Educating those street children with no resources was only an idea when late Justice Yusaf Saraf’s family expressed their desire to give some donation for a new educational complex in 2012. The idea of educating street children was proposed to them and after mutual agreement it was decided that the new educational complex would be called Justice Yusaf Saraf Centre for Research, Rehabilitation & Mainstreaming of Street Children (RRMSC). Pakistan has 6 crore children between the ages of 5-16. Out of these 6 crore only 3 crore are privileged enough to receive education. While the rest of the 3 crore are not out of school by choice, but they actually have no schools to go to. Unfortunately these uneducated and unprivileged children are the future of Pakistan, this lot who are supposed to shape our country’s future, their future is being shaped by streets, dumps, the society. Since their minds are not shaped by education, these negative elements use that to their advantage and shape their thoughts in a way detriment to the society (i.e. equip them with weapons). We want to shape these young and innocent minds by education, consider them an untapped human resource instead of being a burden, we want to equip them with knowledge before they are equipped with weapons.The idea of developing a production house facility was proposed by the chairman, where these children can be shown education videos and documentaries. Apart from that, all possible steps were taken to create awareness in the society, at all levels, about the concept behind Justice Yusaf Saraf Center so that people can start identifying it as a serious issue which needs to be addressed immediately. This Centre is housed in a custom built premises in Sultana Foundation with a covered area of 10,000 Square Feet. Its ground breaking was performed by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Raja Pervez Ashraf on 17 November 2012 in an impressive ceremony and construction was completed in a record time of less than a year. Arrangements have been made in this Centre to impart conventional education as well as technical skills training to these children, besides conducting research in this entirely new field of education. A comprehensive curriculum has also been designed for these children after a thorough need based research by Research Fellows of the Foundation. Under this Centre, the blighted areas and slums of the twin cities were surveyed and “Mauqa Schools” (on-site study centres) (موقع سکول) have also been set up for children belonging to financially challenged families. The Centre is successfully operating 28 Mauqa Schools and Vocational Training Centres in various areas of twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, imparting education to over 700 boys and girls. These students are enjoying 100% free of cost education facilities, including school bags, text books and stationery. Carefully selected “Taleemi Counsellors” (تعلیمی کونسلر) have been appointed to cater for the specific education needs, grooming and character building of these children. To enhance their basic knowledge and attract them towards better environment, subjects like General Knowledge, Health & Hygiene, Ethics and Basic Religious Education have especially been included in the syllabus. Educational and entertainment visits are arranged at regular intervals to broaden their outlook. Curricular and co- curricular activities, and arts & craft have been included to enhance their interest. Besides, every facility has been provided to nurture their giftedness and transform these children into better, useful and responsible citizens.
