SCHS

SCHS LAUNCHES ITS ANNUAL ZAKAT CAMPAIGN

Apr 5, 2020

As part of its concern of educating, training and empowering persons with disabilities according to international best practices, Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services (SCHS) continues to provide services to its students through the Distance Education Program. SCHS does this in all its schools, departments and branches in the Emirate of Sharjah despite the urgent circumstances the world is witnessing due to the coronavirus.
As part of SCHS efforts to emphasize the role of society members in supporting the services provided to persons with disabilities, SCHS launched its annual zakat campaign (Fund Raising).  SCHS organizes this campaign every year during the holy month of Ramadan under the theme "Your Zakat… Educate us" with the aim of paying the tuition fees for students with disabilities who cannot afford it and providing the latest technologies to support their education after considering individual differences.
Her Highness Sheikha Jameela bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Director General of SCHS, has confirmed SCHS concern to raising awareness of the importance of contributing to the Zakat campaign during the holy month every year and supporting the educational services provided by SCHS to students with disabilities in accordance with international best practices.
She said, “Due to the hard circumstances that the world is witnessing due to the coronavirus, SCHS adopts an advanced strategy to educate persons with disabilities remotely through the educational and training platforms in addition to using its website and social media to ensure continuity of education and communication between specialists, students and parents”.
In this context, SCHS teachers and specialists adhere to the approved programs and designated hours of education while they stay connected via smart devices to answer inquiries and send educational and training video clips appropriate for students of various disabilities  
Director General of SCHS said, “For the third year in a row, Zakat Campaign has adopted the theme "Your Zakat… Educate us" as a main goal in order to confirm that this money would be allocated to cover for students, who their families cannot pay their entitlements. They are more than 543 students”.  
SCHS cares to spend this money on its students with disabilities who deserve it due to their need to pay for education, training, rehabilitation, and assistive technologies.  A special committee studies the financial situation of families with persons with disabilities to determine who is really in need because they cannot make a living.  In this case, SCHS as being a nonprofit organization pays money to educate persons with disabilities.  If SCHS cannot do this, SCHS becomes entitled to take from Zakat money, because it falls under one of the seven categories entitled to Zakat money according to the Islamic law, which is those in debt on their behalf or on behalf of others.
Her Highness Sheikha Jameela has mentioned that the total number of students who received services from SCHS in the academic year 2019 – 2020 were 1854.  More than 631 employees, which 50 are with disabilities, offered these services to those beneficiaries.  She believes that raising funds through organizing this campaign is a legitimate way to practice social responsibility and a good opportunity to raise people’s awareness of disability issues.
Her Highness Sheikha Jameela has praised the unlimited supports and contributions, which SCHS receives all the yearlong.  She asked mass media and journalists to support this campaign by making it a priority in order to introduce what SCHS is doing to persons with disabilities and their families.  This will lead to raise people’s awareness of the importance of contributing to charity work.
In turn, Mr. Jihad Abdul Qader, the General Coordinator of the Zakat Campaign, explained that due to the hard circumstances the world is living because of the coronavirus, SCHS would receive donations through wire transfers to Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services bank accounts in Sharjah Islamic Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank and through text messages.