"Children Education Program"
Objectives
Education is vital to positive change in children's lives. Yet for millions of children and youth in a developing country like Pakistan, education is beyond reach. Although successive governments have announced various programs to promote literacy, especially among children, they have been unable to translate their words into action because of various political, social and cultural obstacles. There are today 55 million Pakistanis of age 10 and above who cannot read or write (source: UNESCO Global Monitoring Report 2006).
Eager to bridge the divide between the privileged and the low-income earning employees, Trakker launched an initiative that aims to help those, who wish to educate their children but find it difficult to bear the expenses.
It is important to mention that there are 750+ employees working at Trakker out of which 400+ are working as skilled labour (Technicians, Drivers, Office Attendant, and Security Guards) with an average (market competitive) monthly salary of Rs. 10,000 (US $150).
Details of the Project
Led by the CEO, The Human Resource department kicked-off the project by conducting an awareness campaign at Trakker Corporate Office in Karachi and then sharing the initiative with the rest of the employees working at all the different branches all over Pakistan. The main focus was to encourage the employees to take advantage of the program and give their children an opportunity to attain quality education.
All employees earning less than Rs. 10,000/- can benefit from this initiative if they have completed a year with the company. (maximum two children per employee).
Implementation
The employees showed a positive response to this initiative and a total of 20 children were enrolled in the very first month of the launch. The number of children has gradually increased subsequently and till 1st August 2008, a total of 42 children of 24 employees were enrolled for this program (See Appendix “B”). The number of children is expected to reach 80 by the end of year 2008.
These children are studying in different prominent schools of choice of the employee, from Grade 1 to Grade 10 (Primary to Secondary level).
Results
This program had a profound effect on the employees, with increased morale and has also put a lasting effect on the lives of those children who are benefiting from quality learning.