Credit Grammar School is a ray of hope for students in Baldia Town

24-year-old Shah Hassan used his car savings to open school

KARACHI: Spread over 240 square yards, a four-room school, 'The Credit Grammar School', offers free education to children living in Baldia Town.

Located in Qaim Khani Colony, the school is the brainchild of 24-year-old Shah Hassan, who works as senior executive in finance at TPL Trakker.

"One day, I was leaving for my office and I saw some children playing in the streets in the early hours of the day," said Hassan. "I observed that majority of children in Qaim Khani Colony do not go to schools."

About the school

Currently, about 70 students are enrolled in the school, and five teachers, from the same locality, work there. The classes range from Montessori to class seven.



Not only the students continue to study free of charge but they are also provided uniforms, books, bags and even shoes for free.

"Some parents pay Rs100 or 200 as per their ease but we do not ask them to pay," revealed Hassan, adding that parents of only 20% students pay the school.



Speaking about the monthly expense of the school, he said that rent of the place, electricity bill, water expense, salaries of teachers and school material rounds up to Rs50,000.

"Our school does not have a lot of facilities but we focus on giving attention to and building confidence of the deprived children," remarked school's principal Safia Malik, who have been teaching since the last 21 years in different schools run by NGOs. Meanwhile, montessori teacher Tayyaba Waheed said that the school is one of its kind in Baldia Town and many students are leaving other schools to study here.

Process of planning

Before starting the school, Hassan surveyed the area for about a year and interviewed around 200 families to know the reason why they don't send their children to schools.

"Ninety per cent of the parents reasoned that they don't have the money to educate their children, while others said that nearby government schools don't provide good quality education and those that do are located quite far," he explained.



To resolve the identified issues, he opened the school on May 27, 2015, with the help of his friends.



"I discussed the idea to set up a free school for children with my teachers, friends and family and got their support throughout," he said. The structure of the school was built as a cost of Rs0.5 million, which Hassan paid from the money he had saved for buying a car for himself.

Future plans

Sharing his plans for future, Hassan said that he is preparing to make a board for the school, comprising his friends, which will run the school and contribute to the expenses.

"I will also approach organisations working for education [in the city] and plan to start a college and university for the students of Baldia Town," he added.

He also shared that he has rented another 240 yards on the backside of the school and plans to convert it into a playground for the students.

Dreaming big

"My father was a driver while my elder brother was in the army," said Hassan while speaking about his background. "One of my father's bosses supported all my education expenses and that is why I think I should repay him by educating more poor children," he added.

Hassan hails from Balochi Banda in Kohat and came to Karachi with his elder brother. He studied at Asian Grammar School in Sultanabad, completed his intermediate in commerce from DHA College for men and pursued ACCA from SKANS School of Accountancy.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2016.