Three extraordinary Pakistani schools have today been named Top 10 finalists for the World’s Best School Prizes 2025. The five World’s Best School Prizes, founded by T4 Education in the wake of COVID in 2022 to share the best practices of schools that are changing lives in their classrooms and far beyond their walls, are the world’s most prestigious education prizes.
Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust Higher Secondary School, a primary and secondary charity school in Glaxo Town Feroz Pur Road Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, which has trailblazed the adoption of the IB and PYP curriculum, an inquiry-based approach based on a sustainable and inclusive model that empowers marginalised children with critical 21st century skills, has been named a Top 10 finalist for the World’s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity.
Beaconhouse College Programme, Juniper Campus, Quetta, a secondary international school in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan, which is breaking the barriers to STEM education for children in underprivileged rural areas by giving them access to interactive, real-world science education with Science Gaari, a fully equipped and student-led mobile science lab, has been named a Top 10 finalist for the World’s Best School Prize for Community Collaboration.
Nordic International School Lahore, an independent kindergarten, primary and secondary school in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, which is actively involving parents as architects of their children’s academic success, supported by a culture of kindness to create a happy and supportive learning environment where students thrive, has been named a Top 10 finalist for the World’s Best School Prize for Community Collaboration.
The winners of the five World’s Best School Prizes – for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives – will be chosen by an expert Judging Academy based on rigorous criteria. In addition, all 50 finalist schools across the five Prizes will also take part in a Public Vote, which opened today, to determine the winner of the Community Choice Award. All six winners will be announced in October.
The winners and finalists of these global schools prizes will be invited to the World Schools Summit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on November 15-16, where they will share their best practices and unique expertise and experience with policymakers and leading figures in global education.
Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best School Prizes, said:
In a world being turned upside down by AI, as technology reshapes the way we learn and renders jobs that have existed for centuries obsolete, amid growing challenges of climate change, conflict, poverty and populism, the world our young people are entering has never felt more precarious. And a good education, with humans at its heart, has never been more important. It is in schools like Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust Higher Secondary School, Beaconhouse College Programme, Juniper Campus, Quetta, and Nordic International School Lahore, where we find the innovations and expertise that give us hope for a better future. Congratulations on becoming finalists for the World’s Best School Prizes 2025. Leaders and schools around the world have so much to learn from these inspirational Pakistani institutions.
About the schools:
Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust Higher Secondary School, a primary and secondary charity school in Glaxo Town, Feroz Pur Road, Lahore, has trailblazed the adoption of the IB and PYP curriculum, an inquiry-based approach based on a sustainable and inclusive model that empowers marginalised children with critical 21st-century skills. As the first school in Pakistan to offer this curriculum to underserved communities facing high unemployment rates, a diversity in ethnic and religious backgrounds, and a lack of affordability for quality education among economically vulnerable families, it is effectively addressing the educational gap in the highly industrialised region.
Starting in an abandoned factory to bring children off the streets into a school environment with just 10 students and a handful of untrained volunteers as teachers, today the school is a vibrant campus serving close to 800 students. Adopting the IB and PYP curriculum was a turning point in building an environment where access to equity through education for students from all backgrounds is producing confident, articulate graduates who excel academically and can actively contribute to the community around them and broader society.
The curriculum integrates the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), critical thinking, inquiry-based learning, and socio-emotional development, enabling students to participate in local exhibitions, community sessions, and expert workshops and become active collaborators on global projects.
Implementing the IB and PYP curriculum was a challenge in terms of convincing both teachers and parents to embrace it. However, the success of the model has seen Sanjan Nagar educate over 800 students, entrenching its reputation for quality education. It has facilitated transformative opportunities through initiatives that have enabled 14 of its students to win scholarships to spend a year studying in the US, providing them with life-changing global exposure, while three have attended regional camps. Seven teachers have also attended professional development courses in the US, enhancing their pedagogical skills, and many alumni have earned full scholarships for postgraduate programmes overseas. The school welcomes students from diverse religious and ethnic communities, maintaining a strong interfaith harmony with approximately 65% of the student body from the Christian community, and students celebrate all religious festivals in unity with an ethos of respect.
Through SDG-related projects, international collaborations, and community initiatives, the school is bridging socio-economic divides with families able to transform their income streams thanks to the career success of graduates, lifting them out of poverty and contributing to overall community wellbeing.
By shifting its educational philosophy and cultural mindset in the community, the school instills in students the agency to remain lifelong learners and active contributors to the global community.
Beaconhouse College Programme, Juniper Campus, Quetta, a secondary international school in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan, is breaking the barriers to STEM education for children in underprivileged rural areas by giving them access to interactive, real-world science education with Science Gaari, a fully equipped and student-led mobile science lab. The lab delivers hands-on experiments and demonstrations to remote students, many of whom have never seen a microscope or performed a simple chemistry experiment before. Balochistan, one of the largest provinces in Pakistan, is also one of the most deprived in terms of education. With close to three million out-of-school children in the region, BCP Juniper Campus, Quetta, was determined to address the province’s education emergency.
The collaborative effort, launched in partnership with UNICEF to ignite a movement for equitable science education, saw the entire BCP Juniper Campus, Quetta community contribute, with active participation from students, teachers, and school leaders. Student volunteers, trained by science teachers to give them sound application knowledge, took the lead in designing experiments and conducting demonstrations as science ambassadors, making science relatable and inspiring. The school leadership handled more complex logistics, outreach, and coordination with rural schools to ensure student ideas could become fully realised.
The student-led mobile science lab has provided hands-on science education to more than 150 underserved schools, increasing science engagement by 35% and improving test scores by 20%. Interaction with lab equipment has ignited a greater passion for STEM, meaning that more students are now considering careers in science and technology, and rural teachers have been empowered through access to new and interactive resources, driving them to develop reimagined teaching lessons. For BPC Juniper Campus, Quetta students involved in the initiative, the development of leadership, communication, and mentoring skills has given them the confidence to believe that their voices matter and will be heard, setting them up as proud agents of change with the power to make a meaningful difference within their own communities.
With Science Gaari, BCP Juniper Campus, Quetta, has proven that when student ideas are fully supported by school leaders who give them access to hands-on education, educational gaps can be bridged to ensure that no child is left behind, no matter their circumstances.
Nordic International School Lahore, an independent kindergarten, primary and secondary school in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, is actively involving parents as architects of their children’s academic success, supported by a culture of kindness to create a happy and supportive learning environment where students thrive. With research consistently showing that 80% of a child’s success is linked to parental involvement, the school has transformed into a space of family collaboration, with parent engagement encouraged at key touchpoints in their children’s learning journeys.
The school promotes a hands-on, real-world learning environment that encourages creativity and practical application of knowledge. Parents are involved from the get-go through the school app to share activities, as well as the learning behind them. Regular parenting workshops based on research-driven strategies to help parents build healthy relationships with their children are conducted, and leaders involve parents in both academic and administrative matters to ensure constant communication and connection. At the end of every unit in preschool and primary years, the school facilitates an initiative called the Exit Point, which is a celebration of learning where students showcase their projects and achievements, allowing parents to witness their children’s growth, dedication, and acquired skills, reinforcing their role in the learning journey. The curriculum integrates the social, cultural, and economic context of the local community, while maintaining an international and global outlook to celebrate the cultural identities of students and their families—a fine equilibrium many international schools often overlook.
Driven by the belief that kindness leads to happier employees and students, the school has entrenched a culture of kindness to create a supportive community where all can thrive. A schoolwide initiative drives kindness across all grade levels, integrating activities with defined learning outcomes that positively impact students, teachers, and parents.
After starting with only five students, the school now has 300. The success of the approach is evident in Annual Satisfaction Scores, which sit at 4.5 out of 5. The principal, Kamil Majeed, has spoken at TEDx on Leading with Kindness, advocating for kindness as a superpower for effective leadership. He shares kindness-driven initiatives on Instagram, demonstrating the importance of creating safe spaces for students and staff.
By integrating parents in the learning journey, and actively building a culture of kindness, the school is providing a safe, nurturing, and supportive environment where students are given agency to find their passion and achieve.
Reference Link:- https://propakistani.pk/2025/06/18/3-pakistani-schools-named-among-top-10-finalists-for-worlds-best-school-prizes-2025/