Child Labor

Education and Child Labor remained the prioritized focus of Sudhaar Society as it has implemented the highest number of projects to address the challenges in these areas which made Sudhaar a specialized organization in Pakistan with reference to education and child labor. The prime strategy of Sudhaar to counter child labor was non-formal education in order to equip the working children with educational interests so that they can transform themselves and their interests from labor to education.

Sudhaar started its activities from Kasur working with child labor in leather tanneries, carpet weaving, power looms and street workers. By the year 2003, the work had been expanded to Sialkot, Gujranwala, Toba Tek Singh, Shaikhupura and Nankana Sahib. The new child labor sectors covered included surgical instruments, football stitching, and domestic and factory workers. Starting from NFE, mainstreaming, quality of education in formal schools, school councils activation, and education planning from school to markaz to district level; Sudhaar added literacy and linkages with vocational training in its scope of interventions. Sudhaar also worked briefly in the provision of health services, micro credit and a unique child-focused EMIS program.

Since 1994, Sudhaar established over 780 non-formal education and literacy centers in Punjab. Enrolling of approximately 23800 working children and their younger out of school siblings were admitted and graduated in primary education 64% graduated and 45% were mainstreamed to formal government and private schools.

Sudhaar established hundreds of Non formal education centers in four districts of Punjab between 1995 and 2007. Thousands of working children and their younger out of school siblings were admitted and graduated in primary education. About 40% were mainstreamed to formal government and private schools. Many of them went on to complete college education and a few completed their masters.

Sudhaar started working with government established school councils from 1996 onwards and helped them to improve quality of education, teacher attitudes and behaviors and school infrastructure utilizing school council funds, community contribution and donations from affluent community members. We introduced School Development Plans in thousands of government schools. During 2002-05, our modest work was recognized by the Punjab Education and Planning Departments and School Councils reorganization and Annual School Development Planning were formally taken up all over the province; though the government interest fizzled out by 2009. We also worked extensively with 26 municipal schools in Kasur on the same lines during 1996-2000.

In 1997, we were encouraged by Kasur District Administration to help develop a District Education Plan. This was implemented only once through the initiative taken by the then DC Kasur Babar Fateh Yaqoob Muhammad, later the Chief Secretary of GB. We were able to develop District Education Plans for over 24 districts in Punjab, Sind, Balochistan and AJK. In a few cases these were implemented by the District governments to a limited extent.

We worked with Save the Children UK during 1998-2003 in Sialkot to improve quality of education and government school infrastructure for over 120 schools. Later this program was supported by corporate entity Adidas in Sialkot for nearly 10 years.

Currently we are working with the British Council project Take a Child to School to encourage parents to enroll out of school children in the 6-11 year age group in government schools by forming Mohallah Committees and introducing an extra curricular component to enhance children’s interest. This is being implemented in three districts in Punjab. Enrollment and Retention are continuously monitored and verified.

We are working with German corporate entity The Hartmann Group (surgical instruments business) and their local suppliers in Sialkot for ten years to support over 150 children by removing them from surgical workshops and entering them in mid level private schools in the vicinity of their homes. Several children have completed their bachelor masters degrees and a substantial number have completed high school education. They are also being provided comprehensive health care thru qualified doctors.

In Sialkot, we are working with several government schools to improve their retention and enrollment with the support of a German based organization called Kick for Tolerance. The major intervention is formation of football leagues (boys and girls), football competitions, a curriculum implemented to promote peace and tolerance. The same project is being implemented by an Indian NGO in East Punjab. The idea is to bring the people in the two Punjabs to develop cross border harmony among communities, teachers and children.