Your Zakat empowers 12,000 student leaders

Dear Partner, 

We hope you are well. 

The past few months have arguably been some of the most special here: Teach For Pakistan found its way back to Karachi after almost a decade, placing Fellows in schools in the city to begin their leadership journeys. We also welcomed back our second-year Fellows to begin their second and last year of teaching in schools, preparing them to further strengthen the progress and impact they have been making with their students and school communities for the past year.  While we were working to grow students in the classroom, we didn’t lose sight of how they would grow outside it. At Teach For Pakistan, we believe in growing students’ physical capabilities hand-in-hand along with their minds. In this regard, October has been a month where we have celebrated our students' achievements outside the classroom, and worked towards their holistic development. 

Voices for Change

Teach For Pakistan participated in the 3-day Girls Sports Carnival held mid-October, organized by the Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in Islamabad. The event brought together approximately 4,000 female students and athletes from all over the country, aimed at promoting girls’ involvement in sports, and a means to nurture their passion for it. 

Teach For Pakistan’s presence at the event cemented the organization as an impactful partner of the government, working towards a shared vision for our students. While the event was attended by many Fellows and their students with a passion for sports, we wanted to go one step further and push attendees to think about the kinds of inequities already existing that result in various challenges, including lack of female representation in sports. To do this, we curated two activities. The first of these was an interactive board where we asked attendees to write their responses to the question ‘What dreams do you have for the children of this country?’. Here, both adults and children alike could share their thoughts, pushed to think more about the future of this country’s children. This activity was important because it gave many the opportunity to reckon with the question of inequity, how it manifests in our everyday life, and what our hopes are to change it. 

In this work, we find that our most important stakeholders - our students - are the ones often left out of narratives on how to work towards an improved education system. Our second activity, meant specifically for students attending the carnival, was an opportunity for them to write letters and short notes on the question ‘What is your vision for your school?’. This was a unique opportunity for many students, in some capacity, to become part of the discourse on how they want their education and schooling to be and look like, giving us a chance to hear from them about what they want. We found these students to have big hopes and dreams for how they want to learn: being taught in new ways, learning for the sake of learning as opposed to out of fear, having access to resources and materials that aid their learning, and being able to participate in sports at school among others.

Our involvement in this event was significant because it was a convergence of our belief in strengthening students’ physical as well as intellectual capabilities. 

Champions on the Field 

Our students are talented both within and outside the classroom, and recently had a chance to showcase their skills in a game of street cricket. 6 of our Fellows and 15 students participated in a cricket match with professional players from the Lahore Qalandars, the Barmy Army, and female players from the national cricket team. Our students (Team Teach For Pakistan) played against Team UK in Pakistan. With a chase target of 104 runs in 10 overs, our students pushed themselves to give it their all and play as a team. 

Team Teach For Pakistan’s efforts were successful, as they played a thrilling match, ultimately winning by 5 wickets and with 6 balls remaining! It was also our own student, 13-year old Saim, who was awarded the Player of the Match award.

Creating joyful and safe learning spaces for our students is critical for them to feel challenged and motivated to engage in intellectual and physical activities, which are integral to the work we do at Teach For Pakistan. These opportunities nurture their mind and body, building their skill sets and capacities for all walks of life, and push them to dream big about what their future could look like, without restriction. This event was organized in collaboration with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office in Pakistan, and we’re hopeful in creating more opportunities for students to engage with their role models in areas they’re passionate about. 

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