The Shaagird Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of the Kulsum Sayani Learning Center on 23, April, 2023 in Nuh, Haryana, offering a transformative educational opportunity to approximately 100 refugee teenage girls who have been excluded from formal education during a vital stage of their personal and intellectual development.
The learning center has been named after Kuslum Sayani, an Indian social worker, freedom fighter, and pioneering advocate of adult literacy. A close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, she edited Rahber, a Hindustani-language journal promoting national integration and literacy. Her efforts significantly contributed to post-independence educational reforms, particularly for women and marginalized communities in India.
Established in response to the pressing educational needs of displaced and vulnerable communities, the Centre provides a safe, inclusive, and supportive learning environment. Named in honour of Kulsum Sayani.
The curriculum of Kulsum Sayani Learning Center is carefully tailored to the students’ unique backgrounds and is delivered in their native language by trained, culturally sensitive educators. Lessons are designed to be engaging and relevant, fostering not only academic growth but also essential life skills and social development.
“Our goal is to remove the barriers refugee girls face in accessing quality education,” said , Aasif Mujtaba, Founder, the Shaagird Foundation on the launch of the Kulsum Sayani Learning Center. “Education is not just a right; it is the foundation for independence, resilience, and hope. This Centre is a place where these young women can regain their confidence and shape their own futures’’ he added.
In a global context where access to education remains a significant challenge for refugee populations particularly adolescent girls the launch of the Kulsum Sayani Learning Centre represents a meaningful step forward. It is a model of what is possible when education is approached with empathy, expertise, and equity at its core.
About the Kulsum Sayani Learning Centre: The Kulsum Sayani Learning Centre is an educational initiative designed to deliver quality, context-specific education to refugee girls. Through a combination of skilled teaching and a student-centred curriculum, the Centre aims to empower young women with the knowledge, confidence, and tools they need to build a brighter future.
About the Shaagird Foundation: At Shaagird Foundation, we fight for a world where education isn’t a privilege but a birthright. We act as changemakers, paving the way for marginalized children in India, removing the barriers that exclude them from classrooms and opportunity.
We believe every child holds the potential to create a meaningful change in society, a potential that burgeons with the power of knowledge. Our mission is to rekindle that spark within, empowering children impacted by dehumanization acts, communal violence, and those from underprivileged communities. We work tirelessly to transform the distant dream of quality education into a vibrant reality.
By providing access to education, we empower these young minds to become the torchbearers of their own lives and the future leaders of our nation. We opine that together, we can build a more inclusive, equitable society, one bright mind at a time.