MAJYD AZIZ

There has always been a lot of hullabaloo at various forums that the country has to sincerely devote substantial funds, provide infra-structure facilities, and develop the responsibility to ensure that children learn to read and write in the true sense. The various Education Ministers have generally been those who have had scant understanding of the complexities of devising a pragmatic education policy and then implementing it in the proper and transparent manner so that the nation's literacy figure moves upwards.

There then arose the need to look at matters at the micro end and go for the attainment of the educational objectives in a pro-active mode from individual platforms rather than wait for the government to take the required initiatives. Quality education could easily be provided, and without any doubt, the policy could be successful and achievable. All it needed was dedication and a sincerity of purpose. All it needed was taking that first step courageously. All it needed was moving away from the usual bureaucratic hangover. Fortunately, this was done in District West, Karachi.

There is a beautiful three-storey building within an area of 20 acres in the vicinity of the SITE industrial area that was built with funds provided by the provincial government to the District West Administration. The building was inaugurated in August 1998 and then left to become an empty and desolate edifice, reminding those who passed by it as another manifestation of the government's commitment to education. The floors gathered dust, the window grills were rusted, and the paint on the walls pealed off. Something had to be done to save the project.

In early 1999, Majyd Aziz, the then Chairman of SITE Association of Industry, in his welcome address to the Managing Director of SITE Ltd, talked about the industrialists thinking about a school for Child Labor. Mir Hussein Ali, the Managing Director, disclosed that a school is ready in the vicinity and all it needs are loving tender hands. The SITE Association of Industry took upon the challenge to do that and more. Meantime, the energetic Deputy Commissioner (West), Tariq Niazi, also got the ball rolling and he set up a Board of Governors under his chairmanship to manage the school. The Board has been set up as a Private-Public Partnership and has a tripartite representation, i.e., all three Social Partners, government, employers, and workers, are active members. After many meetings and brainstorming sessions, the school began to take shape.

The name of the school was changed to SITE PUBLIC SCHOOL as proposed by SITE Association of Industry. The SPS has the proper facilities that can be the envy of any school of learning. It has football, cricket, and hockey fields, it has provision of a gymnasium, it has plans for a tennis court and a squash court, and it has a medical clinic. SPS will have a functional library, a computer institute, a utilitarian cafeteria, and well-spaced rooms for offices and common rooms. SPS has residential facilities for the school staff and thus they can be right in the school ready to serve at a moment's notice.

SPS needed the personnel to run it and make it a name to reckon with. Thus, the Board interviewed candidates for the positions of Principal and Vice Principal, and after selecting qualified people, the teachers were appointed after the Board members had rigorously interviewed them. All appointments were made purely on merit in a fair and transparent manner and no one was selected because of any political, personal, or governmental pressure or recommendation.

SPS will have classes from grade Sixth and will gradually move in the future towards teaching O-levels to the students. There will also be arrangements to provide remedial courses and training to those students who require these courses. There will also be provisions for skill development training programs under the auspices of the Skill Development Council. The SDC is another example of a successful Private-Public Partnership, and has been set up by the Government of Pakistan, Employers' Federation of Pakistan, World Bank, and ILO. It is managed by a Committee under the chairmanship of Ahsanullah Khan, a leading SITE industrialist who is also on the SPS Board.

SPS will also provide quality time to students to indulge in healthy sports activities. The availability of sports fields inside the school is a major plus factor. Furthermore, it will be the endeavor of the Board to invite Pakistany sports heroes to be guests and donate their time to guide the children in various sports, such as cricket, hockey, squash, etc. This will be a morale-boosting program and also a practical way of teaching sports.

A very important and prestigious aspect of SPS is that ILO has identified it as a school to educate Child Labor prevalent in Karachi. In this regard, there have been four surveys by the ILO hierarchy. In the first case, the then Director of ILO office in Islamabad, Mr Dani Appave, visited the school premises. It was followed by a visit by Khadija Khan, the National Coordinator of the ILO-IPEC program. IPEC stands for the International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor. The third visit was by the new Director, Mr Hans Lokollo, who in his first ever visit to Karachi made it a point to see the school for himself. Mr Appave, the outgoing Director, accompanied him. In September, Khadija Khan especially flew down from Islamabad to meet the Board and finalize the program. Meantime, Majyd Aziz visited ILO Headquarters in Geneva and discussed the program with concerned officials there. In October, he visited the ILO office in Islamabad and held a meeting with Mr Lokollo, Khadija Khan, and Mr Basharat Ahmad to plan the ILO sponsorship. ILO has committed US$ 30,000.00 for the first year and an equal amount for the second year. The SITE Child Labor Bureau that has been set up in the SITE Association of Industry under the chairmanship of Majyd Aziz will administer this amount. This program will commence in the year 2000.

The Child Labor program envisages the education of some 100 Child Labor although ILO prefers atleast 150 children. However, it will depend on the availability of Child Labor since it is an arduous task to induce parents of Child Labor to send their boys to study. However, the workers' leaders on the Board have pledged to use their contacts to motivate the parents to send their children.

The Sindh Workers' Children Education Cess Fund Board of Management, of which Majyd Aziz is also a member, will also ensure that workers' children enroll in this school too. The parents will get stipends from the Fund so that they can get quality education for their children. Furthermore, children from under-privileged families would get free education too.

The SITE Association of Industry is setting up a campaign to request industrialists for sponsorships at a cost of Rupees Fifteen Thousand only per student. It is hoped that there will be a favorable response to this campaign, as the initial reports seem encouraging. It is imperative upon the industrialists to perform their social obligations to humanity and sponsorship of children from under-privileged backgrounds is a noble deed, for sure.

The Board of Governors of SITE Public School is determined to make the school an epitome of excellence in a very short time. The hope and prayer is that the dream comes true, not only for this school but also for the students, because education and training for the students of SPS will mean the difference between a mundane and difficult existence on the one hand, and achievement and success in their careers in the future on the other hand. The students can help the Board to achieve the objectives by giving their best output, in class and on the field.

The great Philosopher of the East, Allama Iqbal, in his poetry to motivate the Muslims of the sub-continent stated: