Spearheading the effort behind Chughtai International School is an honour. I returned to Pakistan armed with a Doctorate in Education (Ed.D) from Harvard with a raging desire to transform education across the nation. Co-founding the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) School of Education to reimagine sector reform was my first major initiative on this account.

It was, however, not until I was named National Curriculum Council Director at the Federal Ministry of Education that I fully understood the deep divides bedevilling educational equity and access in Pakistan. Through extensive interactions with stakeholders — from Bolan to Baltistan — I became acutely cognisant of critical gaps in teacher learning and development across all types of schools: public, private, and religious seminaries (madaris). Formulating the nation’s maiden Core Curriculum was indeed a monumental task, but successful implementation most requires deep understanding of how quality learning takes place across classrooms. Thus, I decided to establish my own school.

Suitably abreast of how the prospect of a learning renaissance is destined to remain distant without superior instruction, I birthed Chughtai Institute of Leadership & Learning (CILL) of the same conviction — to stand in tandem with Chughtai International School — a one-stop intervention upskilling educators nationwide at the cutting-edge of training and pedagogical excellence.

My mission also expanded to encompasses the personal. An empowered mother-of-two, for my children I wanted the very best — nothing less. Only a one-of-a-kind offering steeped in national pride would have done. Unable to find a befitting institution, I could, again, only create one.

At Chughtai International School, we plug aforementioned learning voids by ensuring educators receive world-class training from global experts while remaining deeply connected to rich national heritage. Students thus benefit from an international standard of education while remaining firmly grounded in indigenous ethos. Our personalised learning environments empower students to thrive in an ever-evolving world; unique student talents nurtured to conquer a post-AI world.

Dr Mariam Chughtai

Director