Projects

Educational Support

The Khalique Foundation chose to work in Jhalopara School, Sylhet. Rounaque, a founder went there as a child, and everyone is overjoyed that a former student has come back to support them after 50 years.

Working with teachers, our first pilot program in 2017, identified 10 talented students in their final year of primary school (aged 10-11): 7 girls and 3 boys.

Primary education tuition and text books are free in Bangladesh, but other essentials such as writing books, stationary, school uniforms, bags, water bottles, and lunch boxes are not. Many children from poorer backgrounds can struggle to buy these items and fit into school.

We supported the 10 students identified by providing them with these items for the last academic year and will continue helping further students.

The Khalique Foundation continues to track the progress of all the children we support, in their final year, working with the school. The evaluation identifies those to be supported into secondary education – where tuition and text books are no longer free. Consequently some capable children end up dropping out to work or be married rather than progress with education. We hope to ensure this does not happen.

Next phase:

Evaluate effectiveness of program.
Develop next phase programs, perhaps with additional tuition.
Evaluate, help, and guide participants to most appropriate outcome.
Identify new participants.
Setting up libraries with a focus on reading.
Extending support to some non-academic areas of talent such as art, music, sport.

Skills Training for Employment and Development

The Khalique Foundation is working with a sewing teacher in Sylhet to provide training for local people.

We have provided four sewing stations with machines and identified and selected individuals that would not have the opportunity otherwise to receive training.

The first four trainees started their three month courses in January 2017.

The course already has an oversubscribed waiting list of students for the following courses.

After training the students have a number of options:

Entering the garment industry as trained labour on contract.
Working as freelancers.
Setting up as cottage industries.
Being able to simply make clothes for themselves and their families.

Next phase:

Evaluate effectiveness of program and training.
Develop next phase training programs.
Evaluate, help, and guide participants to most appropriate outcome.
We are considering microfinancing options to get machines into participants’ communities.
We are investigating the process of the servicing and repair of machines.