Almost every morning, on the bus headed to the University of Sindh in Jamshoro where he studied, Junaid Khoso would spot street children begging by the roadside. They should be in school, he would think to himself. Throughout the day, as he went about his routine studies, he would keep thinking about getting those kids off the street and into a school, where they could learn and potentially bring about a change in their lives.

The 26-year-old Khoso, who lives in Hyderabad, belongs to Johi in district Dadu. In 2020, he completed his masters in Islamic culture. While still at university, he decided to set up a tent school for under-privileged children one day. He had read about Unicef tent schools in post-earthquake Haiti, in pre-Partition India and even in the slums of Islamabad, and was determined to do at least that for the street kids he saw every day.

Since it was a low investment project, it didn’t take long for Khoso and his friends to arrange the funds for the first tent school at Qasim Chowk, near Ghorra Ground, Hyderabad, in 2016.

“I collected 6,000 rupees from the people on the streets in Hyderabad, where my friends and I walked around carrying a banner, requesting donations for a school for the under-privileged,” recalls Khoso. “Our initial collection was just enough to buy a tent, mats, books and stationery.”

One young man has spearheaded a drive to provide street children in Sindh access to education, one tent at a time

Khoso chose Qasim Chowk road as it is one of the busiest roads in Hyderabad, with local as well as inter-city traffic, and lots of pedestrians.

“The idea behind setting up these schools is to provide free education to street kids as they belong to poor families who cannot afford schooling,” he says, adding, “though it was not easy to convince their parents.”

The street children’s parents would rather have their kids work and contribute towards household expenses, even if it were just 200 rupees a day.

In 2016, Khoso also set up a welfare organisation known as Value of Human Being. The members not only volunteer their services for teaching in tent schools, but also generate funds for and execute other community projects. For instance, in the katchi abadi areas around Nasim Nagar, Shaikh village and Gopang village in Hyderabad, they had handpumps installed to help with water supply issues.

Khoso and his team now run 36 tent schools in 11 districts of Sindh, including in Nagarparkar, Mirpurkhas, Dadu, Hyderabad, Jamshoro and Umerkot. Khoso visits these schools every month to monitor the children’s standard of education and progress. The teachers’ salaries, varying from 3,000 rupees to 8,000 rupees — which mostly take care of their transportation expenses — are funded by some philanthropists.

At present, after completing their primary education in tent schools, 250 students from marginalised communities such as Bheel, Kolhi, and Bagri, are being promoted to the sixth class in high schools in Hyderabad.

“Regular schools require Nadra birth certificates for the admission of these kids,” says Khoso. “I obtained those, and now these tent-school kids have moved to regular middle and high school.”

The kids in tent schools do not wear uniforms, but Khoso arranges for their medical treatment, haircuts, shoes, books, stationery and a monthly picnic.

Very few tent schools have furniture, as most provide only mats for the kids to sit on. “Our focus is on providing quality education and, if we start purchasing furniture and other material for decoration and ambience, we will not be able to sustain the basic cost of these schools,” says Khoso. “It is a bit uncomfortable for children, but we are working on providing them better conditions.”

Khoso’s parents discouraged him about his tent school plans because they were concerned about his education and future. “Some friends also disapproved of my ideas but others were supportive,” he says.

One such supporter is Saima Qureshi of the Hand in Hand Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that provides skill development and training for women and children. Khoso had earlier done an English language course organised by the foundation. Qureshi presently teaches at tent schools and has also donated 20,000 rupees to set up new schools.

Apart from pursuing a business degree, Kainat Saeed, 22, also teaches at Khoso’s school in Zealpak colony.

“I have previously taught at a private school, but when I saw a teacher’s vacancy on Whatsapp for a tent school, I went for it, because teaching tent school kids means a lot to me, even though I get paid much lesser,” she says.

When Khoso was planning to set up a tent school in Zealpak colony, a well-wisher offered his vacant home to be used as a school. “This school, which has enrolled 35 students, has two rooms, a small courtyard and a washroom,” says Khoso.

Saeed convinced the working class parents in Zealpak Colony to send their kids to school. “The fathers mostly work in the cement factory, while the mothers work as domestic staff,” says Saeed. “I tried to convince them that, instead of letting them wander on the streets, these kids would be better off in our school where they can get free education.”

After an initial period of convincing parents, some parents approached the Zealpak Colony School for admissions. “About eight of our students work as domestic staff to support their families,” says Saeed. “They are my priority and I work harder with them because they devote their energies to work and study.”

Khoso’s future plans for education of underprivileged children include building a school over 25 acres of land. For this he would like to team up with organisations working in the education sector. “I also want to include a hostel in this project,” he says. “An educated child will grow into a responsible citizen.”

Shahzadi Bhurgri, a high-school teacher in Tando Agha, Hyderabad, cannot agree more. “Education is a complete process of human training and how a human behaves in society in different situations,” she says. “It is the government’s responsibility to provide quality education. Khoso and his team have a dream that they are trying to materialise. A tent school chain is quality education provided in limited resources. It is just like the first drop of rain. More effort and bigger teamwork is needed to see bigger results.”

While Khoso and his team provide their services without any discrimination or reward, one can’t help but think of Malala Yousafzai’s famous words: “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.”

The writer is a Sindhi fiction writer, blogger and journalist

Published in Dawn, EOS, September 4th, 2022