Dubai: The Citizens Foundation (TCF), one of the world’s biggest school network, is participating at the Expo 2020 Dubai’s ‘Global Best Practices Programme’ this month.
As educationists from around the world converge at Expo during the ‘Knowledge and Learning Week’, TCF is highlighting best practices in education to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals.
TCF is being featured at Expo till January 2, 2022, at the Best Practice Area in the Opportunity Pavilion next to the UN Hub.
The Citizen’s Foundation is a leading non-profit working to provide quality education in Pakistan’s rural and slum communities. Pakistan is the world’s sixth most populous country and has the second-highest number of out-of-school children in the world, TCF said.
What started as a discussion among six friends to “correct their country’s trajectory”, has now become a national movement and “a global best practice”, it added. TCF runs 1,687 schools in 62 districts across Pakistan. Currently, it has an enrolment of 275,000 students, of whom nearly half are girls.
Empowering girls and women
“When we started TCF we wanted to ensure that girls received an equal opportunity to study. That is why we make sure that all TCF schools are within walking distance to communities. We also hire only female teachers to encourage parents to send their daughters to school,” said Ateed Riaz, co-founder and chairman of The Citizens Foundation.
Hiring only female teachers has made TCF one of the largest private employers of women in Pakistan with a faculty of 12,950 women. TCF not only provides transportation to these teachers to and from the schools but also conducts a training of over 120 hours annually to develop their capabilities and ensure quality education in its classrooms.
TCF UAE’s executive advisor Shahab Haider said: “TCF provides ongoing support to its alumni through scholarships and its ‘Alumni Development Programme’ where it helps students obtain admissions in universities.” To date 50,500 students have graduated from TCF Schools and this year 733 TCF alumni have received admission in the top universities in Pakistan.
