Enabling bright students to succeed in a changing world
by Lee Ria Villahermosa – Marketing & Communications
As part of its commitment to Pakistani communities, NRS Relief’s charitable arm, the Bilqees Sarwar Foundation (BSF), is dedicated to promoting quality education. As part of this ethos, it has recently granted 20 scholarships worth PKR1.8 million (USD16,924) to the most deserving students at the Customs Public School in Lahore. The scholarship program will support young students, from 3 to 13 years old, who may not otherwise have enough resources to pursue their primary education.
Education in Pakistan
Pakistan has long struggled to increase school enrollment and approximately 140 million children are out of school. According to A World at School, militants have destroyed thousands of school buildings, have taken the lives of hundreds of teachers and students, and have denied the right to education to thousands more. As a result, only 87% of Pakistani children finish primary school. In the face of these difficulties, the Customs Public School has been delivering primary school education, with a difference, to the Lahore community since 1982.
Through the scholarship grants, our charitable arm, the Bilqees Sarwar Foundation will give children the opportunity to attain a quality education. Recipients of the scholarships reported that challenges at home prevented their continued schooling. One student said that her family has absolutely no financial means to support her education, and that she had just lost her father after a prolonged illness. She wants to become an engineer. Another student passed his fifth grade with distinction, but was forced to stop his studies and go out to work due to the imprisonment of his father.
Global challenges in education
NRS Relief recently joined the Global Business Coalition for Education‘s list of private companies that together have committed more than USD50 million to support the education of Syrian refugee children. As a member, NRS Relief is donating multi-purpose tents that can be used as schoolrooms, while simultaneously showcasing its capacity of delivering strategic, innovative solutions for humanitarian response. Through the Bilqees Sarwar Foundation, NRS Relief is extending its pledge to raise the standard of community living by sponsoring quality education in under-developed countries such as Pakistan.
About the Bilqees Sarwar Foundation
The Bilqees Sarwar Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization in Pakistan that aims to provide public health and education support to the local community. The foundation’s work has evolved over the years, expanding its charitable donations to include public health, education and humanitarian relief priorities. For more information, visit www.bsfoundation.com.