Excelling Beyond Borders

Since my childhood, I have always heard my father quoting Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, the Aga Khan III stating that “if I had two children, and one was a boy and the other a girl, and if I could afford to educate only one, I would have no hesitation in giving the higher education to the girl.” Living in the far-flung area of northern Pakistan, Chitral, access to education is almost like an opportunity, and quality education is far from reach. To educate me and my four other siblings, my family moved from Chitral to Karachi to be able to educate the five of us. It was not an easy decision to leave everything behind and move to a place we did not know where to start. We had to be very resilient and adopt to the new environment. With all the uncertainties faced, only one thing was clear – my father wanted his four daughters to pursue the best education possible. He aspired to see us enrolled with the AKU Examination Board – an institution that holds strong to its principles of fair examination and assessment, known for its quality education being on par with international standards. With the collective efforts of my family and support of my mother, I joined the AKU-EB system and received the AKU-EB Bridge Scholarship, which significantly took away the financial burden from the shoulders of my parents. I graduated as a high achiever with a passion to pursue social studies focusing on education.

In my undergraduate years, I was engaged in research on education across the countries where Muslims lived and led. I was equipped with the skills necessary to question and think ‘out of the box’ – thanks to the AKU-EB system. A Strong educational foundation matters. Since Pakistan was born, the area that suffered most was education. It is still suffering. In Pakistan, what makes the situation more alarming is that the majority of the population is youth – the future of the nation. Without access to basic education, every next day will remain uncertain. Therefore, I want to be a part of the educationalist force who can contribute to changing the education system and I am preparing myself for this journey. Having experienced a comprehensive and academically rigorous curriculum that helped understand what I wanted to pursue after HSSC, it was not hard to excel at the undergraduate level. I felt prepared. After undergraduate degree, I got full scholarships to pursue graduate level education from the Institute of Ismaili Studies and the University of London in the UK, a dual degree programme. My passion to contribute to the education system of Pakistan remains flamed and I look forward to joining the educationalist force after completing my MSc. Jabina’s sister, Tasmina is also a graduate of the AKU-EB system and a high achiever. Currently pursuing her education at AKU-SONAM. Tasmina is passionate about community health nursing and wishes to take her skills to places where basic healthcare is not accessible. Suraya, the third sibling is also an AKU-EB graduate and recipient of the AKU-EB Bridge Scholarship. Suraya’s interest was pursuing Psychology and she accepted admissions from the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada where she holds a considerable scholarship. Suraya wants to explore behaviour science and its integration into policy making decisions and actions. The fourth sister, Samina, will be graduating from the AKU-EB system in 2024. Samina is interested in pursuing political affairs and international studies.