The presentation that accompanied a British Council webinar from Monday 12th November 2012

1. British Council Connecting Classrooms
Linking with a school in Pakistan webinar

2. WELCOME!
Aims of this session:
1. An overview of linking with Pakistan
2. A case study from Springwell School, Derbyshire

3. Facts about Pakistan
• A South Asian country with more than 180 million population
• Islamabad is the capital while Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot and
Peshawar, Quetta, Gujranwala are the other famous cities
• Pakistan is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of four provinces and four
federal territories.
• The society and culture of Pakistan comprises numerous diverse cultures and
ethnic groups: the Punjabis,Kashmiris, Sindhis in east, Muhajirs, Makrani in the
south: Baloch and Pashtun in the west; and the ancient Dardic, Wakhi,
and Burusho communities in the north.
• Pakistani cuisine is a blend of cooking traditions from different regions of the
Indian subcontinent.
• Field Hockey is the national sports but Cricket is national passion, beside this,
Squash, Golf, Football, Kabbadi, Wrestling, Lawn Tennis, Boxing, Polo and
Athletics are also famous in Pakistan.

5. Education System in Pakistan
• The constitution of Pakistan requires the state to provide free primary
and secondary education.
• Literacy Rate 58% (69% Male & 45% Female)
• Education is divided into five main levels: Primary, Middle, Secondary,
Higher Secondary and University programmes leading to graduate
and postgraduate degrees.
• Some schools offer Cambridge International Exams system through
British Council
• Pakistan is the 9th largest English speaking country in the world and
the 3rd largest in Asia

6. Challenges in Pakistan’s Education System
• 2.2% of GNP
• Shortage of resources including human
resource
• Poverty & Illiteracy
• Multiple medium of instruction
• Lack of teaching techniques Poor quality of
teaching
• Cheating in Examination system
• Overcrowded classrooms
• Regional and Gender disparities
• Terrorism & Extremism

7. Why partnering with Pakistan
• To bring change in perceptions and understand the culture of
Pakistan.
• Despite challenges, our students have great potential to acquire
quality education and understand the cultural, economic, religious,
political and scientific interdependency .
• We can share our better teaching practices especially in Maths,
Science and social studies
• Reciprocal visits amongst the partner schools for cultural
understanding
• To build motivation amongst own communities and pupils
• To explore new ways of enhancing education for global citizenship.
• To give global dimension to our curriculum

9. Feedback by UK teachers about Pakistan
• 03 teachers from Durham visited their partner schools in Abbottabad, Pakistan (09-15
April 2012), Cassie Mary Flint from Teesdle Academy, Durham says
– I would very much like to record the fact that this project and specifically my visit to
Pakistan and to the five schools in the Abbottabad cluster has been one of the
most inspiring for me in my whole teaching career (which spans over 30 years!)
– I think Pakistan is a wonderful and truly enterprising country- facing such massive
issues especially in terms of education and the promotion of literacy.
• 05 teachers including LA official from Derbyshire visited their partner schools in
Haripur, Pakistan 15-19 October 2012; Caroline Hoyel from Springwell Community
College, Derbyshire says
– The hospitality from the people of Pakistan was unforgettable and their generosity
and support was heart warming.
– Already lots of positive things have been taken from this experience and
implemented within the UK schools.

11. Get in touch
• British Council offers variety of opportunities to schools
across the world to create partnerships;
• www.britishcouncil.org/schoolsonline
• www.britishcouncil.org/isa
• www.britishcouncil.org/connectingclassrooms
• The next deadline for applying for a Connecting Classrooms
grant funded partnership with Pakistan is Monday 11th
February, 2013.
• More info, please contact schools@britishcouncil.org