Revolutionising education, one government school at a time

Enrolment at the government school in Arain Goth has shot up since CFC took over

SUKKUR: Spread over seven acres of land, Government High School Arain Goth is a hub of high-quality education for the children of 1,000 families living in the small village of New Sukkur in Arain Goth.

With eight classrooms, the school was constructed last year as part of a combined project between USAID's Sindh Basic Education Programme and the Government of Sindh. The school was merged with a girls’ elementary school built in the 1970s and around 130 female students were shifted to the newly constructed building last year.

Today the school has a total of 490 enrolled students and prospective students are now required to sit for entrance tests, as the school only has a capacity of 500 students. "We are taking test-based admissions now from class six as we have received a lot of applications and the school does not have a capacity of more than 500," said Ayaz Ali, the school’s coordinator.

The building of the school was built in the 1970s. PHOTO: YUSRA SALIM/EXPRESS

The school is also using three rooms from the elementary school as kindergarten classes to accommodate more children. The school will soon also include the government boys schools situated just beside it; the summary for the merger has been passed and the school will be merged from August. The boy's school has an enrolment of around 40 students.



"We are hoping that more children will turn towards education and schooling, as a majority of the parents want their children to work in the fields with them," shared Ali, adding that within the last year the examination results have changed remarkably.

Other than being equipped with modern furniture and a state-of-the-art building, the school will also have its own water filtration plant as the village lacks clean water.

The school’s coordinator said the water is first filtered from the canal it comes from, then from the reservoir at the terrace of the school and third when it is released via the taps.

Enrolment at the school has shot up and prospective students are now required to sit for an entrance test. PHOTO: YUSRA SALIM/EXPRESS

During construction the buildings was made keeping in view the use of solar panels and has several installed already. "The whole school can be switched to solar power if needed as the system is in place," shared an education department representative.



All buildings built under the partnership are earthquake and flood protected. Keeping in view the increased temperatures during the summer in Sukkur, the school’s roof has been covered with polythene to keep the classrooms cool.

The students walk to the school from as far as three kilometres away and to remedy this, the school is planning to start their own transportation service.

Charter for Compassion (CFC) has been handed over the management and administrative responsibilities of Arain Goth for 10 years, while all the expenses are borne by the Government of Sindh under the Sindh Basic Education Programme. The schools also receive a school management committee budget and one time grant.

According to the education department, all the schools being constructed in Dadu, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Kamber-Shahdadkot, Larkana, Sukkur, Khairpur and Karachi are will be given a one time grant which is around Rs1.6 million.

The school encourages reading. PHOTO: YUSRA SALIM/EXPRESS

From the 106 schools under the project, 79 are under construction and while all of them will be completed within two years. The school has 15 teachers in total, of which four are government teachers while the rest have been hired by the CFC.



To provide state-of-the-art facilities, the school has set up a separate room for health facilities where a doctor every day and students can receive regular check-ups.

Government High School Arain Goth also serves as the training centre for out of school or drop out children. "After school classes for computer learning are held where students can learn and then get admitted to schools for further education. We teach them basic English and Urdu also," shared Ali.

The school uses the government's curriculum but has also fixed a 35 minute reading period and has introduced interactive books to the students under the Sindh Reading Project. Students are encouraged to read to develop their reading and vocabulary, which is not in their course but an additional supplement material provided by the government.