In a candid interview with You! Magazine, Maham Zehra, an educationist, talks about her school for under privileged children in Karachi. Read on...
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Nestled in Karachi’s densely populated Korangi area, is a small school that challenges conventions in the field of education and learning. The school, Ali Model English School (AMES), works on its students’ academic prowess and equips them with life skills simultaneously. What also makes this school standout are its students, most of whom belong to Gilgit Baltistan but have been residing in the Awami Colony neighbourhood after their parents settled in Karachi owing to work opportunities.
This unconventional not-for-profit establishment is led by a woman who believes in quality education with a twist. Maham Zehra, the owner and administrator of the school, believes in activity-based learning that goes beyond textbooks and traditional learning methods.
It was a cold January morning when I first met Maham at the AMES’ Annual Project Day 2025. Rushing from one classroom to another, she encouraged the students, reviewed their projects, gave judges a tour of the project stalls and welcomed guests at the school. She came across as the perfect multitasker who wanted everything done flawlessly. Maham - who is battling with limited resources, financial constraints, and societal challenges while leading the school - believes in the power of dreams coming true and schools being a learning sanctuary with her journey reflecting hope, passion and resilience.
“My father was inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan Pathshala Primary School. He always wanted to set up an institute based on those learnings,” Maham tells me about the inception of the school by her late father Syed Shabbir Haider, who established AMES in 2002 as a tuition centre for children living in the Korangi colony.
Mr Haider, who was born and educated in India, moved to Pakistan in 1957. After his retirement, he wanted to do something related to education. In 2002, Mr Haider met a few people from Gilgit Baltistan in a mosque, who asked him to visit Awami Colony and told him about their children not being able to prepare for their exams and assignments after school due to lack of education among the parents.
“My father helped them rebuild a nearby mosque and set up a tuition centre in it for the children. After Maghrib and Isha prayers, kids came there. And with the help of local people, my father hired a few teachers who taught them,” narrates Maham. “The tuition centre then got shifted to a one-room house and eventually, after buying the house, the school was established in 2009,” she adds.
With around 310 kids enrolled in the school in the current academic year, the school teaches students from Montessori to grade 10. In the morning shift, school teaches students of Montessori till grade four, while in the afternoon, the students of grade five till matriculation are taught. Following her father’s footsteps, who passed away in 2012, Maham took the reins of the school in her hand in 2013.
Maham, who once also taught at one of the elite Karachi schools, feels what she is doing now is much more satisfying and gratifying. “Every morning when I get up, I take it as a new day. I’m just so excited to go and teach. This has been, my true calling and this is what I love doing,” she tells this scribe. The educationist, who herself is an ardent fan of arts and crafts, says, the students at her school are creative and have made beautiful artwork using available leftover items such as old CDs, boxes and packaging.
Maham has also founded ‘Tinku & Co’, a social enterprise that sells miniature handmade toys crafted by home-based artisans, which came into being after a competition where students and their mothers made toys and different handicraft items. “During COVID-19, when the school children were unable to proceed with remote learning due to lack of smartphone, computers, laptops and power outages, I engaged them and their mothers to create some items that could be sold online. Fortunately, the idea took off,” explains Maham.
It is interesting to note that while the school has male teachers in the secondary section for specialised subjects such as computer, mathematics, and chemistry, among others, AMES is primarily a women led school. However, Maham also faces certain challenges while dealing with parents and male staff. “Fathers often come and disrespect our female staff regarding students’ performance, fee submission and other related matters,” she elucidates. “Seeing women in decision-making positions remains an eye sore for misogynists,” she observes.
Sharing instances from the past, Maham mentions she once had to fire a male teacher who brainwashed schoolchildren when the school was teaching them to be tolerant and accepting towards other faiths. “Even the weekly football sessions for girls were not seen positively by misogynists who argued against women participating in a sport. While during another instance, someone from a neighbouring school raised an issue regarding martial arts classes held at AMES, including girls,” shares Maham - highlighting the patriarchal society’s stereotypical ideas towards women. “The fact that they bring religion into everything and that men interfere in every aspect is one of the biggest hurdles in changing the mind-set of our students,” she complains.
Another challenge, Maham adds, is the lack of educated parents, as most of them are blue-collar workers and face difficulty motivating and inspiring their kids to study. While gathering enough donations to keep the school going is a big challenge. “We have a problem with donations because we cannot go to big corporations to get donations. No one is allowing us to go on field trips. I have tried to reach out to major textile and biscuit-manufacturing factories nearby, requesting them to facilitate a field trip for the students, but to no avail.
Nobody is offering our students the opportunity or access. Getting our children to these opportunities and trying to get them exposure is challenging,” laments Maham
She adds that it is not just through buying books and uniforms or paying fees that one can help a small set-up like AMES. But investing to give teachers’ a fair market-competitive pay, training them and offering students different opportunities to engage in the society are also ways to make a meaningful contribution and help them achieve their academic pursuits. She insists on collaborating with other schools to improve her own establishment.
Maham, who experienced learning difficulties in her childhood and wasn’t her best at subjects like Mathematics, English and Science, found solace in arts and crafts and her love for Urdu, all of which kept her going during her academic years. She remains inspired by her mentors - Rumana Husain, an educationist and author, and Mohammad Ahmed, an actor and writer. “I was motivated by two teachers and now it’s my turn to give back to society,” she expresses. Maham further shares that many of her former students write to her about bringing a positive change in their lives, which keeps her motivated to do better.
AMES has a small branch in Skardu offering Montessori classes with plans to start kindergarten as well as grade one and two. The school is overseen by a former vice principal and funded by Dr Asghar Naqvi, a board member of the school. Maham, however, wants to establish a vocational or computer centre and is also looking to gather funds to start an intermediate programme. “Hopefully, we will expand, maybe not in terms of the matriculation system, but maybe we will branch out into intermediate and vocational centre training.”
“Giving quality education is not expensive. You don’t need big setups. You can find small ways to get quality education. The need for collaboration, however, has become more important than ever as it gives everyone the opportunity to learn and makes quality education accessible for all,” says Maham with a smile.
Rabia Mushtaq is a journalist and researcher. She reports about gender, culture, migration, and human rights.
