My visit to the school in Faisalabad, Punjab was most impressive. I am thankful for the warm reception, from the march of honor from the boys, to the girls gracefully welcoming me with a song stressing the importance of family and love.

To meet 225 well-behaved, neatly dressed, confident, happy young girls and boys who may come from a low-income neighborhood but have a bright future was a fulfilling experience.

I met the principal Ms. Mobeen, the dedicated teachers and staff and an ayah who keeps theschool impeccably neat and clean.

I noticed that Ms. Mobeen who is focused on developing critical thinking skills & creativity in her students and is against rote learning, has an excellent rapport with her staff and is driven in her mission to grow enrollment while maintaining a quality learning environment.

I also met the Regional Coordinator Colonel Arshad, who is wholly committed to carrying out the overall mission of TCF to provide quality education for underprivileged children in the remote areas of Pakistan. I also had the opportunity to see first-hand how performance-oriented TCF is – a great example is how impressively TCF monitors its schools and uses metrics to identify problems, develop solutions and drive good outcomes. I loved the fact that students are evaluated not only on test results, but also on key important life-skills and values like inclusion, staying on task and respect for others.

It is this last value that I am most pleased about: that TCF is committed to stressing the importance of respect for others, no matter what a person’s background, income status, ethnicity or religion. The fact that after introducing me to every teacher, Ms. Mobeen took the time to introduce me to the ayah, shows that she “lives” the values of respect for everyone, and appreciates the contribution of all the staff.