Bethel School is in Roufan colony, a rural area on the outskirts of Multan. The colony that it serves occupies a disused canal. The children come from families that are low-income earners, working often as daily labourers in the construction industry or on the surrounding farms.
The school began informally in 2003 and later registered with the local board of education as a Primary School. The school was the vision of a committed lady who was the administrator of the Women’s Christian Hospital Multan. Although she is now deceased her son is committed to the vision and oversees the school.
There are 130 children in the school, and they enjoy attending and learning in this, the only school in the colony. It has a well-constructed building with six classrooms and a veranda. There are eight teachers and 8 classes up to Class 8. When the children complete Class 8 they are encouraged to study for the Government Matric exam (in Class 9 & 10) either privately or by attending the Government High School. The aspirations of the school are to:
- Educate the next generation of minority children.
- Enable children to go to school instead of roaming the street where they are vulnerable and can easily drift into anti-social behaviour.
- To encourage the parents to send their children to school in the knowledge they are getting a reasonable standard of education in a secure environment with nominal fees.
- Facilitate the children to earn their livelihood through more respectable means rather than just being daily wage earners, maids and factory workers, which often their parents are.
