Education in Azad Jammu and Kashmir

The Kashmir Institute for Special Education (KISE)

This School is funded by the Ansari Welfare Trust and has been linked with Thorn Park School, Bradford. KISE is the only school for deaf children in the Mirpur District, with children using the free school bus service which provides transport to and from villages up to 20 miles away. The students are taught British Sign Language, Urdu Sign Language, lip and body reading.

Farhan Model School

This is a private English Medium School which includes religious education. It is a popular school catering for 400 students with a sliding scale fee paying system. The classrooms were overcrowded, and teachers were graduates who had little or no background in pedagogy.

Government Pilot School for Boys

The school follows the state secondary curriculum as well as a vocational training curriculum including electrical and wood work. It has 800 students and 40 teachers.

Kashmir Model College

This college was cited as the “best” school in Azad Jammu Kashmir, producing excellent exam results with students aspiring to higher education and medical colleges. It is also an English Medium School with 435 students. Recently it has accepted 22 refugee children from the earthquake affected areas. The school offers the options of pre-medical, pre-engineering, pre-computer science at intermediate level, at completion of “O” or “A” level courses.

Girls High School – Essar

A Government school which provides education for 200 girls aged 5-15. The curriculum covers 8 subject areas including English and Arabic. The school had few resources but teachers were extremely enthusiastic and committed, some travelling up to 5 hours a day to get to and from the school.

Essar Primary School

Provides a limited curriculum, mainly learning by rote and the use of slates, for 100 boys aged 5-10. The school building consisted of a small yard and two rooms. Classes were held in the open air.

Government High School for Girls – Khanabad

A village school for girls based in two outhouses on a farm. 170 students are registered and taught by 7 teachers, one of whom travels 5 hours a day to the school. The poverty of the students and lack of resources was apparent.

Basharat Model High School

This is a government school catering for 250 boys between 5 and 16. The school has recently enrolled 50 refugee children from the earthquake zones. The head teacher is an inspiring leader and very interested in pedagogy. When the Mangla Dam expansion takes place this school building will be flooded, with, as far as we are aware, no provision to relocate the school.

Sensa Model School

A private school with 220 students aged 4-15, including some refugee children. The building consists of two classrooms and an “open plan” courtyard on the side of the mountain. The head master showed us a letter of acceptance for post graduate study at the University of Bradford.

Islamabad Convent School

A private fee paying English Medium School run by nuns, which caters for students aged 5 to16. The school prepares students to travel to England in order to study for their A-Level and onto higher education study. The School is based on Catholic values, however 97% of the students are Muslim. The head was keen to develop links with a Bradford Catholic school.

Federal Government Model High School - Islamabad

A government run but fee paying boys school for 410 secondary school students. The curriculum is science focussed and the school is run as a military establishment. All the students and their families aspire to white collar jobs.

Beacon House School - Margalla Campus

The school is run on a British Public School model with high fees and a waiting list. The school was founded in 1975 and has 85 branches across the country. The students have high aspirations with applications to Oxford, Cambridge, University College London, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stamford USA being the norm. The delegation was impressed by the motivation and high level of discipline shown by all the school’s pupils, regardless of their socio-economic background. Similarly the delegation was impressed by the commitment of the teachers who often worked in environments with few resources and low salaries.