1982: A group of concerned educators. A simple belief in one’s ability to influence change - this intermingling bore the seed for the creation of Teachers’ Resource Centre (TRC). That bears some clarification though. For the individuals behind our organization, this wasn’t just a conviction in themselves. Rather, they held that if teachers in Pakistan’s schools believed in their power to make a difference, it would revolutionize our education system. This idea first took shape in Workshop’82 - a series of in-service training activities with 120 participants from 30 schools. The response was overwhelmingly positive. From such encouraging feedback came the impetus for a more enduring movement.

1984 brought together an even larger group of educationists from the public and private sector with the common will to tackle the shortcomings in our county’s education system. This collective resolve gained momentum with the Aga Khan Foundation, South Asia Partnership and Canadian International Development Agency putting their financial weight behind it.

In 1986, TRC, the first institution of its kind, was established. Initially, its members committed to offering in-service education and educational materials to school teachers in Karachi. Over two decades later, this commitment has extended as far as Tharparkar, Quetta and Gilgit, encompassing contributions to education across Pakistan.

Of course, while TRC’s founding ideals were inspiring, they were still in their infancy. Like the children who are the focus of its work, TRC would have to be nurtured. Amidst a first year fraught with curfews and the shutting of educational institutions in Karachi, TRC trained personnel, built systems and professionalized its activities. Due to the larger uncertainty in the city, its impact, while refreshing, was on a smaller group than envisaged. Far from disheartened, its members launched themselves with renewed vigour into refining their vision for TRC over the coming years. This teething process involved pioneering initiatives in several different directions with accountability, introspection and improvement as its undercurrents. On one hand, staffing shortages, fundraising and bureaucratic delays challenged the sustainability of TRC. The other, brighter side of the spectrum brought with it promising returns on TRC’s efforts to enhance the teaching profession through public-private collaborations like participating in government education committees and leading a national UNICEF training on First Language Learning in Islamabad.

Workshops addressing different aspects of classroom teaching rose dramatically in number, enabling more and more teachers to benefit from TRC’s professional development work. Sprinkled into these initial years were several publications, a weeklong book festival to promote reading and an exhibition of school supplies to name a few projects. Publications piloted in TRC’s initial stages included Alif Ujala – a highly successful environmental education magazine funded by WWF-UK, Funline – a children’s magazine in collaboration with Newsline and a quarterly newsletter which has continued into the present (and is now the bi-annual Ilm-o-Amal)

1990: TRC entered the 90s with a resounding ‘Yes we can!’ A new governing body was voted in. Early Childhood Education came to the forefront of its efforts – a focus that would go on to produce some of TRC’s major achievements. Public-private partnerships, a cornerstone of educational progress, got yet another boost with Initiating Change through Professional Development (ICPD) - TRC’s first commitment to in-depth, multi-year work with government schools. This commitment would become a springboard for TRC to become a vital agent of change by later developing delivery models of education in pre-primary and primary levels for the public sector. This spirit of collaboration added another colourful dash to the mix with Tomorrow’s World, TRC’s annual event of 1998 which brought together over 30,000 people from all walks of life to consider, how the choices they make today will shape tomorrow.

TRC’s pledge to make its impact universal continued with the development of the ECE readiness bag (later renamed Pehla Taleemi Basta) as a start-up school kit for low-income schools. This pledge assumed a different face with the donning of yet more ‘advocacy’ hats through annual celebrations of Earth Day, Universal Children’s Day and highlighting, related educational and social causes at our Annual Events. Hop over to our ‘Special Events’ section for further details!

The 90s also saw TRC make more ‘academic’ headway by assuming a greater presence in educational research in Pakistan. Members were asked to lead studies on teacher training and rural development commissioned by organizations including the World Bank and Save the Children-UK. The Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) asked TRC to design and teach a six-week module for its M.Ed programme. The Pakistani government asked TRC to participate in several task forces on education – the first glimmers of TRC being endorsed as a national leader in education, a decade into its establishment.

2000: A resounding ‘vote of confidence’ from the Pakistani government would come at the turn of the century with the formalization of Pakistan’s first early childhood education curriculum (2002) – an achievement for the history books, with TRC as the driving force behind it! Early childhood education stepped up to the plate yet again with TRC establishing a formal certificate course in ECE in collaboration with Sheridan College and Ryerson University in Canada, which premiered in August 2005.

TRC’s first website was formally inaugurated in 2001, to coincide with TRC turning 15, coupled later with the addition of a second website Interact. Amidst the global clamour of 9/11 and ensuing events in subsequent years, TRC extended its work by exposing its staff to policy level conferences and technical working groups, spreading environmental awareness and launching the Media Literacy Initiative in 2006. It continued to give back through the ongoing development of interactive materials for teachers and parents, including a 2003 calendar focusing on the value of play, in an attempt to revive traditional games at home, promote cooperation over competition and reduce consumerism. Ilm-o-Amal, TRC’s latest publication premiered in 2005 and remains a popular resource in classroom planning for teachers.

On January 22, 2007 the newly established TRC-Institute of ECE was formally registered under the Societies Registration Act, XXI of 1860.

August 2007 ushered in a move to a new premises and a new logo for our organization. With its arrival at the dawn of our 21st year, the new TRC logo – a tree – embodies the essence of our philosophy, which has always been a force of life, knowledge and enlightenment. Let’s not forget that TRC was born from a seed – a concept that has grown and evolved over the years into the inspiring, imaginative force that it is today. TRC empowers teachers to tap into their inherent potential and the tree symbolically represents the enabling environment that TRC provides.

And what of TRC’s favourite medium of service to the education community – its workshops? Well, quite simply, we believe in activity based learning within a non-threatening learning environment. We are committed to offering ideas that are not limited by resources and can be implemented widely. They promote environment friendly ideals through the recycling of junk materials to make teaching materials and aids. Curious? Sign up for one!

Over 20 years ago, TRC emerged as a meaningful undertaking in uncertain times when our country was in want of guidance. Over the last decades, it has led the advance in improving literacy prospects in our country. Through its monumental work, it has inspired the hearts and minds within it to continue their groundbreaking outreach to enhance the state of education in Pakistan. Today, we find ourselves in equally troubling times with Pakistan still needing hopeful, practical solutions to its myriad of problems, education being the foremost. TRC is up for the challenge.