I did my Bachelors in Business Administration with distinction (gold medal with 3.99/4.00CGPA) at the University of Punjab, and M.Phil in Public Policy (3.92/4.00 CPGA) at National Defence University. I was selected as a Young Professional for BRAC International in 2013 and had the opportunity to work in development as well as social enterprises programmes at the BRAC International both in Bangladesh and in Pakistan. I have in-depth experience of working at grassroots level in some of the lowest HDI districts in Pakistan. I have worked on projects aimed at ensuring Social Protection of vulnerable communities to support sustainable livelihood in remote districts of Balochistan. I have also worked to provide support to marginalized communities and small enterprises by ensuring access to credit under Microfinance initiatives.
In addition to working in Social Protection with BRAC International, I have worked extensively in the education sector towards broadening the access base alongside improving quality of education for marginalized groups and communities, especially girl students. I led many initiatives across districts in Punjab and Sindh with poor education outcomes, and established and managed schools to enhance access to quality of education. I have directly worked with Punjab Education Foundation and Sindh Education Foundation towards establishing, managing and successfully operating schools under the banner of public-private partnerships.
In addition to working at grass-roots level, I have also extensively engaged with the policy community at provincial and federal level towards democratizing equitable access to free and compulsory education across the country. My engagements with the governments included providing technical assistance on designing and implementing a range of policies and reform initiatives to improve education outcomes. For instance, I have provided TA support to SED and E&SED in developing respective Education Sector Plans. I have led the development of Multigrade Teaching and Learning Policy for SED. I have also led the training of delivery managers on skills required for effective service delivery as well as planning. In addition to providing TA support, I am an experienced researcher with substantial background in designing, executing and supervising quantitative and qualitative researches. I have led many research and evaluation studies in the field of education, governance, and conflict and stabilization in Pakistan.
My current designation at I-SAPS is Research Fellow. My responsibilities involve two broad but mutually reinforcing components – research and programme management.
Under the research component, which often overlaps with the programme management component, I work with the governments providing technical assistance on education policies and reform initiatives. I also undertake research which is more applied in nature into governance mechanisms, policies and classroom processes for enhanced access, equity and quality in education. For instance, I was part of the Evaluation and Assessment Team at I-SAPS that carried out extensive Third-Party Validation of Punjab Education Foundation Programmes. The TPV validated PEF’s governance, financial and programmatic processes, and provided evidence-based recommendations for sustainability and improvements in PEF programmes. Similarly, I led a study for School Education Department to understand the dynamics of community engagement as a function of School Council’s Policy. The study, heavily drawing from international literature and best practices, extended policy recommendations to make School Council’s Policy more responsive to challenges communities face while engaging at decision-making at the school level. As part of this study, I also led development of a draft School Councils Policy for School Education Department incorporating all the policy recommendations as policy provisions and corresponding adjustments within the policy.
I worked in multiple roles during my tenure at BRAC:
1. 1. As Monitoring Lead (Education), I successfully operationalized the monitoring wing, including hiring and training of Monitoring Officers, to generate data across a range of indicators to ensure that programmatic activites were in line with plans and client's requirements.
2. As Development Professional, I worked in remote areas within Balochistan to enhancing livelhihood opputunities for the poor alognside organizing them to effectively engage with state for improved service delivery.
3. As Development Professional, I closely worked with the Microfinance teams to ensure access to credit for marginalized communities and small businesses.
4. As Development Professional, I worked in a number of social enterprises and education programme of BRAC International in Bangladesh.
5. As Regional Manager, I established and managed schools to ensure access to quality education for underserved and marginalized communities. I was also responsible to ensure training and professional development of my team-members through BRAC's Training Department on pedagogical, content-related and management skills.
I carried out a number of activites in this role for I-SAPS:
- I worked as the focal person for Research on Right to Free and Compulsory Education in Pakistan -
- I assisted with the implementation of on-going projects on Education for instance Transforming Education in Pakistan, and Effective Education Budgeting Initiative.
- I was responsible to organize policy dialogues, conferences and engagement sessions with civil society organizations, government officials and public representatives.