Together we are strong

Today, 265 students attend the Girls High School in Datuchi, which started 14 years ago as a private neighborhood initiative with 22 girls. 125 students of the 1.-5. Class are taught by 5 primary school teachers in the morning. 8 privately financed teachers teach the 140 students of the 6th-10th Class in the afternoon. The school is bursting at the seams! And the girls say enthusiastically: "Learning in a big community encourages us."

Another good news: The school building, newly built 2 years ago, is already being expanded to include a multipurpose room, two classrooms and a toilet block, funded by public funds of the Province Northern Areas.
The costs for the 8 privately financed teachers amount to 280 EUR per month.

Girls College Bagrot

35 graduates of Girls High School Datuchi enthusiastically embraced our new initiative for a private girls' college last year. Of these, 23 have already passed the final exam of the first year of college (11^th grade) in May of this year and all have passed! 19 of the 23 successful students now attend the newly established 12^th class.
The second year of the 11^th grade is attended by 21 graduates of Girls High School Datuchi. The college students are 16 to 22 years old. Among them are 2 girls from neighboring regions, thanks to the good reputation of our school. The two young women live during school time with relatives in Bagrot. The two college classes will be taught in the afternoon by three qualified teachers in Urdu, English, Maths, Social Studies, Islamic Studies, Pakistan Studies, Sociology and Pedagogy. 3 other teachers support them by the hour.
The cost for the qualified college teachers is 200 EUR per month.

Datuchi - Education center in Bagrot

The pupils of the 6.-12. Class come from all six villages of the valley. The lessons in the afternoon, due to the lack of classroom and government schools, makes a virtue of necessity: Even girls and young women with school trips of one hour and more can attend classes. They come in groups on foot to Datuchi without the otherwise necessary male accompaniment. Some of the young women are already married and mothers. The children are guarded in the afternoon by their grandparents. The numerous domestic and agricultural duties are done in the morning. For the homework there is only little time in the evening. Nevertheless, the students score well in the annual exams compared to the boys. Even in the regional school comparison, their results are remarkably good. This is already known beyond Bagrot.
In the meantime, it is common for top-class students to switch to BASE Public School (we reported extensively on this community initiative by dedicated parents in the 2003 newsletter). To invest 4 EUR (300 rupies) a month in the education of a gifted daughter is still the exception. The BASE Public School in Datuchi has a very good reputation 6 years after its founding beyond Bagrot. With today 215 male students and 65 female students, she is the only mixed school in the valley. Thirteen private teachers teach classes 0 to 9. Due to the small school building that was built last year using private and public funds, the classes have to be divided into a morning and an afternoon shift. In the coming year we would like to announce some scholarships to visit the BASE School for outstanding students of Monika Girls High School. The school fees per student amount to 50 EUR per year.

Finally, a tip for travel lovers: The year 2007 was declared VISIT PAKISTAN YEAR. And our little partnership project is 15 years old. Who would have thought that in 1992?

The students, parents and teachers of the Monika Girls High School and the Girls College Datuchi thank all the donors and the women of the Forum Children in Need e.V. for the generous and long-standing support.

I wish you and our many small and big friends in the Bagrot valley a lot of luck and all the best from my heart.

Greetings to You
Monika Schneid
October 2006

Donation Account:Kreissparkasse Tübingen
IBAN: DE31641500200002753609
BIC: SOLADES1TUB
Forum Kinder in Not e.V.
For earmarked donations please quote the keyword “Pakistan”. If the full address is indicated on the remittance slip, a donation receipt will be sent.

Further Informations:
Monika Schneid
Marienthaler St. 156
20535 Hamburg
Tel:      040-250 37 08
E-Mail: monika@monikaschneid.de
Web:   www.bagrote.net