What makes TCF a success?

By AJ Chalom

I had the honor of speaking with Danial Noorani, the executive director of The Citizens Foundation USA, our current Education beneficiary. Not only is he passionate about educating the children of Pakistan, he is keenly aware of the challenges, and proud of but humbled by the successes his organization has created across the country of Pakistan.

Pakistan is the sixth-largest nation in the world. Its education ranks 132nd in the world, and it has the second-highest out-of-school population among its children. There is also a huge discrepancy between the haves and have-nots in the country. Danial emphasizes, “This is a recipe for disaster in an important country in the world.”

I asked Danial to outline the keys to TCF’s incredible success.

1. This program is a solution FOR Pakistanis BY Pakistanis. The program was started by Pakistani industrialists, aimed at solving a problem in their own backyard. More than 50% of the support TCF receives is in donations from inside Pakistan.
2. They brought the schools to the children, instead of bringing the children to the schools. The schools often become a focal point for a rural or poor community.
3. The all-female staff has provided employment to more than 5,800 woman teachers, as well as convinced conservative parents to send their girls, as well as their boys, to school. This shows female students that women can hold employment outside of the house, contribute to the financial earnings of the household, and move beyond their modest beginnings.
4. School is not free, for even the poorest students. Each school charges a token amount for the children to go to schools. It is only a slight fraction of the cost to provide the education; however, it makes parents customers and engaged with the school, instead of simply charity recipients.
5. They have created efficiencies within the program in building design, best-practice teacher training models, and similar curriculum through all of the schools to make all donation dollars go further.
6. They have realized deficiencies and corrected them. They realized that many students had no role models who had professional careers, so they created a mentor program to pair middle-class professionals with poor students to show them the potential growth and gains they can attain with their education. This has also been impactful to the middle-class professionals who have been impressed with the achievement of the poor students. Some student successes are highlighted on our blog.

Seeing is believing.  View this video about the model TCF employs and the success of their students:

The Citizens Foundation’s model of success is exemplary not only in Pakistan, but in educating the poor in countries around the world. We thank them for sharing their story and for being our first-quarter Education beneficiary. To allocate your member donation to TCF, go to our members-only login and then select “Manage Donation” on the right.