>> Picture Gallery this way

As a result not many children from Bhittaiabad complete schooling up to 10th grade. Many parents cannot afford the school fees for all their children, many of whom toil in the household or family business, or, and with deeper connotations, joins a violent gang to bum around Bhittaiabad's dusty streets. This is not necessarily the fault of Pakistani youths themselves. As might be expected, the standard of the local public schools is appalling; classrooms and libraries are badly equipped and course books can be biased and nationalistic, whereupon it is no surprise to learn that the majority of teachers are unqualified, poorly paid and unmotivated. Of course, there are a number of private schools which do provide good education, however, the school fees are far beyond the reach of Bhittaiabad's poorest.


up


Project Development

The idea of GAHS was born in 2001. At that time, though Graham Young had been living in Pakistan for nearly 30 years, he had no ideas of becoming the director of a modern and special High school. Before the Australian came to Karachi as a self-styled English teacher in order to run a small tuition centre in a poor neighbourhood next to Bhittaiabad, he had managed a hostel for disadvantaged children in the Punjab.

For finance, Graham had to turn to his mother, friends from Australia and, after 1993, also from Switzerland. These donations have hardly been enough to keep the tuition centre going. Seeking to work upon the foundations of the hard work that had already been done, EEF combined with Graham to create GAHS. The institution opened its doors in 2002 though it was with one eye on expedience that it then took another year to finish the building and to inaugurate the school properly. Now all classrooms are fully equipped and the number of students has risen to 428 in autumn 2007. The good results of the half-year exams reflect the quality of education given which was further enhanced by a teacher training course in February 2006.

Religion is naturally a big issue in a country like Pakistan, but admission to the school is not restricted by religion. The school is neither supported by local churches nor by international Christian organisations. Graham and most of the staff are Christians, there are Muslim students, and, Christian as well as Islamic instructions are held. The school syllabus follows guidelines given by the Pakistani Government and the students take their final exams with the Sindhi Board of Education.

Personnel are key to anything and members of staff were carefully selected or nurtured. In addition from qualified teachers there are a number of trainees that have been with Graham for some time. The staff is slightly better paid than at the neighbouring schools and, we hope, highly motivated. All in all, GAHS has the necessary preconditions to offer quality education at low cost and its reputation is steadily growing in precisely this area. The computer room, swimming pool and the recently completed laboratory for practise in the natural sciences make the school all the more attractive.


up


Successes and Problems

Generally speaking EEF is content with the project development. The committed staff and the excellent facilities combine to make GAHS an institution that would be otherwise unimaginable in the area. The people of Bhittaiabad and its neighbouring suburbs are most impressed with the ongoing work of the school. The continually increasing number of students reflects GAHS' attraction. The high number of new admissions in the lower grades is promising for the future and shows the trust that parents have in the institution.

Security at the school is an important issue. The school has had to add security grids, and at one stage needed to engage a security company, but nowadays the situation is less tense, though one cannot deny that there is always the threat of further incidents of this kind. Relations with the local police are cordial, but kept to minimum.

Another problem is the school's irregular income. Parents are often not very forthcoming with the school fees. Hence the school cannot build up a financial reserve which would be desirable in order to meet the rising costs for maintenance and its commitments.



up


Areas of Ongoing Interest

- Continuation of standards currently set
- Improvement of facilities
- Deepening relationships with the local community
- Increasing exposure of indigenous teaching staff to modern didactic methodology and debate




Support by EEF

The EEF board will support GAHS with an annual grant of CHF 37‘000.–. With this amount the school is able to offset the irregular accumulation of fees and to make limited concessions to destitute parents. Thanks to our support the teachers are paid above the average and the school can provide medical care for staff and pupils. Finally, EEF donations allows for security to be improved and the facilities to be extended.

GYMO is a Swiss state school preparing its 600 students for university. In the summer of 2008 GYMO opened its doors for a week of solidarity and fund raising for GAHS. The week's slogan was: "school here and there". Not only did the school want to raise money for GAHS, it also tried to increase people's awareness of the educational situation of underprivileged children and adolescents.

The week was a fantastic success. Every night crowds of visitors flocked to the GYMO premises and many a performance attracted enthusiastic full house audience. GYMO's enormously successful fund raising enabled GAHS to build their badly needed second floor. In addition it provides finances to run GAHS for another year. For pictures of the GYMO week and the building in progress of the second floor in Karachi click here.

up



Pakistan

	Population	166 Mio. (2006)
	Area	803’940 sq km (about 20 times the size of Switzerland)
	GDP per capita	US$ 2'600.– (2006)

References:
CIA World Factbook (2007), own design.



up