Courtesy of Insiya Syed for Malala Fund
"Education is an area that needs radical rethinking, especially in the Pakistani context, where millions of children are bereft of a quality education."
This week, Queen Elizabeth II presented Malala Fund Education Champion Haroon Yasin with The Queen’s Young Leader Award. The prestigious award recognises young leaders from across the Commonwealth of Nations who are using their skills to transform their communities.
A former teacher and tech enthusiast, Haroon is the founder and co-chair of Orenda, an organisation using digital learning to teach children in Pakistan the national curriculum. Pakistan has the second highest number of girls out of school in the world. In Punjab — one of the poorest regions of Pakistan — girls often drop out after primary school and don’t return.
Orenda has distributed free tablets to over 1,000 out-of-school girls in Pakistan. With Haroon’s technology, girls can catch up on missed lessons at home and continue their education without falling behind.
Haroon is delighted to receive the award. "Education is an area that needs radical rethinking, especially in the Pakistani context, where millions of children are bereft of a quality education,” he said in a press release. "This is an issue that Orenda cannot solve alone, and I hope that our selection for this award allows me to build the necessary bridges to expand the work of making engaging, relevant education accessible to every child across the country.”
Recipients of The Queen’s Young Leaders Award receive training, mentoring, networking opportunities and participate in a one-week residential programme in the U.K. With this support, Haroon will continue to grow his digital learning programme to help more out-of-school girls in Pakistan.
Learn about Malala Fund’s Education Champion Network by visiting malala.org/champions.
