to individuals who had never attended school. “I was puzzled at how could this be possible? It takes up to ten years for people to sit for the matric exam, and here they were talking about doing it in just two years! I thought that if this was true it would be a miracle.”

Saiqa wasted no time in registering for the programme. But along with anticipation and hope there was also fear; fear that this opportunity was too good to be true and the project may fail. But with the passage of time her fear about the project subsided but the huge challenge of raising a family and studying soon became evident.

“During these two years I faced numerous problems and challenges at my home. At one stage, I was ready to quit the programme because of my children’s school timings”. Dropping my daughter off at school and picking her clashed with the centre’s hours. I discussed this with the project team and they fully supported me and provided me with the flexibility to adjust my timings. The teachers were very cooperative as well.”

Saiqa plans on continuing with her studies, and wants to sign up for a computer course as well. Saiqa now dreams of becoming a teacher so that she can work with girls who faced challenges similar to the ones she faced.

With Saiqa’s passion for education there’s a good chance that this dream might come true as well.

 

*Name changed to protect subject’s identity