Education, in today’s world, is more than just conferring a certificate. It is granting a child an equal opportunity to compete and excel in a fast-progressing world that is only growing every day in ideas and possibilities. It is to equip children with the necessary skills, techniques and information that build in them the confidence to challenge, create, innovate and allow them to contribute towards the betterment of societies and the upliftment of their communities. It is this confidence that Sarvath Adil Khan, founder of Learning Point, talks about when she says, ‘I want to give them the gift of confidence, so that they can, at least believe that they too, like every other child, have a right to dream. And then over here, with the help of this project, I want to equip them with the necessary tools with which they can turn their many dreams into a reality.”
Learning Point, located in Bangalore’s Tannery Road is an NGO that works to offer youth, struck by fate, a second chance at pursuing their education in various fields, and to make a difference in their lives. The NGO works with school drop outs who had to discontinue their education early to become breadwinners for their families. Learning Point’s alumni, of the past four years boasts of children who were formerly working as maids, house helps, waiters, table cleaners, garage boys and are now either successfully placed in decent jobs or are pursuing their higher education as lawyers, paramedics and engineers. The course seeks to offer firstly a basic training in spoken English and then goes on to incorporate the students in an NIOS program. The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) is a government initiative that provides courses and programs up to pre-degree level through open and distance learning mode. The NGO also organises job placements, vocational counselling, teachers training and workshops on women empowerment, computer skills, interview skills, personality development along with scholarship programs.
Learning Point began in the year 2018 with only six students and has now grown to a 300-student strength, with a well-equipped, qualified staff, catering exclusively to youth, single mothers, widows, abandoned women, child laborers and drug addicts who wish to give themselves a second chance at breaking free from their circumstances for a better future. A unique initiative by the NGO is their AEMS (Academic Education for Madrasa Students) program that aims to empower huffaz, alims and students enrolled at madrasas with a formal English education along with personality development and computer courses, without hindering their Islamic education. The program even allows the students to write their exams, three subjects at a time, so as to not overburden their curricula.
‘We hope to make madrasas a haven of both Islamic and academic education’, their brochure optimistically says. The AEMS program is already being implemented in four madrasas in Bangalore and has yielded vibrant results. The NGO prides itself on a 96.7% pass rate for tenth standard and 98.1% for twelfth standard of which madrasa students too had between 98-100% pass rate.
Sponsored by a few organisations across Bangalore, the NGO was founded by Sarvath Adil Khan, who has nearly seven years of experience in social service. A former parent leader at Oasis International School, Sarvath did not let her early marriage deter her from seeking a higher education for herself. A certified Cambridge trainer with a Masters in Psychology, she has previously served as headmistress in Elegant International School, before establishing her own centre for schooling and service.
“Maybe it was my own circumstances that moved me towards my brainchild, the Learning Point,” she says when asked about her source of inspiration. “I was married too early, depriving me the chance at education, training and self-reliance. It is only when I pushed myself to study after the birth of my two children that I realised that every school dropout should also be given this second chance at bettering themselves.”
“Parents from poor economic backgrounds enrol their children in a madrasa for many reasons. But the foremost amongst them is that it offers some sort of a formal education, free of cost, that allows the child to have at least a meagre income in the future. But as a society we have stereotyped our alims and huffaz to a point that we don’t see them beyond their kurta pajamas as individuals who are deserving of respect and opportunities just like other members of the society. All they end up with is having to stand in BPL ration lines for food and less than sufficient incomes while they are only approached by the community on a ceremonial basis.”
While many aspects differentiate Islam from other religions, the pursuit of education stands out as a significant one. Islam considers the acquisition of knowledge as a fundamental duty for all believers, irrespective of gender, age, or profession, rather than a privilege for a chosen few. The AEMS program that works with madrasas empowers the students to balance both the worlds and face the society head-on without any feelings of deprivation and inferiority, as they enhance themselves with their Islamic education accompanied by a formal English education that enables them to have careers of their choosing.
After completing their pre-degree level courses with NIOS the students are integrated into colleges across the city where they can meet and learn from diverse cultures and thought processes to become individuals who understand the society better and can offer more than what they themselves received.
Sarvath emphasises on the need for teachers to be more aware of the skill-based opportunities that are now available, making it possible to create careers out of every little hobby. It is with this guidance and encouragement that many lives and futures and can be given a chance so that they too can become contributing members of the society instead of dependents on government schemes.
“My students give me the energy boost I need to carry on with my initiative whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed or discouraged by the lack of support in our community. I watch them talk about their dreams with a twinkle in their eyes and I know that I will continue to work for them.” Learning Point has already made a difference in 317 lives that have now been removed from the shackles of illiteracy and unemployment and are already on a path of determination, confidence and compassion.
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Zainab Aliyah is a Staff Writer at The Cognate.
