ALKHOBAR, 28 May 2004 — Pakistan Executive’s Group, a local think-tank and lobbying group, held a presentation recently on “The State of Education in Pakistan”. Ahsan Saleem, chairman of The Citizens’ Foundation, presented the “Misery Index” of government schools in Pakistan and highlighted the efforts of his organization in providing quality education to the poor.

Education, he said, is not available to a large number of children. He said some 15 percent of schools have no buildings; 52 percent are without boundary walls; 40 percent without water; 57 percent without latrines and 71 percent without electricity. The student-teacher ratio stands at 66:1.

There are over 44 million illiterate adults in Pakistan, Saleem stated, with female literacy at 27.9 percent.

The Citizen’s Foundation was established in 1995 to combat the poor state of education in Pakistan. This non-profit organization is made up of Pakistani citizens who want to make a difference in their society. As of April 15 this year, the foundation had established 181 schools in 22 cities throughout Pakistan. Most of the schools are located in poverty-stricken slums. The foundation’s schools have decent buildings with well-equipped science and computer laboratories, and employ over 1,500 fully trained teachers.

Around 86 percent of its 22,000 students passed their exams with A or B grades and 90 percent passed their subjects.

Saleem said The Citizen’s Foundation was a transparent organization, which is regularly audited. He added that it will never be self-sufficient and will always depend on donations. The chairman was hopeful of the Pakistani community’s continued contributions. A student can receive support for a month at the price of a pizza.

The guest of honor, Deputy Head of the Pakistan Embassy’s mission Mohammad Raza Otho appreciated the role The Citizens’ Foundation played in building schools, a job he said could not be left to the government alone.

At the end of the program, students from Dhahran Academy received appreciation certificates for collecting funds for the foundation, a task they did on their own initiative.