This scheme was set up over two decades ago by a team of individuals which included the founder of The World Federation - Marhum Mulla Asgher, may Allah (swt) rest his soul amongst the proximity of our Masomeen.

The basic idea was (and still is) to eradicate poverty. It is well known that the long term solution to poverty is education.

The solution is easy to highlight. Should a child go through education he or she is more likely to gain a steady, well-paid job. The increased income will help them, their family and their local community. This is the manner in which education brings about economic upliftment.

I feel that we need to increase the higher education take-up on the ZCSS which is still too low. We need to market the scheme much more powerfully and we need to work hard on motivating parents and children alike to continue through education and to be tempted by the lure of working too early.