New book advocates equality of opportunity in Pakistan’s schools
June 12, 2021
‘Agents of Change’ is an immensely enjoyable and inspiring book that is deserving of a widespread readership inside and outside Pakistan. Unlike many works of political literature, it is not an angry tome, nor is it reductively ideological. It can be best described as a results-oriented work written by an extremely diverse group of pragmatic idealists with a passionate belief in the power of a quality education coupled with a fierce opposition to an education system that is failing millions of children in the country.
Author Amjad Noorani, along with co-editor Nadeem Hussain, and the advocates of change he interviews, pull no punches and leave few stones unturned as they expose the why behind an education system that has produced such glaring inequities in Pakistani society. The country’s dysfunctional education system suffers from a myriad of problems, including soul-crushing language aparthe
The image always saddens me. When I see children, dressed in their school uniform, hair neatly combed, as they walk to their schools, as they are perched on their father’s bicycle or motorbike, as they are seated in an overfilled school van. Their faces always melancholic. What awaits them in their state-run, their low-fee private schools? Small windowless rooms; no-ground PE and sports; no library, activity room, IT lab; low quality education; and unfriendly teachers who believe teaching is a solemn affair maintaining a strict regimen of discipline in and out of the classroom. Underprivileged, they are children who deserve the stars but who at a very young age learn to coexist with their incomplete dreams, their no-dreams.
TCF webinar shares education response during the pandemic Filed on April 24, 2021 | Last updated on April 25, 2021 at 09.33 am
The Citizens Foundation (TCF), a Pakistani non-profit organisation educating the less-privileged, held its first webinar to thank its well-wishers in the UAE and to update them on the foundation s progress.
TCF is operating 1,652 school units in urban slums and rural areas across more than 700 communities in Pakistan where children were previously out-of-school. TCF has an enrolment of 266,000 deserving students, nearly half of whom are girls. The foundation is the largest private employer of women in Pakistan with more than 12,500 teachers and principals. The Economist magazine has called TCF perhaps the largest network of independently run schools in the world.
TCF thanks well-wishers in the UAE Filed on April 24, 2021
The Citizens Foundation (TCF), a Pakistani non-profit organisation educating the less-privileged, held its first webinar to thank its well-wishers in the UAE and to update them on the foundation’s progress.
TCF has an enrollment of 266,000 deserving students, nearly half of whom are girls. The foundation is the largest private employer of women in Pakistan.
Due to lack of digital access during the pandemic, TCF launched its Ilm ka Aangan (‘The Learning Courtyard’) programme with an engaging television show and an edutainment magazine promoting self-study. TCF won ‘Best Covid-19 Response’ for this in the MGM awards held by the International Humanitarian City.
Dubai: A Pakistan-based non-profit organisation, The Citizen’s Foundation (TCF), registered at the International Humanitarian City (IHC), Dubai, held its first webinar during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to apprise its UAE patrons on how it was managing the education of underprivileged children during this period.
Webinar unveils educational work with underprivileged children
The Citizen’s Foundation (TCF) held a Zoom webinar on April 7 that was attended by over 100 members of the UAE community such as young professionals, businessmen, and people who support the cause of education. TCF was conferred the MGM awards for its innovative education methods and the Best COVID-19 response by the International Humanitarian City in March 2021.