Since my project is focused on improving the environment and atmosphere of schools and helping kids become more creative and smart, I will mostly be working with students and teachers.

The first challenge for me is convincing the staff and students that they will make a difference and that they can do it. It will be more like a student engagement program, where students will be working on the idea and researching and I will mostly assist them and help them in showing direction.
So it's a challenge to inspire them and to make them think out of the box. They lack knowledge and confidence. They must take it seriously and to make them think it is a serious issue, this is a challenge for me. To make them listen. To make them THINK and come up with creative ideas. Children may get bored or tired so keeping their spirit alive and appreciating them is very important. It will also be a challenge to engage students who are shy and who do not like to participate in activities.


The next challenge will be team building. Right now I am all alone in this and I have no experience whatsoever so I need a lot of support and help. Because I am afraid I might give up somewhere when I get in a situation where I don't know how to progress. I want young females to work with me as volunteers. I want to find someone who is as enthusiastic about the project as I am and is willing to devote her time for the cause. And I am positive that I will make a good team, full of spirit.

Financial support is also a big time challenge. I might have to find a job or do more freelance work to make money.

SCHOOL VENTURE - CREATING A POSITIVE, FUN ENVIRONMENT AT SCHOOLS FOR OPTIMUM LEARNING
Children spend almost one-third of their time at schools. A school is the best place for them to learn and grow. School environments are social environments that regulate the behavior of students and help interaction between students and teachers. The school environment can help or hinder the realization of goals for young children.

CORE ISSUE:-
In my country, a large number of students are unable to attend schools. According to the Education For All Global Monitoring Report (2007), almost 6.5 million children in Pakistan do not go to school. A large number of students who make it to schools, however, drop out by class five. According to NEP, about 72 per cent make it to grade five which means a dropout rate of 28 per cent. This significant figure further brings down the chunk of the population that makes it to school. Such a large number of students outside schools mean that they are deprived of the opportunity to learn and acquire skills for playing a meaningful role in society. Social exclusion is a great loss at the individual and societal levels. Most of these out-of-school children experience poverty and unemployment and some get involved in criminal activities as well. And the others become a victim of child labour.

The real issue of educational apartheid comes to the surface only after joining a school. So many schools are deteriorating from neglect of the administration. The school environment is often disturbing or intimidating. Especially in villages or poorer areas of cities, schools look like haunted places, without furniture, without windows, without painted walls, clean water facility and myriad of other problems. Students sitting on mattresses in poorly ventilated rooms are a common sight in schools in poor sections of the city. Moreover, some schools are located in areas where the outdoor air is so polluted that teachers wouldn’t want to open the windows even if they could. Besides the physical problems, there is a lack of motivation, encouragement, appreciation, fun and understanding of the basic needs of students. Parents prefer to send their children to work, instead of schools, as they know there will be no learning going on there.

SPROUT IDEA:-
My Sprout idea is to plan and support the improvement of schools to create a Positive, Safe, Supportive and Disciplined Environment for optimum learning. It will also include behavior change. I want to redesign school environment in Pakistan, and provide a much needed awareness on the importance of establishing a healthy, loving, clean and green environment that stimulates learning. My idea focuses on fostering change in the classroom environment that inculcates school spirit in students, boosts social, mental and emotional development of students and move the uninterested, passive teachers into active, enthusiastic teaching mode.
I believe the school environment should be so exciting and friendly, that creativity flourishes naturally, and there are no barriers in communication, teachers pouring their hearts out to students, understanding their needs. Then the students will be able to cherish and remember their school days for the rest of their lives.

The environment has a tremendous affect upon student success, whether we are talking about the living environment (home) or the learning environment (school). An inviting, stimulating environment is of utmost importance to student success. People are not educated enough to care or think of the consequences of damaged school buildings or absence of teachers, lack of cleaning water and unhealthy environment at school. Not all parents can afford to send their children to expensive schools. It is a huge challenge for schools to foster the development of highly educated and versatile students in such critical conditions. Establishing a positive classroom environment where students are respectful of themselves and others will help reduce the risk of conflict. Many students do not have a positive environment at home. Sometimes school is the only escape they have. So it is very important that we make schools a place where the children want to go to, where they are eager to learn, where they feel safe enough to go out on a limb. When all is well, a child's brain is ready for learning and produces positive results.