LAHORE, May 8, 2025 – In light of escalating military tensions between Pakistan and India, the Punjab government has announced a two-day closure of all schools and educational institutions across the province.
(more…)Tag: Higher Education
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St. Patrick’s School Brings Charles Dickens’ Classic to Life
(By Syed Hamza Shahnawaz) St. Patrick’s School brought festive cheer to life with its annual Christmas program, featuring a captivating theatrical rendition of Charles Dickens’ timeless classic, A Christmas Carol.
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Students Appeal Sindh CM to Restore St. Patrick’s A-Levels
Students in Karachi have earnestly appealed to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, requesting his intervention to reinstate the A-Level program that has been discontinued at Saint Patrick’s High School.
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Formite and THF Empower Youth Through Education
Karachi, March 21, 2024: In a significant stride towards empowering youth and enriching educational resources, Formite and The Hunar Foundation (THF) have joined hands in a collaborative effort aimed at fostering a brighter future for Pakistani youth.
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Pearson, Cornerstone join hands to bring international education in Pakistan
LAHORE: Pearson Schools and Cornerstone Schools have join hands to bring international education for Pakistani students.
As part of the initiative to make students in Pakistan potentially capable for joining higher education world institutions of excellence, the two educational giants Pearson Education Limited and Cornerstone School & College Global Campus, Lahore, (CSCG) have joined hands to offer Pearson Edexcel complete suits of qualifications to students from early years till A level at the CSCG campus.
This collaboration was agreed upon after the two sides signed an agreement during a ceremony held in Lahore on Monday.
The agreement was signed by Ms. Kathryn Booth, Director of Pearson Schools Qualifications, Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan & Turkey, and Ms. Wajeeha Raoof, Director Cornerstone Schools.
Senior officials of both the organizations, academicians and guest students were also present on the occasion.
As per details, the scope of this collaboration will allow Pearson and the Cornerstone Schools to continue collaborating for Pearson Edexcel exams, supporting resources and professional development courses at the Global Campus, Lahore
The agreement envisages that Pearson will provide at the CSCG campus unmatched data analysis and exam support tools, PD teachers training and resources support.
On the other hand, the CSCG campus will offer to students all suits of Pearson qualifications including Early Years, Int. GCSE and A level exams, support Pearson’s qualifications monitoring process, introduce the programs at their all campuses and branches.
In her remarks on the occasion, Wajeeha Raoof expressed her full confidence in the academic programs development capacities of the Pearson and said that our students will be able to get the Pearson Edexcel qualifications to potentially enter the arena of international education in renowned educational institutions.
Kathryn Booth appreciated the leadership of Cornerstone Schools for their ongoing collaboration with Pearson through their valued partnership of seven years. She highlighted the significance of Pearson Edexcel qualifications saying the students at the Cornerstone global campus will get a rich opportunity to equip themselves with critical skills to enable them to succeed in future education and the world of work.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, a question-answer session was also held where the audience raised a number of questions regarding this collaboration and future prospects as well.
At Pearson, our purpose is simple: to add life to a lifetime of learning. We believe that every learning opportunity is a chance for a personal breakthrough. That’s why our 20,000 Pearson employees are committed to creating vibrant and enriching learning experiences designed for real-life impact. We are the world’s leading learning company, serving customers in nearly 200 countries with digital content, assessments, qualifications, and data.
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Experts highlight importance of female education
ISLAMABAD: Highlighting the importance of female education and the role it plays in country’s development, experts stressed on the role of academia, civil society and government towards making education compulsory for all and remove the bottlenecks in the implementation of Article 25A of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Special emphasis was laid on eliminating discrimination against girls towards provision of their basic right.
These thoughts were expressed by experts during National Conference on Girls Right to Education, organized by Awaz CDS Pakistan here.
Chairperson National Commission on the Rights of Children (NCRC) Afshan Tahseen, emphasized on the need of developing national and provincial education policies that will benefit the whole country. She highlighted how government can monitor the enforcement and administration of current legislation and assess and solve the bottlenecks concerning equity and quality in imparting educational for all. Lack of Implementation of Article25A is central to all challenges being faced by children and youth in our country, she highlighted.
Ali Kamal Chief SDGs Planning Commission of Pakistan, talked about current status of SDG-4 in the country and informed the factors hindering the implementation of Article 25 A. He said that, girls constitute the majority of Out of School Children (OOSC) population. He further said that SDG-4 is enabler to achieve all other 16-SDGs.
Speakers at the conference appreciated Awaz CDS for providing such platforms to develop and monitor national and provincial education policies that will benefit all students, providing a valuable forum to share information and strategies to improve educational equity, advocating for girls education and related issues, and monitoring the work of government on education policies and programs.
Convener at Parliamentary Research Group and Chief Executive, Vision 2047, Zafarullah Khan said that, there is a need to identify the reasons affecting education in the country. He said that Pakistan is a developing country and is far away from achieving the national and international educational targets. There are many stumbling factors in this regard like lack of educational funds; poor school facilities; poor management; absence of schools; unavailability of teachers; patriarchy and lack of awareness about the importance of education.
Chief Executive Awaz CDS Pakistan, Mohammad Zia ur Rehman said that “more than one decade has passed when Article25A was passed by the Parliament of Pakistan whereas its implementation so weak that nothing has been witnessed beyond commitment. we demand Government to establish an effective tracking and reporting system to capture the gender specific expenditures of education system for better policy making”.
He further said that to ensure education for every out-of-school girl in Pakistan by 2030, the provision of stipend / monetary incentive and nutritional support is necessary. He demanded to assign an identical e-identity number to every OOS girl specific with an identification of the target population and its location alongwith appropriate legislation to end child marriages.
Malala Education Champion Marium Amjad Khan said that 3.3% of girls in Pakistan are married off under the age of 15 while 18.3% of girls married off are under the age of 18, so early marriage is a big barrier in girls secondary education besides number of other social and economic reasons. We should start with changing the mindset of people.
There were panel discussions and various sessions in the conference in which speakers shared their knowledge and suggestions.
During the session on “Policy to Action progress on Education”, speakers shared their thoughts and insights regarding Girls Right to Quality Secondary Education. Executive Director Bedari (Punjab), Anbreen Ajaib, Executive Director Mechanism for Rational Change (Balochistan), Sumera Mehboob, Executive Director- Pakistan Youth Change Advocates (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Areebah Shahid, National Coordinator Pakistan coalition for Education, Zehra Kaneez and Programs Director-AzCorp Entertainment (Sindh), Madiha Rehman shared situation from their respective provinces and provided the audience with the whole scenario of education system in Pakistan.
This session was followed by sessions on “Development agenda and role of donor support”. Munazza Gillani Country Director Sightsavers International focused on inclusive and accessible education. Sadie Hussain from ACTED shared solutions to ensure No Girl Leave Behind. Mahwish Afridi from Hashoo Foundation shared Tech Education Schools in the newly merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Zeeshan Noel from UNWOMEN focused on addressing patriarchal challenges to address girls education in Pakistan. A large number of representatives from government, academia, civil society, policy makers and educationists attended the event.
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SECP, universities sign MoU to promote financial literacy
ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with five leading universities to promote financial literacy among youths.
SECP’s Commissioner Investor Education Department, Shaukat Hussain inked the MoUs, said a statement on Tuesday.
While universities were represented by their respective Vice Chancellors, Registrars and Directors.
These HEC recognized universities included University of Balochistan, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology Jamshoro, University of Wah, Forman Christian University Lahore and University of Malakand. Including these five MOUs, SECP’s total number of active MOUs with various institutions under its investor education program ‘Jamapunji’ reached 51, giving it leverage of an ever increasing network of partners for spreading investor awareness.
Talking at the occasion, Shaukat Hussain emphasized on the importance of collaborative efforts between the regulator and the educational sector to enable a more aware and responsible financial ecosystem in Pakistan.
He mentioned SECP’s efforts leading to 28 places jump in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, making Pakistan among the top 10 countries with the most improved business climate.
He lauded each of these universities for their established Offices of Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORICs), which encourage and facilitate aspiring student entrepreneurs.
The Commissioner apprised participants of SECP’s dedicated Startup Portal and ongoing collaboration with various National Incubation Centers across Pakistan.
He informed participants that SECP is member of HEC’s National Curriculum Revision Committees (NCRC) and providing due input in improving ‘ Economics’ and ‘ Business Administration’ tertiary level curricula.
He was of the view that a curricula with components of capital markets, insurance sector and basics of financial literacy would help in producing astute entrepreneurs.
The representatives appreciated SECP’s efforts for cultivating financial literacy.
Under the MoU, SECP will be holding regular seminars at universities on a continuing basis to impart knowledge to students on the basics of savings, financial planning, investing and capital markets.
Visiting university delegates committed to extending their full support through their vast network of colleges and campuses, radio channels, faculty resources, infrastructure and premises, information exchange etc., to make meaningful impact hand in hand with SECP.