The founder and Principal of this school was born in a village in rural Punjab and later went to the UK to continue her studies. She always had a desire to see the children in her home village receive an education, having benefited from one herself. She returned to Pakistan and the school started in Akhtarabad, which is located around two hours’ drive south of Lahore, in 2006.
School
The school serves as a central hub for several villages where minorities live. There are now around 225 children with a further 75 in a daughter school in a town (Renala Khurd) a few miles away. The schools together employ over 50 staff. These are quality schools with the Principal being well qualified (Med. 2015 and MPhil Ed 2022), gifted in many areas, very hardworking and with high standards. The teachers and ancillary staff meet for training each week, usually on a Saturday morning. Over the years the basic facilities of the small primary school that began in 2006 have grown to encompass an impressive high school building and a small fleet of vehicles to pick up and drop the children from over eight surrounding villages.
Success
As in all our schools in Pakistan the prescribed Punjab Education Department curriculum is followed. The school regularly ranks as among the highest achieving in the government examinations in the district. Many of the children have got good grades in the Government Board exams with some going on to further education colleges, including to prestigious colleges in Lahore. Others have returned to the school as teachers. For a child to learn to read, write and count can be a huge help to their family as often the parents in rural Punjab are illiterate (40% illiteracy). The community focus of the school goes beyond simply education. Such is the poverty in the area that the leadership team endeavour to help with some of the medical and nutritional needs of the children. A variety of after school clubs is also organised.
