Category: Education

Lahore (Qasim Ali)

Kinnaird Center for Learning and Cultural Development (KCLCD), Kinnaird College for Women in collaboration with CMYMC and Youth Revolution Clan organized the conference on International Education Day under the theme of to invest in people, prioritize education.

The conference was aimed to highlight the essential role of education in promotion of development and peace in achieving the sustainable development agenda devised by the UN, which emphasizes that countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adult behind.

The conference commenced with the opening remarks by Rizwan Anwar, Executive Director (KCLCD) and Global Youth Ambassador of UN, While putting light on the objective of the conference he mentioned that international community recognized that education is essential for the success of all 17 of its goals when it revealed 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015. Ms Maha Jamil Chair Organizing Committee of conference shared that Sustainable Development Goal 4, in particular, aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.

During the conference the UN secretary General’s video message on international education day was screened which reflected the initiatives of UN in promotion of education. The conference hosted an informative session of learning experiences, diversity and students learning practices in which Ms. Gulsana Mansha (Educationist) , Air Cmdr (R)️ Khalid Chishti, Shoaib Iqbal , Dr. Farzan Arshad and Zeeba Hashmi participated as speakers . The speakers talked about the importance of education and said that education offers children a ladder out of poverty and a path to a promising future.

During the conference it was discussed that about 244 million children and adolescents around the world are out of school; 617 million children and adolescents cannot read and do basic math; less than 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school and some four million children and youth refugees are out of school. Their right to education is being violated and it is unacceptable.

Rana Mashood Ahmad Khan, former Provincial Education Minister was chief guest of the last session of the conference. He acknowledged the role of Kinnaird College in promoting the quality education for girls and said that Educational Policies of which were drafted and implemented during his tenure are benefiting the academia , Research and youth sectors at very large .

Principal Kinnaird Colleges Dr. Ruksana David thanked the speakers and participants for their valuable contributions. She vowed that Kinnaird College will continue to raise awareness about important aspects beside academic activities. The conference concluded with the certificate distribution ceremony among the speakers.

Online innovation has become inevitable to compete with the international education system. Federal Education Minister’s address at inauguration ceremony of Students Facilitation Center & Online Attestation Portal at IBCC Secretariat, Islamabad.

Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir) Federal Minister of Education & Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain while addressing the inauguration ceremony of Student Facilitation Center equipped with modern facilities and Online Attestation Portal at the Secretariat of Inter Board Committee of Chairman (IBCC) said that without revolution and innovation in the education system of the country, the development and stability is not possible.

The ladder of development of nations is education, despite the economic situation of the country, education is the first priority of the government. IBCC’s Student Facilitation Center equipped with modern facilities  and Attestation Portal will be a milestone for resolving student problems. IBCC is solving the problems of students by bringing positive changes in the system day by day. With the inauguration of online attestation portal student don’t need to visit IBCC. In addition, Federal Board has installed a self operated machine “KISOK” at IBCC facilitation center, which benefits the students of FBISE and they don’t have to visit Federal Board for verification of their documents and to get sealed envelope. They can also pay their fee and generate applications through KISOK.

On this occasion, Secretary IBCC Dr. Ghulam Ali Malah said that educated youth will lead Pakistan on the path of development, most of the country’s population is youth who have the right to be educated.  IBCC is working hard to solve the problems of the student and bringing automative reforms within the organization. The initiative of QR based attestation and equivalence certificates, the students don’t have to visit IBCC for verification purpose. The can verify their documents from anywhere around the world within no minute. In addition to this, the inauguration of state of the art Facilitation Center the students will benefit from it. IBCC is also bringing digital payment module in all their processes, with the addition of this facility the student don’t need to stand in the long queues for submission of their fee, they can submit it through mobile banking etc. Dr. Malah added that the development of IBCC is not possible without the support of Government. Chairman Federal Board Qaiser Alam also attended the inauguration ceremony. At the end of the ceremony, Secretary IBC Dr. Ghulam Ali Malah thanked all the guests.

Pakistan’s Saad Hayat Tamman selected as Young Global Leader, Representing the country at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum at Davos.

Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir) Saad Hayat Tamman was selected by the World Economic Forum to represent the Young Global Leader community and Pakistan at the recently concluded 2023 Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum at Davos. Indeed, each year, the Forum of Young Global Leaders goes through a rigorous selection process to identify, select and commemorate remarkable leaders under 40 who come from different communities and industries worldwide. In their words: “These young leaders exemplify what we need most today: hope, empathy, authenticity, and driving solutions that change the world for the better.”

Saad Hayat Tamman was one of only two representatives selected from Pakistan for the Young Global Leaders class of 2022. The other was Nighat Dad from the Digital Rights Foundation. Saad has been a member of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan’s Strategic Reforms and Implementation Unit where he advised cabinet members on critical reforms in agriculture, civil services and climate change, alongside supporting the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Institutional Reforms, also implementing the Prime Minister’s Performance Agreements with the Federal Cabinet. Saad currently serves as the National Coordinator of the Living Indus initiative by the Ministry of Climate Change for the ecological restoration of the Indus Basin and is also a member of the Punjab Protected Areas Management Board. A former Fulbright scholar of distinction, prior to his work at the Prime Minister’s Office, Saad worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company with a focus on public and private sector transformation projects. He has also consulted for the World Bank and the United Nations.

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting witnesses the convening of leaders from government, business, and civil society to address the global issues, premised on the theme of cooperation in a fragmented world. At the annual meeting, Saad interacted with global leaders; including heads of states, cabinet members and industry leaders such as Satya Nadella – CEO of Microsoft, among other powerhouses. Saad himself represented Pakistan’s flagship initiative for investment in the ecological restoration of the Indus, which was presented by Minister Sherry Rehman to the Pakistan’s Investor’s Forum hosted by the Karachi Council on Foreign Affairs and Pathfinder Group.

Commenting on the visit, Saad Tamman said,“It has been an honour and privilege to represent Pakistan at the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. With critical areas such as climate change and food security under discussion by a diversity of international stakeholders, representing young Pakistan’s point of view was important in wake of the recent mega floods and current inflation crisis.”

Saad Tamman continued to say, “We live in a fragmented world, marked largely by disharmony and polarisation. It is now time to invest in resilience, such as the  Ten Billion Tree Tsunami, under the leadership of former Minister of Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam and Prime Minister Imran Khan. We must build greater areas for cooperation through initiatives such as Living Indus, which was conceived by the previous government and now led by Minister Sherry Rehman. An inclusive approach to decision making across generations and school of thought to solve challenges which know no boundaries is now necessary for us.”

Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir)   Keeping its legacy, Millennium Education organized Pakistan’s largest Teacher Development Conference TDC 2023 on the visionary theme-“Futurist- Quests-Challenges – Journey” at Pak-China Friendship Center, Islamabad last day says a press release. Keeping in view the accelerated pace at which changes are occurring in teaching and learning, the conference endeavoured to preserve the finest and most worthy means of talent development, while at the same time looking to the future of education and talent pedagogy for sustainable growth. Nearly 1000 teachers from The Millennium Education Group nationwide and organizers were enthusiastic and highly motivated to take the learning initiatives and training ahead to their classrooms.

This year’s conference brought together leading national and international speakers including Mr. Abbas Husain, Director Teachers Development Centre, Dr. Mariam Chugatai, Director National Curriculum Council of Pakistan, Yousaf Bashir Qureshi , actor and social worker, Fahd Husain , Special assistant to the Prime Minister on Public Policy and Strategic Communications, Shireen Naqvi Founder School of Leadership, Dr Moiz Hussain, Founder Institute of Mind Sciences, Amir Ramzan, Director British Council, Izza Farrukh Senior Education Specialist The World Bank, and Faisal Aftab, Founder BitRate Digital,  who motivated and injected new ideas into the conference delegates comprising the Millennium Education Founder & CEO Dr. Faisal Mushtaq TI.

Millennium Education Annual Teacher Development conference TD/C is the largest gathering of educators, teacher educators, reformers and thinkers who are fiercely committed to transform teaching and learning practices. For the past many years, this platform has provided a phenomenal opportunity to think tanks and classroom practitioners to engage in discussions and dialogues on issues that matter the most for the students, they serve, to achieve educational excellence and equity.

Dr. Musadiq Malik, Minister of State (Petroleum Division), graced this auspicious occasion as the worthy Chief Guest, who presented awards and certificates to teachers who had completed their Cambridge Professional development qualifications, foundation courses and Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert certificates. The respectable Minister appreciated Millennium Education commitment to the overall development of learners who, alongside academics, are seen in the forefront in all the international and national mega events.

H.E. Andreas Ferrarese, Ambassador of the Republic of Italy, President RCCI Mr. Saqib Rafiq and President ICCI Mr. Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari were the Guests of honour on this famed conference. The worthy ambassador highlighted the multifarious responsibility of teachers in an era of interconnected dimensions and emphasized that it has become imperative to transform our schools from centers of teaching and learning to hubs of innovation, creativity, and excellence.

Mr. Abbas Hussain, the founder of SPELT (Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers), enlightened the delegates about the significance of ‘Asking the right questions” in classroom situations. He alluded to different factors that contribute to classroom complexities and suggested many strategies for resolution. He urged the audience to “Let the questions turn into a quest” to ensure futurist classroom.

Dr. Mariam Chughtai referred to equity and inclusion as hallmark of education that ensures equal access for all learners to curriculum and programming within an educational setting. She explained that this challenge might be difficult to meet but is vital in setting pace and tone for futurist classrooms. She stressed the need to close the opportunity and achievement gap because ‘Every child matters!’. Yousaf Bashir Qureshi spoke elaborately about the importance of self-actualization in today’s fast paced world. A person who can take full advantage of their talents while still being mindful of their limitations is able to demonstrate empathy and compassion for others. Fahd Hussain talked about revisiting social contract to instill hope that learners need to survive and succeed in the future world that is interspersed with many challenges. He emphasized the need for students to devise solutions to complex problems by creativity, analytical thinking, collaboration, communication, ethics, and accountability. His message of healing children with hope and empathy hit the spot with the audience. Ms. Shireen Naqvi addressed the crucial question of how to help our learners to discover and rediscover themselves while preparing for what is around the corner. She pointed that future is all about output, innovation, exploration and discovery. Lending intrinsic motivation to learning goals and changing mind-sets will open infinite possibilities to future success. Dr. Moiz Hussain educated the audience on strategies to ‘unleash the genius ‘in a learner. He explained three faculties of mind: visualization, creative visualization and imagination as vital in this context. Identifying various learning styles based on emotional intelligence, trusting a child and showing empathy will help teachers in creating a genius.

Dr. Faisal Mushtaq TI, Founder & CEO The Millennium Education Group, while addressing the session,  talked about the underlying objective of the conference. His discourse revolved around creating classroom as a learning studio and to replace the standard lecture approach, for intellectual growth of our futurists by urging teachers, “Give your room some class”. He reiterated the importance of teachers as “Vehicle of Change” and motivated them to create their potential as futurists. He stressed the importance of sound pedagogical foundations, interactive engagement, creativity, diversity, collaborative, and experiential learning as the key denominators to meaningful learning and intellectual development. He reiterated that the institution’s support of the legendary history of teaching, learning, and knowledge creation has been the reason why the conference was conducted. From the beginning, the vision of the Teacher Development Conferences has been to bring teachers into direct contact with leading scholars, academia, and educational thinkers in a stimulating environment. In the end, Mr. Abbas Hussain glossed the learning outcomes of the training and presented the closing remarks.

This Teacher’s Development Conference 2023 was all about providing word class learning opportunities to the teachers. This conference aimed to provide the teachers with a platform to express themselves not only as educators, but also to discover the hidden potential in each one of them that leads to the discovery of their ultimate identity.

Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir)

In order to reward students who achieved outstanding results in their iprimary, International GCSE and A Level examination in year 2022, Pearson and British Council Pakistan hosted Outstanding Pearson Learners Award Ceremony here today.

To improve education in Pakistan and provide conducive environment of teaching and learning in the country, The United Kingdom’s largest awarding organisation offering academic and vocational qualifications, Pearson is always in the first row.

The Pearson High Achievers award ceremony was honoured by Ms. Kathryn Booth, Director Pearson Schools Qualifications, Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey, Mr. Amir Ramzan, Country Director British Council Pakistan, Osman Iqbal Director Examinations, British Council, representatives of Pearson and British Council, high achievers including teachers, parents and distinguished guests.

This year, over 118 students received Outstanding Pearson Learners Award in four different categories including Highest Mark Internationally, Highest in Asia, Highest Mark Pakistan and province, and High Achievement Max grades. Pearson and British Council also recongnises the efforts of the Teachers who are actually behind the success of these young learners

Ms. Kathryn Booth-Director Pearson Schools Qualifications, Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey congratulated the high achievers, teachers and their families and appreciated the efforts of teachers and students for academic excellence. She said that, the UK Government is making efforts to ensure foreign qualifications opportunities for Pakistani students. The qualifications offered by Pearson-Edexcel are further strengthening the academic standards in the country. We are pleased to have invested in infrastructure and free teacher training programmes and resources to support teachers and learners.

Mr. Amir Ramzan, Country Director British Council Pakistan said, the High Achievers Awards Ceremony is a special occasion, which provides an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the extraordinary achievements of talented students in Pakistan. The students recognised today have achieved results that compare well with students all over the world; students in Pakistan have been achieving outstanding results consistently over the years.

In a virtual address, Ms. Emma Wale, Vice President Pearson School Qualifications said that, this is incredible achievement by the students, they have shown tremendous commitment and dedication to their studies. We are particularly grateful to the British Council for their valued support in delivering our qualifications in Pakistan.

Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir) Building on the success of their #ExamReady campaign launched last year, TikTok and edtech startup Edkasa have announced a scholarship programme that will reward online study grants to 18,000 deserving students from across Pakistan, as they look to expand access to quality education.

In September, TikTok partnered with Edkasa and LUMS for a first-of-its-kind year-long collaboration to launch a digital learning programme to facilitate online education and distance learning for high school students.

The #ExamReady campaign, designed to help millions of Pakistani students, has over 500 educational videos online covering Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Mathematics, including study tips and exam hacks. The educational videos became an instant favourite with Pakistani students on TikTok, garnering over 665 million views and close to 100 million video creations since its launch.

Teaming up with one of Pakistan’s premier institutions, LUMS, the duo will further cement the partnership by awarding students with two months of Edkasa’s free studying material and access to an exam pack for whichever grade/board/exam they opt for.

Farah Tukan, Head of Government Relations & Public Policy at TikTok – Middle East, Turkey, Africa, Pakistan and South Asia (METAPSA) said: “TikTok is a platform that offers diverse content across multiple categories and education remains a key vertical for us. We are happy to play our part in the nationwide promotion of literacy to make a positive impact on the next generation in Pakistan.”

Fahad Tanveer, co-founder and CEO at Edkasa, said: “We are pleased to see the massive interest and student-offtake in the learning material on TikTok. Pakistan needs this kind of innovative and quality content that helps our young demographics compete with the rest of the world.”

The scholarships will be awarded in accordance with the criteria and guidelines set jointly by Edkasa and LUMS, in alignment and agreement with the online driver of the campaign, TikTok. The scholarships are aimed at disadvantaged communities and open to students across Pakistan. The aim is to reach Pakistan’s students that are hindered by a lack of access to quality education.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) Department of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS), IBA organized a talk titled ‘Competing Movements of Reform in Muslim South Asia: The Aligarh-Deoband Divide’ by Dr. SherAli Khan Tareen, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Franklin & Marshall College, USA. The topic of focus was the theological and hermeneutical divisions between the founders of the two most significant Muslim higher educational institutions of South Asia in modern times, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan who founded the Aligarh Muslim University and Maulana Muhammad Qasim Naanautvi who founded the Deoband Madrasah.

The speaker’s work centres on Muslim intellectual thought in modern South Asia with a focus on intra-Muslim debates and polemics on crucial questions of law, ethics, and theology. His book Defending Muhammad in Modernity (2020) explored polemics over critical questions of law, theology, and politics among major Muslim ‘ulama’ in modern South Asia and received the American Institute of Pakistan Studies 2020 Book Prize, besides being selected as a finalist for the 2021 American Academy of Religion Book Award. In his talk, Dr. Tareen conducted a close reading of a dense but immensely profitable exchange of letters between Syed Ahmad Khan and Qasim Naanautvi in 1874 that engaged some major questions of theology, hermeneutics, and the boundaries of Islam as a normative religious tradition. Through this analysis, he presented the conclusion that differences between the two scholars on matters of religious interpretation were not as extreme as is typically imagined, and that there is clear evidence of a respectful and scholarly intellectual exchange between them. He remarked that on many points, the Deoband founder differed from the Aligarh founder in demanding greater methodological caution in matters of theological interpretation, rather than any extreme difference between modernism and conservatism, or reform and stagnation. Dr. Tareen argued that Syed Ahmad Khan’s style of argumentation in his letters shows that in many ways, he was also a traditional scholar in the same tradition as Qasim Naanautvi, a fact that Maulana Naanautvi recognised and appreciated. Dr. Tareen emphasised the need for academics to read scholars’ religious writings closely in order to appreciate the nature of their arguments more accurately, rather than categorise scholars into vague, Orientalist boundaries of legalist vs ‘Sufistic’, traditionalist vs modernist, etc., as has been the regrettable practice of many South Asian and Western academic study of religion.

IBA students and faculty appreciated Dr. Tareen’s eloquence and diligence. Dr. Syed Jaffar Ahmed, Visiting Faculty, IBA, and Director, Institute of Historical and Social Research, Karachi, praised Dr. Tareen’s work and its thoughtful approach in engaging the work of diverse kinds of religious scholars in a thorough way. Dr. Ahmed pointed out the importance of respectful academic debate between different segments of society and the education system, despite of them hailing from religious madrasahs or from Liberal Arts universities in Pakistan or the West. He highlighted the need for more such forums and discussions at Pakistani universities where serious scholars of diverse ideologies can converse with each other in a polite manner to bridge unhelpful and extreme social distances and divides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pakistan (Muhammad Yasir) PSDF continues its community-based skill training program, empowering the country’s rural women in livestock management skills. The women’s livestock training management (WTLM) is executed across key agricultural districts in Punjab and engages women on a community level to increase their knowledge and skills in managing livestock for better yield.

Under this program, PSDF has trained more than 8,600 women this year across 27 districts in Punjab that are agriculture-reliant for employment and household income, training them in skills to improve milk yield, animal health, prevention of disease and introducing them to modern livestock practices.

This is part of PSDF| Haryali which is focused on developing skillsets of people for a prosperous agricultural and abundantly green future. Pakistan’s economy is still heavily dependent on agriculture and women play a critical role in this sector. The agriculture sector is vulnerable (at risk) due to climate change, making it essential nationally to equip farmers and dairy-stock managers to be knowledgeable with modern methods.

These trainings not only improve women’s technical skills but also give many women the opportunity for mobility, encouraging the participation of women in public life, their self-development and acknowledge the significant role the rural woman plays in Pakistan’s economic success.