While studying public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, Bakhtiar was inspired by fellow students who had worked with Teach for America, a programme that tries to end educational inequity by sending top university graduates to teach in poor neighbourhoods for two years.
“My colleagues said the project had changed their lives and [they] went on to become advocates for educational reform,” says Bakhtiar, explaining how it sparked her interest and search for other Pakistanis who were interested in starting a similar project in their country.
Indeed, Pakistan is the perfect place to start. Unesco’s senior national specialist for education, Arshad Saeed Khan, has said that the average Pakistani spends a mere 5.7 years in school.
Given the dire situation, Teach for Pakistan has mirrored the American model as it hopes to become a “nationwide movement” that can address the education crisis in the country.
“Teach for Pakistan” defies the concept of traditional charity because the programme pays a competitive salary and has a high, meaningful impact on the life of the teacher and student simultaneously. It plans to target public and private charity schools and hopes to expand to Lahore and rural Sindh in the following years.
INTERNEWS
About Tech For Pakistan Project [http://www.teachforpakistan.edu.pk/]
What Is Tech For Pakistan Project ?
Teach For Pakistan is a nationwide movement of graduates and young professionals who will commit two years to teach in under-resourced schools and go on to become lifelong leaders working from across all fields to expand educational opportunity.
An independent social enterprise, Teach For Pakistan is a partner in the Teach For All global network of similar enterprises in 18 countries around the world.
The Teach For Pakistan Fellowship is a full-time, paid position that will allow participants to develop leadership and professional skills that are highly transferable from teaching to other fields including public policy, business, management and journalism. This experience is compatible with the pursuit of a very broad range of personal and professional goals, and can increase participants’ ability to make an impact in the long run. Throughout the two years, Fellows will be provided on-going teaching support as well as various networking and mentoring opportunities for professional and career development.
Teach For Pakistan plans to place its first cohort of 40 Fellows in August 2011. These Fellows will be placed in under-resourced schools in Karachi.
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