Pakistan, and in particular Lahore, has a rich and long history of excellence in education. Over time we have lost that love of learning and now view education narrowly, merely as a means of improving economic prospects.
Dr. Irfan Chaudhary obtained his B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He returned to Pakistan after spending over a decade at MIT, an experience that profoundly shaped his thinking and formed the seed for starting Maktab. The original motivation for starting a school was to have a place in Pakistan where children would be given the opportunity to enrol in rigorous courses in mathematics, sciences, and computer science that would put them on par with the best in the world.
However, Maktab was always intended to be a comprehensive educational experience: a place that enriches not only the mind but the body and the soul. The school was meant to be an alternative to home-schooling: a small close-knit community that thrived by regenerating a culture that we have lost: a culture of learning, of mutual respect, of hard work, of community service, and of respecting and enjoying nature.
By elegantly crafting computer code, or immersing in Khutoot-e-Ghalib, or proving abstruse problems in geometry, or composing and singing Faiz’s Hum Dekhen Gay, or discovering the law of conservation of mass, or learning Indian dribbling in hockey, or enjoying reading the library books under the shade of a dharaik (chinaberry) tree, or helping less fortunate children learn computer programming, Maktab students will become the harbingers of change. They will take pride in Pakistan’s distinct identity – an identity that is borrowed neither from our western borders nor from our eastern borders but is unique to Pakistan. They will enjoy Ghalib, Shakespeare, Faiz, and Sylvia Plath. They will have their own well-researched and thought-out opinions. They will be respectful of others, but they will be natural leaders who will embrace challenges. The choice of challenges will be guided by their immense responsibility to their fellow human beings, to the earth, and to the future generations of mankind.