KEF organized a visit to
Soan Valley Pakhowal Complex in Basali for representatives of the media. Here is the press release:
Islamabad March 8th 2006: Kashmir Education Foundation organized a special visit to the Soan Valley Pakhowal Complex in Bisali for representatives from the media today. This visit was organized in an effort to highlight the impressive progress that the children belonging to the rural areas have made after receiving education from the Soan Valley Public School built within the Pakhowal Complex, the facilities and standard of which are currently at par with any quality private school existing in the world.
Offering limitless opportunities for advancement to talented children belonging to underprivileged families in the rural communities around Basali village, the Soan Valley Public School is located at a distance of 30 kilometers from Islamabad/Rawalpindi. Apart from the Soan Valley Public school, the Pakhowal Complex of the Kashmir Education Foundation also includes a purpose built Institute of Teacher's Education with a hostel facility, which has been designed specifically to train teachers and inculcate within them the highest level of skills needed to impart quality education.
Commenting on their mission, Maj Gen (Retd) M. Rahim Khan, Chairman of the Kashmir Education Foundation shared his views stating, "Pakistan cannot possibly compete in the 21st century with anybody, unless our vast talent pool of human resource, which has always been condemned to highly sub-standard education is also enabled to have access to quality education" He further added that by making the highest standard of education accessible to the vulnerable and particularly the female population, Kashmir Education Foundation is currently focusing on the development of the brightest children from rural areas in the hope of creating role models within their communities while enabling them to compete successfully in the leadership stakes with children from the elite schools.
Moreover, a formal briefing was also conducted by Air Marshal Aftab Raja, Principal
Pearl Valley Public School, Joan Atkinson, a renowned British Educationalist who is presently heading the Institute of Teacher Education and Brig Tariq Mahmood, the CEO of KEF regarding the quality of education and all future projects of the foundation. Joan Atkinson who had earlier served with the foundation as the founding principal of Pearl Valley Public School and Pioneer Director of Institute of Teacher's Education, Rawalakot said that the quality of education in the KEF Institutions can be compared with the best in the world. There are four other Master Trainers presently on the faculty of The Institute Of Teacher Education and the pedagogy skills imparted to the trainee teachers would most certainly transform them into top quality teachers for English medium primary schools.
Members of The Kashmir Education Foundation further disclosed that the foundation intends to set up two more talent schools in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan within the next two to three years. In addition, the foundation also intends to establish an Institute of Teacher Education to train subject specialists for secondary and higher secondary schools.
