From The Founder’s Desk  
Dear reader,

Thank you very much for taking the time to read and learn about the work being done by the Al Noor Charitable Society.
The support of well wishers is truly appreciated and will resonate forever from the hearts of the children who receive your kind support, as it is through your support that these impoverished children who have previously been in such a bad state that dreaming of being in school seemed an impossibility. I would like to share with you some of my journey in setting up the schools. Though I spent my youth in Aligarh and studied there, it was not until late 1999 when my husband took charge as Vice Chancellor of AMU that grave human reality hit me! Aligarh is made up of communities that have been battered by poverty, illiteracy and communal riots; a community so rigid in its emptiness and disenchantment that it has no hope for the present and no understanding of the future. Unless a horse had not ridden me to the otherwise non-walkable slum lanes of Aligarh I would not have witnessed a child drinking from the same dirty sewer in which a dead rat was floating. Something stirred within me and at that instance I knew the purpose of me being there and hence began my journey! I know that education at the grass root level was the only means to free the community from the bondage of poverty and lead them to freedom. So my journey for transformation of life of poor children began in 1999 by the start of absolutely free education in The Qila Public School. To protect and cherish the dreams of poor children, soon Al – Noor Charitable Society was formed and registered in 2004, with a vision and mission ”To over run the race on poverty through the strong Horse of Education, gracefully riding the nation to glory”. Looking at the overwhelming response, two more free schools were started “Al –Noor and Chacha Nehru Public School”. Started with a handful of children, today all the four schools an attentive attendance and house of more than 1800 children. Thank you for your time and kind efforts.

Salma Ansari - Delhi

OUR STORY

To educate, empower and enable

We started with a handful of children and today the Qila Public School has over 600 children and to accommodate them, we are running double shifts! Based on the demand generated by the Qila School, the Al Noor public school and the Chacha Nehru Public School were started. In 2003, the Al Noor Charitable Society was formed and registered to manage the four schools and their affairs. We aspire to educate every child, regardless of age, caste and religion who has been left out of a formal education and look forward to your continued goodwill and support. The foundation is unique in its philosophy. Through innovation and pedagogy which is both tried and tested over the last twelve years the students are taught in a manner which makes education come alive, so that the joy of studying is sparked in their hearts and the desire to make a change from within. We believe that education should not be denied to anyone. Under the Al Noor Schools we allow children to enter the school at any age. This enables children who have been deprived of an education in their early years/who dropped out but want to go back/ children of migrant labor, to join school and get an education. To be a part of mainstream education these children need to possess the skill of an English education. The 3 schools being run under the Foundation provides an English medium education. This enables the children to gain tremendously ion terms of confi dence and communication and helps them if they choose to study further.

Location

Set in the historic city of Aligarh, located in Western Uttar Pradesh holds the distinction of having one of the oldest and largest Universities of India – the Aligarh University. The district is also unfortunately, home to over 50,000 children who have no access to basic education & schools due to the below poverty - line existence of the parents. The Government run schools are also in a dismal condition & plagued by a lack of teachers. Aligarh has about 1200 villages, and an approximate population of 3 million. Males constitute 53% of the population, females 47% and 45% of the population is under 20 years of age. Aligarh has an average literacy rate of 58%, lower than the National average of 65%. The city is famous for its locks industry and has developed into a commercial centre of an agricultural region, which produces Wheat, Sugarcane, Cotton, Corns, Potatoes, Guava and Millet due to it railroad junction. The communities being supported by Al Noor Charitable society are among the most remote, vulnerable, poor and under - served by government services in the area. There are approximately 20,000 people in and around peripheral villages of Aligarh, struggling in their daily lives working mainly as daily wagers, laborers and human rickshaw pullers. The four locations where the schools are located all have similar challenges in their access to government services. Such as education, health care, clean drinking water, markets and roads. All the communities face an array of problems unique to their locations, social and cultural situations, history and environmental surroundings. These challenges are also important for villages with high birth rates, rapid population expansion, and a mix of ethnicities. However, all communities have a high number of people who have expressed a keen interest in supporting the development of their children though they are not able to support the educational requirement of “all” children in the family. The Qila area and Al Noor are probably the worst slums of Aligarh with no facilities for running water or electricity. The school operates in a building that was donated by university. With the growing demand we are looking to purchase a purpose built school which can provide further well supported education and learning with the emphasis of development of life skills and employability skills and allow us to continue with the students up and until their school leaving age. We, are, literally starved for funds. As more and more poverty stricken parents approach us for free education for their children, our needs expand. More teaching aids, more teachers, larger school buildings are required.

Development Plans

This project has been developed based on the need assessment carried out on the community. The research and ground experiences have indicated that educational and vocational activities and support are likely to have a positive result on the community. Moreover, the educational sector is relatively weak there, but that there is great potential for improving the situation if some external support is provided. Education is certainly the key to human capacity development, which in itself is the key to development. It has also been noted that a considerable lower number of girls attend school in the district compared to boys. The promotion of education for girls as Al- Noor has been doing continues to be a general priority for the schools. Before Al Noor Charitable Society Started working in these neighborhoods of Aligarh, there had never been an extensive NGO or other donor- supported education oriented initiative, and apart from what Al- Noor has provided, the district has received very little support in terms of education. Based on local priorities, the present are the main areas that the project is active in: 1. Support for and provision of basic construction materials to renovate and expand the 3 schools. 2. Support for providing basic school materials. There are few books or other learning materials available in primary schools in the district, apart from the most basic texts used as a part of the standard curriculum. Children have little opportunity to read books of interest, and thus few become very enthusiastic about reading. 3. Support for providing vocational training to an increasing number of children and youth. Mechanic, Carpentry and Electrical training have been identifi ed as a priority for boys, while Sewing, Stitching and Handicrafts have been identifi ed for girls. Computer based skills and essential communication skills are planned for all through the construction of vocation learning centres

Recipients of Project Benefits

Children between the ages of 5 and 20 years old living in the marginalized communities of Aligarh will be the main project benefi ciaries. All benefi ciaries are from rural semi-rural subsistence and semi- subsistence families. More indirectly the communities as a whole will benefi t from increasing standards of education, benefi ciaries of vocational training and skills training will help the economic well being of the communities