Education

Improving education in Pakistan 

The Citizens Foundation

The Citizens Foundation (TCF) is a non profit organisation, striving to provide quality education to the children of under privileged communities in Pakistan. TCF does this in a structured process through its network of purpose built and well-administered schools, trained teachers, a properly developed curriculum and an effective system of monitoring and evaluation. More than 28,000 students are studying in 224 TCF school units nationwide and over 2,600 jobs have been created.

The Unilever-TCF partnership was established in the year 2003. Since then, the partnership has flourished as we have built 3 new schools and are supporting another 12 nation-wide.

Private public partnerships

The Rahim Yar Khan School project came into being in 2003 with Unilever adopting a local government school, thus focusing on education development, particularly in the primary sector.

Introducing female staff and pupils, initiating extracurricular activities and teacher training programmes were some of the initial steps taken. So far, Unilever is providing the following facilities, other than student and teacher programmes.

• A new building
• New furniture
• Uniforms for needy students (about 10% of the total strength)
• Stationery
• Computers
• A highly developed library   

In 2006, Unilever Pakistan Limited signed a Private Public Partnership (PPP) tripartite agreement with the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) and the district government of Ghotki, to provide infrastructure, teacher training and learning material support to the Government Girls School Kamo Shaheed, Ghotki, Sindh. This being second, the first PPP project of the Company, to strengthen primary education in the country, was with the" Government Elementary School" at Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab.

PCP is an independent non-profit organization with a mandate to promote the volume and effectiveness of philanthropy, for social development in Pakistan. This tripartite agreement creates strong links between the public sector primary schools, corporate philanthropists and local communities, to provide better access to, and improve the quality of education for the under-privileged.

CARE Foundation (“CARE”) is a charitable trust which was founded in Pakistan in 1988 with the primary aim of providing quality marketable education to the country’s underprivileged children. CARE’s aim is to empower these children to change the destiny of their lives, and thus create a happier and more prosperous Pakistan for us all. CARE’s philosophy is that by educating a child, you empower the nation.

Unilever in 2007 provided support to CARE to improve infrastructure and education standards in the Bilal Ganj government school, Lahore.       

Unilever International Art Project for schools

Unilever has a strong and long-standing commitment to our communities in the realm of creativity and education – demonstrated in “Adding Vitality to Life”. This Unilever International Art Project for Schools brings these areas together, helping schools around the world to develop the creativity of their pupils and enabling them to participate in an international art project with a different theme every year.

Over 1,300 children from schools all across Pakistan participate each by creating innovative pieces.  Selected works are showcased in an exhibition and the prize winning pieces are sent to London to be exhibited at the Tate Modern Gallery.

Blue Band & Energile support Gusto Magazine

Unilever Pakistan in Collaboration with the Alif Laila Book Bus Society launched “Gusto” in May 2007, a magazine for children who like to read about current affairs, arts and crafts, science, trivia and much more. The magazine is sponsored by Unilever’s Energile Buzz, a performance energy drink which optimizes active energy and promotes a healthy lifestyle, and Blue Band Margarine, an important daily source of seven essential vitamins and calcium.

The magazine aims to enhance reading and creativity in children and has been especially developed to cover a vast area of interest for children of school going ages.A team of students m of varying ages and from different institutions have come together to develop the magazine. The writing, the concepts, the artwork, and the editing have all been done by this team and the plan is for “Gusto” to develop into a quarterly magazine to be circulated on a subscription basis, both to schools and individual children.

Unilever’s mission is to add vitality to life and the Company meets every day needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. Unilever’s objective is to integrate business as a part of society and to actively engage with the community through stronger, deeper, relations. In the area of education, while the company also supports higher education, the main thrust of the initiative is towards development of primary education, an area that is in great need of support from the private sector.

The Alif Laila Book Bus Society (ALLBS) was established in 1978 as a children’s library housed in a double-decker bus.  The small library in the park gradually grew into a comprehensive complex with a reference library and a mobile library (Story Teller) that serves three city schools and forty rural schools in the Sheikhupura District.  The visits to rural areas by the Story Teller bring innovative and creative concepts to children who would otherwise not be exposed to interactive and interesting learning techniques. ALBBS has also been chosen by The International Board on Books for Young People as its National Section of Pakistan. In recognition of its work, ALBBS was nominated in 2006 for The Common Wealth Award and presented the Nelson Mandela Medal, in Cape Town South Africa.

While the magazine provides children with options for reading, writing, debate, painting and craft, playing the guitar, developing science projects or just listening to music, the launch showcased the concept of the magazine and its different sections and areas of interest, providing a forum to children to interact and experience the magazine personally. For Energile Buzz and Blue Band Margarine it established a connect with children and provided the brands with an opportunity to communicate their commitment to promote a healthy and active lifestyle full of vitality, and provide the right nourishment to maintain a healthy body.

Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) 
MBA Programme

LUMS is a national university established by the country’s leading private and public sector corporations.  The objective of the founders was to develop an institution, which could provide rigorous academic and intellectual training and a viable alternative to education at leading foreign universities. The university has expanded rapidly since 1986 and presently has two schools the Graduate school of Business Administration and the School of Arts and Sciences.

Unilever Pakistan together with LUMS is offering a unique opportunity to women from all over Pakistan.  This programme is focused towards women from lesser-privileged areas to pursue their MBA at the University with financial support.  Through this fund, women who qualify are eligible for a seven-year interest free loan that covers all or part of their expenses through out the two-year degree.

This programme hoped to encourage talented female students to apply by reaching out to them and providing them an opportunity to pursue a professional degree at one of Pakistan’s premier academic institutions. 

Unilever has also committed a 3 year endowment to the LUMS school of science and engineering.

Fair & Lovely & BeaconhouseNational University (BNU)

The company’s social development initiatives are focused in the areas of education, health and water sustainability. In the area of education, while the main thrust has historically been towards primary education, financial support is also now provided to students in professional colleges, with the objective of extending quality education to the lesser privileged.

Unilever Pakistan in June 2007 signed an MOU with BNU to provide scholarship support to four deserving students, of which two are sponsored by Fair & Lovely. Fair and Lovely has also awarded over 200 post graduate “kismet ke sitaray” scholarships in two years to deserving girl students across Pakistan

Chartered by the Government of Punjab, BNU was established in 2003 for the purpose of imparting education with a modern, rational, course content while ensuring that the history, culture and the demands of Pakistani society are respected.

BNU is planned as a non-profit, world class private university disseminating learning and encouraging research in diverse areas where the essential focus of the programs offered has been determined by the type of the work force identified for the future economic, business, academic, cultural and technological advancement of the country. As such, BNU offers students a range of subject areas which are of immense relevance to the country’s economy.

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI) & HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry (HEJ)

Unilever is conscious of the fact that many young people today, with the necessary pre-requisites to pursue higher professional education, are some times denied the opportunity because of their personal financial constraints. In order to assist such students achieve their professional qualifications, Unilever continues to support educational initiatives that enable access to the less privileged members of our society.

Unilever signed MOU’s with GIKI and HEJ and commits to providing scholarships to females wanting to study B.sc in engineering and Mphil in food technology.