Kashmir Education Foundation

otia ncu Fd oE u r ni dm ah tis oa nK

PA NAKI TS

Committed to 21st Century Education

To produce a critical mass of future young citizens, from the underprivileged

communities, whose knowledge, intellectual abilities and character

matches the challenges facing Pakistan in tomorrow’s world.

To provide a ‘best of class’ modern and well rounded education, to the future young citizens of Pakistan from the

underprivileged communities with equal emphasis on female education & priority for the rural areas; and

towards this end train & produce teachers of very high quality equipped with modern teaching skills.

VISION

MISSION

The ChallengeOf 21st Century

! It is an established fact that the wealth of a nation lies in its intellectual property. No society can progress if the education imparted to its youth - the most vital asset- lacks quality and fails to imbue them with high moral and intellectual attributes without which they are obviously ill equipped to face the challenges of the modern age of science, technology and competition. Therefore, to meet the demands of the 21st Century it is imperative that our children receive sound education at elementary and secondary levels.

! Since independence the progress of Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) has been seriously affected by the acute paucity of well-educated youth. Although the respective Governments have set up schools and colleges in large numbers even in remote rural areas, the quality of education imparted therein is questionable. The socio-economic development has been stunted largely because of our educational system, which fails to equip our children with sound knowledge and intellectual capabilities, which are the basic requirements of the present-day quality conscious world.

! Access to good schools and colleges which are largely in the private sector and are expensive, is presently restricted to the opulent sections of the society in cities, while the rural areas are generally bereft of this facility altogether.

! As a consequence of the present situation, almost 80% of nation’s talent pool belonging to the underprivileged segments of the society remains untapped. This perpetuates their socio-economic backwardness rendering them highly susceptible to exploitation by extremist elements. It also gravely inhibits their ability to compete in life and contribute to the nation’s well being. There is thus a strong need to change this trend and develop the potential of such children also to compete in the 21st Century and perform their role fully in national development.

What KEFIs about?

Objectives!

education to girls and boys particularly from the backward and remote rural areas. ! To set up Teachers Training Institutes for female graduates particularly from rural areas, enabling them

to become high quality English medium primary school teachers. ! To use the established schools and Teacher Training Institutes as resource centers for replicating quality

schools throughout the country. ! To upgrade the skills of teachers from other schools in the respective areas.

A very important element of the Foundation’s objective is to provide access to quality education to female children of the target groups. They constitute approximately 50 % of the student population of the Foundation’s institutions. In due course KEF alumni will become professional and social role models and enlightened leadership for their communities.

To set up English medium schools and colleges in Pakistan and AJ&K imparting quality

Kashmir Education Foundation (KEF) was established as a charitable Education Trust in Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) in 1994 with its Head Office located at Rawalpindi. Its primary objective is to provide high quality modern education to bright children from underprivileged and marginalised sections of the society, particularly in the remote rural areas and to support the general up-gradation of abysmally low teaching standards of country's primary and secondary schools. KEF is paying special attention to female students. It is also registered as a charity in UK with its own Board of Trustees, while it has also been registered as a charity in USA and granted tax exemption from the Department of Treasury [with a status of 501 (c) 3].

KEF has to sustain its efforts through donors and it has been certified as a Non Profit Organisation (NPO) by Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy, Islamabad, a private sector professional body designated by the Government of Pakistan to evaluate the performance of NGOs.

The Voluntary Services Overseas (UK) was actively associated with KEF in connection with the establishment of its first modern English medium school and the Institute of Teacher Education (ITE). The Foundation now has one College, two schools and a Teacher Training Institute, as Centres of Excellence.

Existing InstitutionsOf KEF

PEARL VALLEY PUBLIC SCHOOL & COLLEGE- PVPS&C

SOAN VALLEY PUBLIC SCHOOL - SVPS

The second school of KEF was launched in Pakhowal, near Basali (Rawat) some 35 km from Rawalpindi. Spread over an area of 50 kanal, the Pakhowal Complex was built at a cost of over Rs. 30 million and consists of Soan Valley Public School (SVPS) and an Institute of Teacher Education (ITE).

The funding for SVPS came from KEF UK and the school was commissioned in May 2005. Built to take classes up to HSSC, the SVPS also serves as an adjunct to Institute of Teacher Education as a resource centre and venue for initial teaching practices.

The initial faculty for SVPS comprised experienced teachers from PVPS. Ms. Joan Atkinson, who was the pioneer principal of PVPS and the first Director of Institute of Teacher Education volunteered to return and steer the school during its formative year. The SVPS has been provided with all the modern educational facilities. Its library, named after the international marathon runner, Ms. Anna Finn*, has almost 10,000 books, mostly donated by KEF UK.

* Ms. Anna Finn ran seven marathons on seven consecutive Sundays in UK and France to promote the cause of KEF, in 2007.

Located in village Khirick of the picturesque Pearl Valley Rawalakot, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, this pilot project of KEF was inaugurated on 14th August, 1996. Today PVPS, upgraded to college, stands out as a centre of excellence and beacon of hope for the talented children from a catchment area of over 200 sq. km. The foundations of the School were laid by volunteer educationists like Joan Atkinson and Joan Boswell, from UK on most modern education system based on UK curriculum. Today, with a highly trained faculty, an IT lab, Science labs, a language lab, a library with over 15000 books, arts and craft room, multipurpose hall and playgrounds, PVPS can be envy of any modern school in major cities.

The PVPS had the rare distinction of achieving the highest GPA in matric exam amongst over 550 schools affiliated with the Federal Board in 2006 and second highest in 2007. As part of Global School Partnership Scheme, PVPS has established links with Acklam Grange School and Valentines High School in UK and since 2008 two students are selected to visit UK on a four weeks study tour every year.

100% students have qualified with high grades in HSSC examination and a large number of students have been admitted for higher studies on merit in top professional universities including Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), National University of Science & Technology (NUST), Cadet Colleges and Bahria University etc - a unique distinction for rural children.

INSTITUTE OF TEACHER EDUCATION - ITEThe ITE is a major success story of KEF as it has made significant contribution in raising education standards in rural areas. It was initially established in 1999 in the premises of PVPS to meet the specific needs of teachers from rural areas with poor educational background and no exposure to modern pedagogical skills. The foundation of ITE was laid by volunteers provided by Volunteer Services Overseas (UK) and Australian Volunteer International, who developed curriculum and resource material with intimate guidance of educationist trustees from KEF UK and University of Gloucestershire. The ITE conducted three Post Graduate Diploma courses of 1½ year duration at Rawalakot (AJ&K).

The KEF Trustees decided to shift the ITE at a central location in order to benefit maximum teachers from all over Pakistan. In 2005, the ITE was relocated in Pakhowal Complex near Rawat, 35 km away from Rawalpindi, in a purpose-built accommodation. Luckily, the ITE has had a constant supply of foreign teacher trainers and has trained a substantial number including trainees from interior Balochistan and Sindh.

The teachers trained at ITE have transformed the entire educational environment in Rawalakot Valley and their number in any school has become the measure of quality amongst the private English medium schools. The ITE has a hostel facility for 46 students and also conducts a number of short courses and workshops to raise education standards in private and public schools in Rawalpindi and adjoining areas. It is affiliated with Bahria University, Islamabad for award of Diploma to trainee teachers.

BANJOSA VALLEY PUBLIC SCHOOL -BVPS

This school located in Banjosa Valley, close to Hajira, AJ&K was commissioned in March 2009.The total cost of construction exceeded Rs. 25 million. Besides KEF UK, funding for BVPS was provided by Mr. Hasan Askari and Mr. George Goulding and a few other philanthropists from UK. The BVPS has been constructed to take classes up to matric and is equipped with all the modern educational and recreational facilities. The teaching faculty for BVPS was trained at our ITE and employed in PVPS to give the required teaching experience prior to joining BVPS.

Existing InstitutionsOf KEF

Board of Trustees KEF (Pakistan)

! Maj Gen (R) M. Rahim Khan, H.J.Chairman KEFFormer Secretary General Defence, Chairman PIAC & CAA, Pak Ambassador to Mozambique & Malaysia

! Lt Gen (R) Jahandad KhanFormer Governor Sindh, Presently President Al-Shifa Eye Trust Hospital, Rawalpindi

! Mr. M. R. KhanBanker. Former President UBL, Executive Director Asian Development Bank & Chairman Pakistan Banking Council

! Mr. Pervez H Sufi Chartered Accountant and Business Executive ! Mr. Abdul Razak Kazi Chartered Architect

! Mr. Jawaid Ibrahim Khan Social Worker

! Syed Muhammad Nadim Shafiqullah Business Executive

! Mr. Mussadik Hussain Business Executive, Chairman KEF UK

! Mr. M. Akram Khan Cheema, OBE Educationist, Trustee KEF UK

! Engr. Muhammad Rashid Chaudhry Engineer / Architect, Former Joint Secretary, Govt. of Pakistan.

! Engr . Asif H Khan IT Specialist

Secretary Brig (R) Amjad Javaid, SI (M)

Chief Executive Officer, KEF!

Relief &RehabilitationInitiatives

fter the tragic earthquake of October 2005, KEF was specially mandated by the Board of Trustees to undertake relief operations in the affected areas. The Foundation's Trustees, having an intimate knowledge of terrain and the likely requirement of affected people in view of impending severe A

winter, embarked upon a highly integrated operation to provide winterized shelters to the affectees. In a span of less than 4 months, the Foundation provided over 2500 shelters, costing approximately Rs. 50 million. The whole operation was managed by volunteers and KEF Head Office. The shelter design was declared by most national and international NGOs as the ideal arrangement in view of its robustness to withstand snow, rains and winds.

In 2009, KEF also responded to the humanitarian crisis which escalated during the anti-terrorists operations in Swat and Buner. KEF was actively involved in providing relief and rehabilitation to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from these areas.

IDP Relief Programme-2009IDP Relief Programme-2009

Be a Helping handOf KEF

ou can support KEF to provide the highest quality education to the youth from rural areas and eliminate educational apartheid between the affluent and the impoverished by:Y

! Contributing Rs. 1,500 ($ 20 or £ 12) per month to PARTIALLY SPONSOR a child in KEF's

Schools.

! Contributing Rs. 2,500 ($ 32 or £ 20) per month to FULLY SPONSOR a child for his entire education from Prep to HSSC (Class-XII).

! Contributing Rs. 6,000 ($ 75 or £ 50) per month to PARTIALLY SPONSOR a trainee teacher for a course at the ITE.

! Contributing Rs. 12,000 ($ 150 or £ 100) per month to FULLY SPONSOR a trainee teacher for a course at the ITE.

ou can deposit your contribution in the following bank accounts:Y! Habib Metropolitan Bank, Bank Road Branch (055), Rawalpindi Cantt. Account # 330116;

! HSBC, 47 Market Street, Bradford BD1 1LK, UK., Account # 52392461 (Sort Code 40-13-15)

! Wachovia Bank Douglasville Finance Centre, 6300 Arbor Place Blvd, Douglasville, Georgia

KEF UK & USAEF UK and USA are registered as charities in the United Kingdom [Registered Charity No. 1082299] & United States of America [status of 501 (c) 3]. They are committed to work in partnership with Kashmir Education Foundation in Pakistan and AJ&K towards achieveing a set of agreed objectives. K

Both chapters were born out of an altruistic response to identifying the causes of poverty and inequality amongst the most vulnerable and marginalised rural communities in Pakistan and AJ&K. Their mission is to provide a sound charitable structural framework for individuals and groups who wish to contribute towards KEF’s educational development activities and increase the capacity building programmes in rural areas of Pakistan and AJ&K.

PVPS Students at Acklam Grange School, UK.

ConclusionIt is recognised that the dimensions of the problem are gigantic and Foundation’s efforts will constitute only a small step in the direction of the ultimate goal. But a thousand miles journey begins with a small first step. It is the hope and prayer of the Trustees that efforts initiated by the Foundation will find an echo in the hearts of the informed members of the society who will not only support the present endeavor but will also, with Allah’s blessings, replicate these efforts themselves.

Valentines High School-UK

Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy

Acklam Grange School-UK

Voluntary Services Overseas-UK

Infaq Foundation

Our Partners & Friends

Impressions“I have tremendous pride in what you have all done together in this school; what I have seen today in the class rooms, the management, the parents who are behind each and every student, the administration; this is amongst the finest schools in Pakistan.”

Begum Shehnaz Wazir Ali - Chairperson of Higher Education Commission (HEC) with the status of a

Federal Minister, Pakistan.

“Only KEF can deliver such a project in this remote area - unbelievable.”

Brian Kelly (International Office of Migration), UN At the opening ceremony of the third KEF school in Banjosa.

“Children are the focus of our attention; they want to be the future leaders. We want to make sure that they are stretched in a way that makes them think of the whole world as a window of opportunity. We do not want to confine them culturally, religiously or in any shape or form.”

M. Akram Khan Cheema. OBE. A vastly experienced OFSTED Inspector and

Education Management Consultant (UK)

“Most Pakistani Teachers have knowledge, which they have acquired by rote learning. Many of them do not have an understanding or ability to use and apply what they have learnt. These are the sorts of skills, which we are giving to our teachers so that they can develop those skills in the pupils.”

Joan Atkinson - The pioneer principal of PVPS and Director ITE KEF

“The Pearl Valley Public School is better equipped than many; many or perhaps most of the British primary Schools and sits completely in a rural community. The children are confident, articulate and want to be open with you.”

Alan Bloomfield - Associate Dean Cheltenham Gloucester College (UK)

"To do more for the world than the world does for you - that is success". (Henry Ford)