Clanelius, a former drop out, now loves school, thanks to HDF

Nine-year-old Clanelius Ishaq was an elementary school drop out. But an HDF project has brought him from being a dropout to becoming a bright student today who thirsts for knowledge even during summer breaks when school is out.

This resident of Chak No. 116/1-L of HDF's Rahim Yar Khan Region had, at the age of 5, enrolled in the government primary school of his village. But sadly, like so many Pakistani children, his experience with this style of education was neither rich nor stimulating.

His teacher was not skilled in the art of educating kindergarten-aged children. And then of course, there was the issue of physical punishment, an unfortunate but very common occurrence in many such schools in Pakistan.

Clanelius wanted out of this kind of environment. He left the school one day and decided to never return. Even sadder was the fact that his teacher never bothered to find out why he left, nor did he try to encourage Clanelius to come back. Neither did his parents. Instead, his father bought a number of goats and gave Clanelius his first full-time job: as a shepherd.

It seemed as if Clanelius was doomed to illiteracy and a lack of basic education, despite his intelligence and willingness to learn.

But things took an interesting turn in the middle of 2000. That's when HDF started its Education Program in the Rahim Yar Khan area. One of the HDF-Community Schools was established in Chak No. 116/1-L, where Clanelius lived, as well.

First, HDF launched a campaign for the promotion of education, which was started by a teacher as well as by the DO (development organization) members. Development Organizations are the backbone of HDF's Project Pakistan model. These are community-based organizations, which are responsible for administering and running the project with the help, and under the guidance of HDF staff.

As a result, people of the area realized the importance of education and as many as 45 students were admitted to HDF's informal school, including Clanelius.

Here, one teacher would educate the children of different age groups ranging anywhere from 5 years to 10 years. The curriculum is the same as the government schools, but the teaching method isn't. Instead of the traditional "memorization" method, HDF's schools emphasize "joyful and activity based learning". As well, teachers are trained in a teaching program before they begin dealing with their students.

At first, Clanelius thought he would attend the school for just a few days to have fun and then return to shepherding. It seemed as if his past negative experience in school didn't give him much hope that his new teacher or school would be any different. However, he was open-minded enough to give it a try.

After attending the school for a few days, Clanelius realized his opinion about the school was wrong. Instead of deficient teaching and punishment, he found a friendly atmosphere where his opinions and ideas were acknowledged and respected.

He was also impressed by the activity-based learning that was used as a teaching method in classes. Clanelius enjoyed learning with the help of educational aids and tools. He was soon recognized as one of the brightest students at the school.

His enrolment, though, did not mean abandoning his job of taking care of the family's 17 goats. During school hours, his brother took care of the herd. But his love for learning and school had developed to such a degree that even shepherding now took a back seat to education.

On one occasion, his brother left the village for some other business, and Clanelius had to take care of the goats. After grazing the goats for a little while, he left them under a shady tree and instead of spending the rest of the day with them, came back to the school.

Clanelius's thirst for knowledge didn't end with the school year's completion. During the hot summers, when the school was closed, Clanelius regularly visited his teacher to learn new ideas. His parents have also realized the importance of education.

All of this has led to a situation where the once full-time shepherd and kindergarten dropout has become a regular student. He can visualize his bright future very easily.

For children in Pakistan, like Clanelius, they can and will thrive if the local education system provides children rights and respect. No student would drop out and schools would become a place of love and friendliness instead of dungeons of doom and punishment if such rules were respected.

Date/Time Last Modified: 2/24/2003 8:26:52 PM