Tariq Raja, Executive Director at the CareTech Foundation, shares how the charity’s Special Educational Needs Initiative (SEN-i) is transforming inclusive education in Pakistan by training teachers and sharing UK expertise.
The CareTech Foundation has always committed to investing in social care where intervention, expertise and funds will make the most difference. Internationally, this has meant identifying areas currently lacking and utilising British expertise to strengthen them. Unlike many areas of the world, our social care sector is resourced and regulated, putting those in our care at the forefront of consideration. In 2022, we identified a gap for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) facing barriers that limit their access to education in Pakistan. Despite growing awareness and targeted investment, millions of children remained excluded from mainstream education. This led the Foundation to create the Special Educational Needs Initiative, SEN-i. The aim was to train teachers and encourage inclusive teaching practices without compromising academic excellence.
In the UK, over 1.7 million pupils are identified as having SEN, a number that continues to rise each year. This reflects a system becoming more responsive to diverse learning needs, but also highlights the ongoing demand for resources, trained professionals and support. Expanding access to Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans has been an encouraging step. For us, this meant tailoring a localised approach suitable for the Pakistani market with the support of UK SEN specialists.
With our experience in offering training through partner programmes, having trained nearly 4,000 facilitators in the UK health and social care sectors, we identified schools currently operated by CareTech Ltd and paired them with an initial cohort of five mainstream schools in three Pakistani cities. With CareTech Ltd’s approach, we also enrolled teachers on the company’s LMS, Myrus. This common training helped teachers communicate with each other as they started learning terminology familiar to the UK staff.
Pakistan faces unique challenges: according to the 2023 Census, 9.64% of the population (approx. 24.1 million) lives with a disability, yet only 371,833 children are formally registered – most with physical impairments. Out-of-school rates are more than double for children with disabilities compared to their peers, while literacy rates remain critically low at just 14%. Despite progressive legislation guaranteeing inclusive education, implementation is underfunded and uneven. In many areas, special education institutions reach only a fraction of the need and teacher training capacity is critically limited.
Recognising these gaps, using the EHC Plan, we first created a bespoke Initial Assessment Form, suitable for the local system. Following this, we consulted with UK and Pakistan teachers to further identify the creation of observation forms for continued management and development, or Individual Education Plans, which would be tailored for each child. This was also the first time educators and parents/carers would be asked to collaborate together on each child’s academic progression.
Alongside these resources, we are now delighted that SEN-i has created a pioneering SEN training programme and delivered workshops to 135 teachers. This will collectively impact an estimated 16,000 pupils. The programme applies a contextualised framework tailored to the realities of Pakistan’s education system. With schools and disability specialist organisations now receiving the training, SEN-i is receiving feedback from rural low-cost schools to private institutions and non-profits. Teachers were also trained on practical approaches to supporting physical, sensory, communication and cognitive needs such as autism, dyscalculia, and developmental coordination disorder.
The impact of the programme has been both far-reaching and deeply personal. Teachers praised the training as insightful and thought-provoking, particularly valuing opportunities to reflect on their own practice. A local teacher shared, “I have now understood how to identify learning barriers, and apply the tools given to us by SEN-i to remove those barriers from every child’s learning experience in my classroom.” Parents also expressed optimism about the shift toward inclusivity, with one noting, “I learned a lot from today’s session. When I send my child to school, I expect they will access the same quality of education as the rest of their peers. I am happy to learn that the school will take ownership of my child’s learning.” The overwhelmingly positive feedback highlights both the immediate impact of the training and the growing demand for advanced SEN-focused professional development across Pakistan.
We criticise our sector for a lot, but there is even more to be proud of when it comes to the lasting impact of those who lead the way in our services, homes and schools. Yes, we have a lot to learn ourselves, but the incredible staff who have volunteered their time to guide our partners in Pakistan have given hope to a generation of children who would have remained out of school, struggled or may have never fallen in love with learning. When someone asks me ‘what do you want to achieve?’ my answer is simple – a future where everyone has the opportunity to be independent. We can achieve this when we share knowledge and practice of what we do well with those who have not yet reached that level of understanding in their space.
