Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders at School
Champion Clubs in Balochistan schools empower students to bring about positive change
Lasbela, Balochistan, Pakistan - 17 March 2020: “My mother always told me that the greatest satisfaction in life is achieved by giving others a reason to smile,” says 15-year-old Khadija Sadiq, Eighth grader at the UNICEF-supported Government Girls Middle School in Moosani, in Balochistan’s Lasbela district. “I take pride in improving the overall environment of my school as it makes students happy and motivated to learn,” she adds.
As president of the Champion’s Club of her school, Khadija leads a team of fellow students who work to improve the school and support students’ rights. The Champion Club includes girls and boys aged 10 - 16 who were elected by their peers to become ‘champions’ for one year, following the club’s guidelines. The ten champions are responsible for 16 small projects in school; they support school maintenance and improvement, participate in school enrollment campaigns and help students in need of financial assistance. Some of the champions focus on specific areas such as sports, health & hygiene, gardening discipline, etc.
"My mother always told me that the greatest satisfaction in life is achieved by giving others a reason to smile,"
Khadija is one nearly 12,000 students participating in champion clubs in Balochistan. Since 2018, UNICEF has supported champion clubs in 874 schools and 288 Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) centres in the province thanks to thematic funds received from United States Fund for UNICEF and Norwegian National Committee for UNICEF.
The clubs were built as a follow-up to the more basic “Child Clubs” model initiated in 2015. UNICEF is now looking at scaling up the ‘Champion Clubs’ model in 500 more schools across Balochistan.
Khadija is particularly proud of the work done by the club to ensure that no girl or boy is left behind when it comes to education.
“We drew a map of our village and identified the houses in which families with out-of-school children live,” Khadija says. “We visited them one by one and convinced all the parents to enroll their children.” says. Some said that they could not afford to pay for school fees, so the club paid for them. Some said they were unable to buy uniforms, so the club provided them. Our collective efforts have increased the number of children attending school in our village.”
Azra Abdullah, one of the champions, focuses on health. She is in charge of briefing students on healthy behaviours and good hygiene practices. Recently she had to inform her peers on the new Coronavirus. Each classroom now includes a poster telling students how to avoid the risk of infection.
The club was built using a sustainable model. It raises its own funds from the students and teachers who can afford to give a small amount of money -- PKR 5 (about $0.03 USD) for students and PKR 100 (about $0.6 USD) for teachers every month. The amount of money collected may seem small, but it makes a world of difference.
“No one is forced to give money. Initially, many students did not. However, once we started utilizing the funds on school maintenance and the results became visible, almost everyone started contributing,” says Khadija’s younger sister, 14-year-old Mariam, who serves as the club’s Finance Secretary.
The club meets every week to discuss school issues and decide how the money they collected should be spent.
“I record every expense and have to make sure that we have money available throughout the year,” Mariam tells. “My sister Khadija is very ambitious and has big plans for the school. During the weekly meetings, I explain what we can afford and what we cannot. We usually disagree but our teacher, Madam Tahira, is always ready to step in and help us reach an agreement.”
“The club provides an excellent opportunity for every student to develop leadership to boost students’ ownership of the school,”
Tahira, who studied at the school herself, has been working as a primary teacher there since 2005. She is also in charge of supervising the Champion Club and advising its members.
“The club provides an excellent opportunity for every student to develop leadership to boost students’ ownership of the school,” she says. “It has also helped me develop a special bond with them. We have become a community in which we all look out for each other.”
The club also helps girls and boys be prepared for the transition to work.
“The leadership and team building skills which students develop at the club will play an instrumental role in their professional lives,” says Hamid Baqi, UNICEF Education Officer in Balochistan.
This will help the students not only actively participate in their school, but also become engaged members of society later on.
