ISLAMABAD: The network of Pakistan Embassy Schools abroad has long served as a crucial educational bridge for Pakistani expatriates, especially those engaged in blue-collar work.

Spanning across countries such as China, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates, these schools face the significant challenge of upholding educational standards amidst diverse geopolitical and cultural environments. Other challenges include ensuring consistent funding, recruiting skilled teachers and complying with both Pakistani and local educational regulations.

Despite these hurdles, the Pakistani schools in Oman have witnessed a remarkable turnaround, gaining recognition from both the Pakistani community and the Omani government. Serving a community of 400,000, the seven schools in Oman cater to around 10,000 students, offering them a lifeline to quality education.

These schools are located in Muscat, Seeb, Buraimi, Nizwa, Sohar, Salala and Sewaig. From a state of structural, financial and academic decline in 2022, these schools have transformed within two years, overcoming internal community opposition and restrictive bylaws.

Steps such as elimination of fee waivers and import of modern educational resources led to remarkable improvement, says official

Once victims of corruption, nepotism and administrative disputes, these institutions faced suspensions by the Omani government for governance failures.

However, today they stand as financially buoyant and academically respected institutions known for being the most affordable yet quality educational options for Pakistan’s working class in Oman.

This transformation has been so profound that the Omani government, in an exceptional move, allocated 18 kanals in Muscat for a new state-of-the-art Pakistani school, the first such allotment in 40 years, to accommodate the increasing demand for admissions.

“This is a result of the amazing turnaround in the fortune of the Pakistan school system,” said Ameer Hamza, the head of the board of Pakistan Schools, while talking to Dawn over phone.

He attributed this turnaround to the contribution of Pakistan’s Ambassador in Muscat Imran Ali Chaudhry.

The initiatives ranged from eliminating fee waivers used as political tools, importing modern educational resources, to introducing the Cambridge system across all classes, elevating the students’ potential for higher education.

The biggest step by the ambassador was to stand up to the vested interests among the community leaders who attacked the school board. In some cases, local laws had to be invoked as a last resort.

With the end of fee waivers, needy Pakistanis were supported from the embassy’s Public Welfare Fund.

One of the most amazing achievements was the introduction of Cambridge system in all classes to enable the students from blue-collar families to aspire for foreign university education. This step, always deliberated upon but never implemented, was finally adopted with the support of Mr Chaudhry.

“With this one step, the school system has been elevated a level up into the realm of quality schools,” remarked an embassy officer looking after the school system.

The other unprecedented achievement was to amazingly convert the deficit of hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past nine years (average annual loss of $300,000 - $400,000) into a surplus of $125,000. The schools’ enhanced reputation meant increase in students by 1200.

“There is now a waiting list of hundreds of students in each; earlier we waited for seats to be filled” said the principal of Pakistan School in Sohar.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2024