The Citizens Foundation (TCF) has reported that student enrolment across its school network has reached 343,000, up from 320,000 a year earlier, as its graduates pursue higher education, enter new professions and build businesses in communities across Pakistan. According to its latest figures for 2025 to 2026, TCF now operates 2,342 school units nationwide, supported by an entirely female teaching faculty of 17,500. Since its founding in 1995, 79,400 students have graduated from its schools.
Behind these numbers are young people whose paths have taken them far beyond the classrooms where their education began.
In Lasbela, Balochistan, financial difficulties interrupted Kulsoom Afzal’s schooling. She returned to education in Grade 5 at a TCF school and went on to secure the highest marks in her district’s Intermediate examinations.
Today, Kulsoom is one of Lasbela’s first female civil engineers and is pursuing a master’s degree at NED University. Her journey into engineering marks a significant achievement in a district where few women had previously entered the profession.
In Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mohammad Owais Khan has followed a different path. After completing his Intermediate education in Computer Science, he began teaching himself digital skills while working to support his ambitions. With scholarship support from TCF, he enrolled at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan to pursue a degree in Computer Science.
Alongside his studies, Owais founded Xora Solutions, an information technology company in his hometown. The business has since grown into a team of eight, providing employment and opportunities to learn for others in his community.
Their experiences reflect a core aspect of TCF’s work: education that equips young people to shape their own lives and contribute to those around them.
Speaking about TCF’s approach to education, Zia Akhter Abbas, President and CEO of TCF, said: “Enrolment tells us how many children we reach. What matters just as much is what they do with that education. We want our students to keep learning, make informed choices, support themselves and their families, and contribute positively to their communities.”
TCF’s work also extends beyond formal schooling. Its Aagahi Adult Literacy Programme has now reached 337,000 learners, primarily women who missed the opportunity to attend school earlier in life. The programme helps participants develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills, enabling greater independence in everyday life.
Founded by a group of citizens in 1995, TCF has grown into Pakistan’s largest education movement supported by teachers, families, volunteers and donors across Pakistan and beyond. Its schools are embedded in underserved rural and urban communities, with girls accounting for nearly half of student enrolment.
As TCF enters its thirty-first year, its focus extends beyond access to schooling to the opportunities education creates throughout a person’s life. For graduates like Kulsoom and Owais, that learning continues through further studies, work that supports their families and communities, and the opportunities they create for others.T
