Pakistan is the world’s sixth most populous country with the highest number of out-of-school children in South Asia and the second highest in the world. Currently, there are 25 million children in Pakistan ages 5-16 who do not attend school. 55% of those out of school children are girls.
In partnership with The Citizens Foundation, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development has built and supports a secondary school in Piyaro Lundh, District Tando Allahyar, Sindh province of Pakistan. This school is on the same campus with two burgeoning primary schools that were in need of space for their rising sixth graders and older children in this high density community for whom the next nearest secondary school is approximately 9 miles away. In addition to classrooms, the school has a computer lab and two science labs.
The Citizens Foundation administers the school providing excellent academic instruction to both boys and girls from low-income households within walking distance of the school. The financial aid system helps ensure that quality education is affordable for every student. The school is striving for enrollment parity between boys and girls by encouraging families through outreach within the community.
During the COVID-19 lockdown in Pakistan, our partner in this project, TCF implemented a “Continuity of Learning” program that kept students engaged in learning through a television program and an edutainment magazine. The school reopened in February, 2021 and all TCF schools including this newly inaugurated Mercy-USA school are running an accelerated learning program for all students returning to the classroom while implementing new health and safety operating protocols.
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