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About JAQ Trust
The Trust’s primary activity relates to the operation of the PKSS. In addition, the Trust provides financial/safety net support to destitute families for children’s education, higher education opportunities especially for girls, emergency health needs, food supplements, shelter needs and seed capital for micro enterprises. The Trust is managed by a Board of Trustees that is currently made up of seven Pakistani professionals.
About PKSS
Mission The PKSS mission is to help develop the human potential of children from very low-income communities, enabling them to become useful members of society. This is achieved through:
Figure 2. Figure 2 indicates the steady growth in PKSS student enrolment over the past 5 years.
The standard of education at the PKSS is borne out by the following:
Community ProfileThe PKSS communities exist on the fringes of society, subsisting without the provision of any basic social services or amenities. They are merely a statistic to planners and decision makers in the Government of Pakistan, and a convenient pool of cheap labour to the residents of these posh Islamabad localities. The women in these communities provide domestic service to the neighbouring households, while the men join a temporary or partially employed unskilled or semi-skilled labour force. These families migrate to modern urban centres in search of livelihoods, and join a growing population of urban, shelterless poor. In all this, the children are the major victims. Without any health and education facilities, or parental guidance, these young lives are wasted away. Some look after their infant and toddler siblings, while others fall into bad habits, eventually leading to lives of crime. Many are sent out to beg in the busy commercial areas of the city. The older girls usually join their mothers as domestic servants. It was a chance contact with a 10-year old child selling “papar” (fried savoury) in the market that led to the start of the first PK school.
PKSS OperationsThe teachers (representing a gender balance with 7 male and 10 female) are recruited from nearby localities, and where possible, from within the community itself, to facilitate their community reach. Books and stationery are provided free of cost to all the students, while the teachers receive teaching aids. Nutrition supplements, in the form of milk and fruit are provided to the children on a weekly basis. When resources permit, the Trust also provides free uniforms to students once a year, which includes a set of clothing, a pair of shoes, socks and a school bag. Health assessments are undertaken annually, along with the provision of hygiene kits. Health files are maintained on each child. Teaching at the PKSS is based on the government curriculum to facilitate entry into the mainstream school system after grade 5. However, PKSS also makes an effort to include supplementary teaching material that supports more broad-based child development. Extra curricular activities include an annual Parent’s Day, school outings to the zoo, parks etc., participation in art competitions, exposure to drama and theatre, and sports events.
JAQ AchievementsThrough PKSS:
Other Trust Activities
PKSS FutureThe Trustees have gradually expanded the PKSS using a strategy of successive expansion and consolidation, based on available financing and organizational capacity. The large number of unserved low-income communities provides a tremendous opportunity for continuing growth. The JAQ Trust is encouraged by the commitment of the dedicated PKSS staff and the generosity of our donors. It looks forward to your continued support in its effort to “support every child’s right to basic education”.
Trust FinancesThe Trust derives its income from Trustee contributions, and donations from family, friends and well-wishers. The first few years of PKSS operations were funded entirely by Trustees’ own contributions. As word about PKSS spread, family, friends and well wishers began contributing donations, which enabled a gradual expansion of the school system. A major donor has been the Bilal Charity Trust, UK. In the year 2000 a significant donation was received from the late Mr. Jamshed Akhtar Qureshi, which was used to establish an endowment for the Trust. The Trust has also benefited by donations in kind, e.g. mobile telephones donated by Mobilink for the use of Head Teachers, which have greatly helped in improving communication between and among the individual schools and school management. A private school (Islamabad College of Arts and Sciences) has regularly provided the free use of its school buses for PKSS students’ educational trips. Figure 1 Figure 1 summarizes the Trust’s annual receipts and expenditures since its inception. The Trust’s accounts are audited annually by an independent chartered accountant firm - Anjum Asim Shahid Rahman - affiliated with the international firm M/s. Grant Thornton. For the financial year 2004-2005, the Trust’s total receipts were Rs.1,071,188 while its total expenditures were Rs.1,444,634. Almost 99% of these expenditures related to PKSS operations. The shortfall between receipts and expenditures was bridge-financed from carried over savings and the Trust’s endowment. A major effort is currently underway to mobilize additional resources in order to fully finance the current level of activities and to allow continuing expansion in the future.
DonateYour donation of Rs 2700 or US$ 45 can help send a child to school for a full year. Donations may be sent to the below contacts, or directly to the following bank accounts in Pakistan: Jamshed Akhtar Qureshi Education Trust Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB),
Contacts for the JAQ Trust:
Contact usIn Pakistan: Shahnaz Kapadia Rahat: Fauzia Zahid Zaheer In USA: Sabira N. Qureshi,
Your donation of Rs 2700 or US$ 45 can help send a child to school for a full year. Donations may be sent to the above contacts, or directly to the following bank accounts in Pakistan: Jamshed Akhtar Qureshi Education Trust Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB),
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