Karachi education startup helps Dubai-based association offer online classes to children living abroad
KARACHI: Pakistan Association of Dubai (PAD), a non-profit organization specializing in welfare projects for Pakistanis in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Friday said its February decision to collaborate with a Karachi-based education startup He said it would benefit foreigners such as: There are approximately 20,000 out-of-school children.
PAD, which has been serving overseas Pakistanis in the UAE since 1963, announced plans to collaborate with Learn School Academy, which was set up about four years ago to provide digital education to students around the world.
The Pakistani diaspora in the UAE is the second largest overseas community and one of the oldest expatriate groups in the Arab nation.
According to PAD General Secretary Zahid Hassan, around 20,000 expatriate Pakistani children are currently out of school despite strict restrictions by UAE authorities.
“This project has the potential to have a huge impact on increasing literacy rates and improving the lives of children,” he told Arab News on Friday. “PAD aims to promote the education of overseas Pakistanis in the UAE by partnering with Learn School Academy to provide online classes to children who cannot attend traditional schools,” he continued. . “We believe that this partnership will allow us to deliver even more value to the expatriate community in the UAE by leveraging our education sector expertise and resources.”
Wahhaj Kayani, founding CEO of a Pakistani education startup, said the high cost of private schools in the UAE is a major barrier for many Pakistanis to provide education for their children. I explained that there was.
“Through this partnership with PAD, we aim to provide more affordable and accessible solutions,” he told Arab News.
“This partnership aims to help Pakistanis and all other overseas communities access quality education at a price point that is favorable to them, along with a user-friendly online school model,” he said. added. “Memorandum” [memorandum of understanding with PAD] It outlines a framework for providing scholarships for online learning and enabling students to benefit from Learn Academy’s curriculum and leverage the platform. ”
According to a memorandum of understanding signed between the two organizations, Pakistan Academy will provide PAD with a 50 per cent discount and cover the fees on behalf of eligible families for their children’s education. The two organizations plan to begin full-scale collaboration from next month.
“We believe this initiative will make a significant contribution to the UAE’s educational achievements,” Kayani said. “This will ensure that students from diverse backgrounds have access to a high-quality education that includes the latest educational approaches such as project-based learning. This combination of affordability and innovative learning methods is , can have a real impact on literacy rates and overall educational outcomes.”
Meanwhile, Hassan acknowledged that no single project can fully meet the educational needs of the Pakistani community.
“There is an urgent need for more schools to meet that demand,” he says. “PAD is therefore actively exploring the possibility of launching a Dream School project in the future to provide a long-term and sustainable solution. Our volunteer education team is fully committed to this initiative. It is working.”
This project also marks Learn School Academy’s first collaboration outside Pakistan.
In addition to our initial launch with PAD, we envision deeper and broader partnerships in the UAE and beyond.
“In the future, we envision collaborating with similar organizations in other countries around the world to replicate this successful model,” Kayani said. “Our next target is Saudi Arabia for school education, followed by the UK and Canada for Islamic education, which we hope to do by early 2025.”
“Ultimately, our goal is to empower both the overseas Pakistani community and the global community at large by facilitating access to quality and affordable education,” he said. added.
