The Citizens Foundation USA

TCF seeks to make the children of Pakistan into upstanding citizens who are agents of positive change. The TCF model works to remove barriers of class and privilege by providing access to quality education to vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. Our goal is to eventually deliver our services to 2.5 million children.

In 2018 was operating 1,482 school units and had 220,000 children enrolled. This grew to 1,833 schools and 280,000 students in 2022. Our main contribution in the past few years was the application of our management model to 310 of the schools we adopted from the dysfunctional public schooling systems available to the poor.

To scale our impact beyond TCF's school network, TCF established a “Strategic Development Unit" in 2013 as an incubator for new ideas that could exponentially scale up TCF learnings in low cost formal schooling in the public and private sectors.

This Unit is currently conducting pilot programs; one of the first avenues being explored is to create a quality improvement program by adapting TCF education materials to help other formal low cost education providers improve learning outcomes. This product would include options like TCF conducting trainings and monitoring and evaluation services of the low cost schools, and also including its self-developed textbooks and lessons plans. Other potential areas for exploration include:

1. Using formal and alternative methods of education create 2M agents of positive change by 2030.

2. Restore the learning losses created by COVID-19 and floods 2022 in Pakistan.

3. Equipping students with digital literacy as a tool to enable computational thinking, programming, computer systems, digital citizenship and IT skills.

Additionally, TCF is engaging with the public sector for management of government schools through public-private partnerships, provided that TCF is given complete management control over human resources at public schools.

TCF's creates change through:

1. Scale & Efficiency. Innovations implemented over 25 years have resulted in the largest network of formal private schools for underprivileged children in the world; currently operating 1,833 school units. TCF constructs purpose-built campuses designed on the same principles & easily replicable in communities across the country. In addition to spacious classrooms, all TCF schools include toilets, drinking water, an art room/library & ample open space for extracurricular activities. The Sindh Govt. schools average $230 annual cost per child, which is nearly double that of TCF, yet TCF outperforms the public sector, serving the same constituency, but providing better facilities & education at a lower cost.

2. Quality & Governance. The quality of education imparted by TCF is exemplary, consistently surpasses national academic averages. TCF students have achieved a 99% Matriculation (grade 10) pass rate in 2019-20 & 90% of graduates continued on to higher education as compared to national averages of 57% & 40% respectively. TCF students have broken barriers of class & privilege, enrolling in the country's leading colleges for business, medicine, engineering & other fields. TCF"s strong control system ensures quality of service delivery through oversight by field education & operations teams, supported by education & operations staff at the head office. A TCF Quality Assurance Unit audits school quality & reports directly to the CEO. TCF has pioneered self-developed bilingual learning materials, & ensures over 100 hours of training for all teachers.

3. Access to Education
a. Location. TCF schools are located in the heart of low income neighborhoods so children can walk to school & be secure within the boundary walls. This help enroll more girls.
b. Enrollment of Girls. The TCF student body is nearly 50% girls, as compared to the national average of 43% (National Education Census of Pakistan 2005). The high enrollment of girls is due to TCF's policy of having an all female faculty. Free door to door transport facility is provided for teachers to prevent absenteeism & as an incentive for qualified women to join the workforce. The full female environment allows for access to basic education for girls, as cultural constraints (isolating women from association with men) prevent parents from enrolling girls in public & private schools which have male teachers.
c. Affordability. TCF schools are very affordable. Empirical evidence shows that high fees make parents compromise on the number of children sent to school, often sending only the sons. TCF subsidizes the cost of education through donations, therefore the fee is imminently affordable at $ 2.90 for primary & $ 3.90 for secondary schools. In case parents cannot afford even the nominal fee, additional scholarships are available, with some paying as little as $ 0.10 & getting free books & uniforms. No child is refused admission for lack of affordability.

Quality & Scale. Key to TCF's social impact is the quality of education imparted to the students. In contrast to the notion of poor schools for poor children, TCF believes in providing world class education in economically disadvantaged communities, subsidizing costs through donations. TCF's scale of operations with 1,833 formal schools & 280,000 students is the largest in the world & is the most relevant working model that can be replicated by Pakistan's public sector.

Achieving Learning Outcomes. A 2010 study assessed children from Pakistani government schools as being illiterate & innumerate. The challenges in achieving good learning outcomes include use of rote learning, lack of qualified teachers & good quality textbooks. TCF has extensive experience in hiring, training, & managing a large & growing pool of teachers in difficult geographies & low-income communities. TCF places a strong emphasis on teacher/principal training & development of the curriculum. Technical experts provide teachers an extensive support system. TCF uses the national language Urdu as a medium of instruction to have learning materials relevant to children from slums & villages. Due to a lack of good quality books in Urdu, TCF has developed its own learning material catering to the needs of its students. TCF's teacher training & textbook development program fosters critical thinking in science, social studies & math.

Entrepreneurial approach to Innovation. TCF's innovations include an all-female faculty, faculty door to door transport, schools within walking distance, self-constructed schools, language of instruction in the mother tongue. The model has been adapted to the local needs & has surpassed enrollment expectations in a country with one of the highest out of school children in the world.

Construction - operating in marginalized neighborhoods in a developing country means a lack of infrastructure & basic amenities (roads, water, electricity), & lack of security. TCF has conquered all these challenges, building schools in challenging geographies and circumstances. TCF arranges security for construction teams & brings in contractors & materials from the nearest city for remote rural and tribal areas. TCF engages with the community prior to entering a new location.

Partnerships - To leverage the infrastructure, TCF allows strategic partners to utilize the school buildings for projects that benefit the community. These include an adult literacy program with the Literate Pakistan Foundation (over 60,000 learners since inception), & a clean drinking water program in alliance with various technology providers. TCF has placed its graduates in The Hunar Foundation's vocational training programs. TCF also has partnerships with health specialists to set up eye clinics at various TCF schools providing free services to the students & nearby communities.

Evidence of Current Impact in 2022:

DIRECT (on beneficiaries and clients)
1. 1,833 school units
2. 280,000 students
2. 13,000 teacher and principals
3. 53,000 graduates
4. 2,400 alumni have enrolled in vocational training programs
5. 43,000 alumni have enrolled into high schools
6. 7,700 alumni have pursued higher education
7. 51,200 TCF 8th/9th graders went through a mentorship program "Rahbar" on the model of big brother with the help of 13,300 mentors
8. 67,700 TCF primary school students went through summer camp with the help of 9,700 volunteers
9. 160,000 community women empowered through adult literacy program "Aagahi"
10. 3,000 women equipped with skills with vocational training and skill building
11. 38,000 beneficiaries receiving clean water everyday