1.0   Summary
At the start of the term 8356 students were being educated. Today, 3 years later, 9248 students are being educated.

Of the total 9248 children being helped, 2135 are being sponsored on a one to one basis.  A country wise breakdown of these is given in Item 9 below.

During this term, ZCSS also financed the building of one new school in Bidar, South India and the extension of 3 existing ones (Alipur, Avalkonda and Kujhwa). See Item 5 below.

ZCSS has helped establish an extensive network of Madressas in India to impart religious education to students.  See Item 6 below.

During the term 1994-97, £638,068 was received by ZCSS and £580,025 was spent, leaving very little surplus for contingencies or for future increase in requirements as the children go into high schools and colleges.

Furthermore, 166 students are being helped in Higher Education in India at a cost of  £41,000 per year.

All the work being carried out under this Scheme is from remittances of the 2135 sponsor parents and from donations received from time to time.  This just goes to show that small sums pooled together can do so much work.

The balance today is less than £130,000.  Of this over half is from sponsors who have paid well in advance, some of whom have paid for the period beyond the year 2000. The funds are tied to sponsorship and cannot be used for anything else.

2.0   Finances
During the term £638,068 was received and £580,025 was spent on students, leaving a balance of only 9% for contingencies.

The accounts of the World Federation at present show a balance of £130,000.  This is because many sponsors pay well in advance, some having paid for well beyond the year 2000.  The funds are tied to sponsorship and can not be used for any other project.

As the number of students in Universities increases, the financial burden has increased.  This year we have therefore launched a sponsorship scheme for University students at the rate of £500 per year for 1 to 5 years.  The students actually require between £200 and £1500 per year depending on the course.

3.0   Students
The aim of ZCSS is to ensure that secular education is made available to all Shia Ithna-ashri boys and girls.  Needy parents are encouraged to send their children to any local school of their choice, with ZCSS providing the necessary funds for school fees, tuition fees, books, uniforms and transportation.

At present a total of 9248 boys and girls are studying under Zainabiya Child Sponsorship Scheme.   Of these:

Subsequently, no more reminders for further funds or reports are sent to these donors.  The education of the children continues to be monitored by the Secretariat and financed by Sehme Sadat Fund. 

At present 4430 Sadat students are being educated.

5.0   Zainabiya Schools
Some of the surplus funds and  specified funds received from generous donors have been used to build our own schools, to run them and to help other schools to improve facilities.

5.1  In Avalkonda, Andhra Pradesh, our school (built for £20,000 in 1994) is playing a major role in the local community.  Children from surrounding villages attend too.  The school building is now being expanded to double the number of classrooms.

5.2  In Alipur, Karnataka, our school (built for £20,000 in 1994) has been doubled in size to cater for higher classes.  A library and a science laboratory has been opened.  Staff quarters have been built so as to recruit better teachers from further a field.

5.3  Madrasa Islamia Kujhwa, Bihar is being expanded on a continuous basis. On completion of 2 phases of Imam Ali Khui Blocks, Imam-e-Zamana Block has now been built.  This school is also used for the annual eye camp.  The fourth eye camp took place in December 1996 when over 1000 patients were examined and 204 cataract operations were performed.  Teachers quarters and ancillary facilities block is being planned.

5.4  In Bidar, Karnataka , a new school has been built.  It opened in August 1997.

6.0   Religious Education
In almost every village where we sponsor children, we now have a Madressa.  It is compulsory for the sponsored children to attend Madressa.  ZCSS subsidises or fully finances the Madressas according to need.

The lessons at the camps and for correspondence courses mentioned below have been prepared by local teachers from material supplied by the Islamic Education Board of the World Federation.

6.1  In Bihar, all sponsored students of Bihar get together with some of their parents for the annual 3 day course in Islamics held at Madrasa Islamia Kujhwa.  The occasion is more successful year by year as the number of students attending increases.  Students from all over the State attend, come to know each other, make friends and expand their horizons.

6.2  A correspondence course in Islamics was started in Patna in 1993 because the sponsored students are spread far and wide all over Bihar and many have no access to a Madressa.Every sponsored student has to take the course and over a period has to answer up to 150 questions on Religious topics.

6.3  The 100 Madressas in Gujarat are now being co-ordinated by The Council of Gujarat and the sponsored children have to attend.

6.4  Bangalore.  An extensive religious education programme is in progress in South India.  932 students are sponsored in the region.  Madressas have been set up, existing ones are helped and teachers have been supplied to 13 towns and villages.

All the sponsored students sit  a common religious examination twice a year.  University students attend a special crash course in Islamics every year and a special postal library has been set up to supply them with books. 

Teacher training classes are running on a regular basis to make the teaching more effective.

7.0  Mehfil-e-Murtaza has been running an independent sponsorship scheme in Karachi since 1985.  We are pleased to report that it is running well.  The volunteers of Mehfil-e-Murtaza are doing an excellent job in the field of education.

8.0 Nasimco is now running its own independent sponsorship scheme because of the requirement of tax  deductible receipts.   We are pleased to report that it is being expanded.  We have had meetings with Nasimco to make sure there is no duplication of sponsorships to the students.

9.0  The 2135 Sponsor Parents world wide who make all the activities of ZCSS possible by sponsoring on a regular continuous basis are from the following countries:

10.0   Zainabiya Representatives

For the efficient running of Zainabiya Child Sponsorship Scheme, it is necessary to have Representatives and their teams in Jamats world wide.  Some have been working since inception in 1981.  Ideally the representative should be semi permanent.

At present the representatives are as noted below.  If you would like to be the Zainabiya Representative in your Jamat, please ask your Jamat to nominate you.  Your job will be to know the sponsorship scheme very well so as to be able to recruit more sponsors and be able to answer their queries.

If you have any queries, please contact the Representative in your Jamat or Zainab Kassam, the Zainabiya Administrator at the World Federation Secretariat.

11.0  Agencies
We work through local organisations to sponsor the children.  They all have dedicated voluntary workers who strive for the betterment of their communities.  They look for deserving cases and then go out of their way to make sure the child studies.

They also make suggestions regularly on how to improve the education levels for the children.  Each locality has its own peculiar problems and needs people with local knowledge to help administer the sponsorship scheme.

11.1   Monthly commitment for ZCSS children

12.0  Accountability
The Zainabiya Child Sponsorship Scheme was started in 1981.  Throughout the period we have relied on visits by office bearers of the World Federation and other Mumineen to look into the education programme in India and report back.  In this role, the President of the World Federation, Mulla Asgharali M M Jaffer and the Secretary General Dr. Sibtain Panjwani have particularly played an important guiding role.

Haji Aunali Salehmohamed who lives in Surat has undertaken numerous visits to different parts of India to review the progress.

Haji Safdar Alidina reports back on Bangkok on a regular basis.

12.1 During this term too, emmissaries visited India.

Muhsin Dharamsi, Chairman of ZCSS, visited India for a month in November 1994.  He was sent there to look at the requirements of houses for Sadats in Bihar and Karnataka and used the opportunity to look into ZCSS projects.

Jaffer Dharamsi visited Kutch and Kathiawad as special envoy of the President, Mulla Asgharali M M Jaffer in June 1995, and again in June 1996.

Dr Ahmed Hassam visited Thailand in June 1996.

The Secretary General Dr. Sibtain Panjwani, visited Gujarat in July 1996.

Onali Esmail and Shabbir Merali, two undergraduates from British Universities spent four weeks in Mahuva and Bhavnagar on a special mission of English Improvement in July and August 1996.

A large delegation from several countries toured India in November 1996 and reported back to the Chairman of ZCSS, Muhsin Dharamsi.  The reports of Haji Mohamedali Rashid of Toronto and Haji Akberali Panjwani of Essex were particularly helpful.

Muhsin Dharamsi toured Gujarat in March 1997 and set in motion procedures to set up coaching classes, to improve religious education and to raise the standard of secular education.

All the photographs in this report were taken within this term 1994-1997.

All the improvement in education and new ideas normally come from such visits and consultations with the local organisations.  We thank one and all for their support.

13.0   Acknowledgement
We are grateful to all the Councillors, Committee Members and Volunteers in all the Jamats who are liasing with the Sponsor Parents to make this Scheme a success.

We are grateful to all the Organisations in Bangladesh, India and Thailand and their many volunteers who are making sure the needy children get the help they require. These are the people in the field with the vision and the foresight to guide the community forward.

We are grateful to the visitors to India whose comments and recommendations we find useful.

Our special thanks are to the Volunteers in the Jamats of Arusha, Australia, Birmingham, Dar es Salaam, Dubai, Edmonton, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Minnesota, Mombasa, Nairobi, New York, Peterborough, Stockholm, Trollhattan and Vancouver.  They go out of their way to find sponsors in their towns and are fully committed to the education programme.