Underprivileged: Street children demand right to education

Share their thoughts, feelings at event marking International Street Children Day.


Sehrish Wasif April 30, 2014
Majority of the students at the centre are from Pashto-speaking families and it is a challenge to teach them because of the language barrier.. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD:


If we are born in an underprivileged society, it does not mean that we should be deprived of our right to education and a happy and healthy life in a secured environment.


This voice was raised on Wednesday by over 65 street children from capital’s slums, who are studying at the Out-of-School Children’s School (OSCS) established on the premises of the National Protection Centre (NCPC), through posters, songs, speeches and videos messages at an event organised by Rozan in collaboration with the NCPC. The event was held as part of the International Street Children Day, celebrated on April 12 every year.

The street children also demanded that the government took necessary steps for their overall well-being.

Umer Said, 12, a resident of Sector I-11 slum, in his speech shed light on the plight of the street children.

“Just like other children, we also have feelings and dream of studying to become respectful and responsible citizens but we are being denied admissions to both public and private schools,” he said.

He said that in our society street children were considered as downtrodden and someone to ‘stay away from’.

“I consider myself lucky enough to have gotten an opportunity to study in this school rather than spending the entire day on roads begging for money and listening to insulting remarks in return,” he said.

Janat Bibi, 6, who is living with her maternal grandmother in a slum near Sector I-10, said that her parents passed away a few years back, forcing her and her four siblings to live with their maternal grandmother, who, according to her, was unable to earn, sending them for begging to earn her a livelihood.

“I felt sorry when throughout the day I had to stand at traffic signals begging for alms,” said Bibi, who is now studying at the OSCS with a feeling of pride, carrying books in her hands instead of a begging bowl.

Meanwhile, Saleha Bibi, 10, Abdur Rehman, 14, and Zohaib Hassan, 12, tried to make their unheard voices heard through posters.

Rehman also expressed his patriotic feelings by singing, ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ and got a big round of applause.

OSCS Coordinator Seema Mehmood while talking to The Express Tribune said that it was a privilege for the entire OSCS team to be able to provide an opportunity for the children to study and groom like the other children.

She said that the strength of these street children rose to 85 a few weeks back, but after the demolition of few slums in the capital, the number was reduced to 65 as many of them had to move to other places.

“Many have moved to unknown places and we are unable to locate them and some of them have moved to areas such as Sector G-13, where we cannot provide pick and drop facility,” she said, while expressing her concern about their future.

Mehmood said a majority of the students at the centre were from Pashto-speaking families and it was a challenge for them to teach them because of the language barrier.

“As these children have spent most of their time on streets, it takes time to do their character building,” she said adding that they were usually aggressive fighting each other making it difficult for them to handle them.

Rozan Assistant Programme Officer Saman Ruk told The Express Tribune that the first five years of life are very crucial for the personality development of a child.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1st, 2014.

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