Education for all, Pakistan

In Pakistan, the literacy rate stands at a meager 55%, one of the lowest in the world. 24 million children, mostly girls, are out of school and much more languish in dismal classrooms at the mercy of untrained teachers.  

The Citizens Foundation was founded in 1995 as a response to this crisis and embarked on an audacious journey to educate Pakistan’s most disadvantaged children. 22 years later, with more than 1200 School Units, it is one of the country’s leading organizations in the field of education. 

The TCF model focuses on providing high-quality education for the most unprivileged through purpose-built schools embedded in the heart of Pakistan’s urban slums and rural communities.  

Education of females is a fundamental element for uplifting the whole community’s prospects and quality of life and creating a better future for this country.  

Woman teachers are, together with proximity to homes, a key factor in improving girls access to schooling. Hence the organization also has all female faculty and ensure a 50% student gender ratio. 

Success stories such as that of Fiza, who is only 17 and has already opened a beauty salon; Shahida who became a doctor and Sadaf, who is giving back to TCF and is now the principal of one of the schools, and many others are classic examples of this positive change. 

This work, realized for TCF, gave life to INATTESE MERAVIGLIE (UNEXPECTED MARVELS) a joint exhibition with Alessandro Belgiojoso that was displayed at MUSEO DIOCESANO, in Milan. 

A picture from this series was a finalist in FC Barcelona Photo Awards and was exhibited at the Museum de Les Aiguës de Agbar in Barcelona, Spain.