A man in Pakistan is now working to help children get an education. When he was a child, he did not go to school because he was too poor.

    It is reported that Pakistan has 25 million children who do not go to school. That is the second­highest number in the world. Only Nigeria has more. Many Pakistani children must work to support their families.

    Mohammad Ayub was once one of those children. He is now a firefighter. He also manages a small school. VOA recently visited the school in the capital Islamabad.

    Ayub started with just one student in 1982. He saw a boy cleaning cars for days. He asked him, "Why don't you go to school?" The boy answered that his parents were dead and he had to work to help support his five brothers and three sisters.

    Ayub was also an orphan and he, too, had to work to help support his five brothers and three sisters. He said, "When my father died, everyone who came to the funeral said they were sorry, but no one helped." He sold newspapers and did other work to earn enough money to pay school fees for his brothers and sisters.

    Ayub wanted to help the young boy who washed cars, but he did not have enough money to pay the boy's school fees.

    Today, Ayub teaches many children at his school in a public park. Some of the children attend other schools in the morning, but come to Ayub in the afternoon to get help with their homework.

    Ayub has helped a large number of poor children since he began teaching. Many of them come from very poor areas near the park.

    Ayub said," I used to argue with kids who worked ' Why are you washing someone's dishes or their clothes? Why don't you study? ' "

    One of the children he advised to attend classes was Farhat Abbas. Ayub found him working with his friends about 12 years ago. "He followed us back home. He told our parents he wanted to teach us and asked them to send us to his school, "Abbas said.

    Today, Abbas is taking classes at a college and is helping Ayub.

    Many children are out of school, and those who do attend classes often get a poor education. Information gathered by an organization shows half of all Pakistani children in the 5th grade do not understand basic mathematics and cannot read a story in their language.

    A group in Islamabad reports Pakistan spends less on education than any other country in South Asia.

    In April this year, lots of bags full of small change(零钱) were seen at bus stops in Tianjin. They were made for passengers to turn their notes into small change. And such an idea came from four students from Zhongbei Middle School, Tianjin.

    "People will surely feel worried when they take a bus without coins. We just want to do something to help them," said Wang Yongcun, 15, one of the four students.

    The four boys spent their whole weekend making the change bags. After that they went to see the number of the passengers at each bus stop near their school, and then chose the top six stops to put the bags.

    Many people think that the four boys have really done a good job. But, things didn't go as the boys thought. Two days later, they found that the money was gone, and that even the bags were taken. It really made them sad but they would not give up. Their classmates and teachers came to help them in time. They put their pocket money in bags again. And the teachers also taught them to make better change bags. They tried their best to do it.

    The four boys feel very happy because they have done something good for the passengers. Their warm hearts are moving. More and more people are beginning to join in the activity.

    Hello, My name is Dale. I'm 13 years old. This is a photo of my family. Look! This is my father. His name is Tim Brown. He is 45 years old. This is my mother Alice. She is 43 years old. I have a sister and her name is Gina. She is 11 years old. I look like (长得像)my mother and Gina looks like my father. All my family are in the same school. My parents are teachers. They are friendly (友好的) to the students, so the students love them very much. My sister and I are students and we love our school.

    Manu，an eight﹣year﹣old boy，was sleeping comfortably in his bedroom．After a weekend break from his school，Manu failed to get up on time on Monday morning again．

    "Manu，wake up．It's time for you to go to school，"shouted out Manu's mother，

    Akhila，from the kitchen．Manu pulled the blanket over him and pretended he didn't hear his mother's repeated shouting．"Manu! Please wake up!It's already 6：30and your school bus will be here in ten minutes．Wake up and get ready．"

    After much yelling，Manu finally got up lazily when the school bus stopped in front of the house．Akhila had to ask the driver to wait for a few minutes．She quickly helped Manu get ready and helped him get on his school bus．

    "Phew!Manu didn't miss his bus today．Akhila sighed and thought to herself．"What should I do with this boy？Manu neither wakes up on time nor completes any of his daily tasks at the right time．It's time to teach him a lesson．"

    The next morning，Akhila was in the kitchen as usual．Everything seemed normal in the house except for the  unexpected silence．

    Manu finally woke up at around 9o'clock．He looked at the clock and ran to the kitchen，crying out，"Mamma!Why didn't you wake me up？I am really late for school．"He couldn't stop crying．"I have a maths test today and Madam Mangat will punish me if I miss her class and the test!"Madam Mangat was the strictest teacher in Manu's school．The fear of missing her class made Manu cry even louder．"Mamma，what should I do now？Please help．I promise I will wake up every day on time．"

    Akhila could no longer see her son crying and said，"Just promise me one more thing that you will do your daily task on time without pestering you to do it．

    "Sure Mamma!I promise!

    Akhila said in a loving voice．"I have already got permission from your math teacher and she has allowed Myou to take up the test today．"

    Manu hugged his mother．"Mamma!Thank you．"He quickly got himself ready for school without any help from Akhila．

    On the way to the school，there was silence in the car but a smile on Akhila's face．

    Jenny works in school and teaches us music. She likes shopping. She loves her family very much. It's Sunday, January 1st. She wants to buy a new skirt for her mother, because it's her mother's sixtieth birthday next Sunday. Now many clothes are on sale at Renming Clothes Store. There they have skirts in all colors and sports shoes in different sizes. They are very cheap. Jenny comes to the store with her mother, Mrs. Green. Jenny has a look at a red skirt and asks her mother to try it on (试穿)in the dressing room. After Mrs. Green comes out of it, a salesgirl says to her "You look five years younger in this red skirt. After hearing that, Mrs. Green says, "I will not take this skirt, because I don't want to look five years older after I take off the skirt.''