KARACHI, Oct 5: To mark the World Teachers’ Day, more than 150 teachers from various schools in Taisar and Hawkesbay resettlement sites of Lyari Expressway project took part in a major drive to enrol new students. They went door to door and enrolled 1,200 new children by filling up their admission forms.

Educated girls of the families living along the banks of Lyari River are today working as community teachers in the schools of these resettlement sites, showing signs of a social change in the area.

These area community teachers are working with a missionary spirit to introduce modern educational concepts in order to educate the new resettlement sites so that a bright future for the children of these resettled families could be ensured.

Ms Amna Jabeen, headmistress of the Government Girls Elementary School, commenting on the campaign and her participation in it, said that the objective of this drive was to make the area children and their parents realise the significance of education. She said that before shifting here, they had been living in Liaquatabad and had never thought of having such a good environment and living.

She said that in a survey of these new settlements, teachers with the help of students had been going house to house to ensure that every children was enrolled in school. Special focus was on girl students, she added.

She spoke of some problems in the initial stage in enrolling girl students because most families in the Basti did not like female education.

Besides, in the absence of their mothers, who would go to work, many of these girls had the responsibility of looking after their household and family affairs, leaving no spare time for schooling.

“We persuaded them to send their daughters to school and today, there are 600 girls enrolled in various schools of the area.” Amna said.

On the occasion of World Teachers’ Day, the project administration has decided to award the ‘Best Teacher Award’ next year.—APP