ACQUIRING education is one of the fundamental rights of every child and providing such assistance in this regard is a long-lasting virtue for the needy children. One good example in this connection is Lyari town where a dozen of street schools are providing education free of cost to hundreds of poor children on self-help basis. Most of the street schools are located in Baghdadi and Shahbeg Lane which were established by the social workers of the area in the early ’80s.

Children in these schools study from Class I to Matric while the classes are conducted in the evenings. The streets are closed for classes by tying a sheet along its breadth to stop the influx of traffic while classes proceed. In every street school, two to three classrooms are established in which 20-30 students study in every class. The age group varies from 4-12 years. A portion of the walls is painted with black paint to use it as a blackboard. Students Free Educational Centre in Lyari, is one of the oldest street school that has provided education for needy children since the past 17 years. Teachers in these schools are mostly women.

In addition to education, the management of these schools is also arranging social activities for the students from their own resources.

“Model Street School was established in 18 April  1985to educate poor children of the area especially those who could not afford the fees of even government schools, ch a meagre amount.

The interesting aspect of these schools is that the majority of the teachers of primary classes are themselves students of secondary classes. These students volunteer to help the younger children in their studies in these street schools. Most of the teachers have passed their matriculation examination in A grade which shows the standard of these schools even though they’re held on streets.

The social personalities of the area who run these street schools are keen to provide free education to the children of the area but are facing acute shortage of funds. They hope that some prominent NGOs will come forward and help these children in different ways.

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