FAISALABAD: A school in Faisalabad is making use solar energy to run classes at night – a rare occurrence in any outskirt areas of the country.
According to World Economic Forum (WEF) report, the 23-year old social activist and educationist Rohayl Varind set up two branches of Slum School in Faisalabad, around 323 kilometres south of capital Islamabad, offering night classes to children.
It may be mentioned here that the school does not accept cash donations. Instead, it seeks food, stationary, and laptops.
A typical school evening runs from 7pm to 9pm, with Varind teaching the kids English, Urdu, math, and science. Each week, he splits his time equally between the two branches of the school, which have a total of over 100 students. Sometimes, volunteers—his friends and other activists in Pakistan—come in to teach computers, Taekwondo, graphic design, and other subjects.
Many of the students at the makeshift school are child labourers. “They start working as house helps or maids. Many boys start working at paan (betel leaf) shops or tea stalls, cafés or restaurants as waiters or cleaners,” said Varind. “One thing is common in majority of child labourers is that they work the whole day and get free at night.”
