The commencement of DIL Trust UK’s work was marked by the purchase of the Mehran school at Orangi, Karachi in January 2008. The total student strength of The Mehran School - DIL Trust UK stands at 180, majority of who are in nursery to grade 2. The school currently covers key subjects including English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Computer Studies, Art, Urdu and Religious studies.

Additionally, DIL Trust UK is working towards improving student hygiene, encouraging parent involvement through adult literacy programmes and gradual integration of vocational training courses for the broader community. DIL Trust UK will also work towards…..environment.

Our Schools
Please click here for further information on DIL's schools in each region.

Teaching Education Center
Developments in Literacy (DIL) is a not for profit organization working in the field of education. It was founded in February 1997 by expatriate Pakistanis in the USA who wanted to contribute towards the development of Pakistan in a meaningful way. In Pakistan DIL is registered as an NGO under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The main beneficiaries of DIL’s programme are girls living in the rural areas of Pakistan, who previously had no access to quality education. At present DIL has schools in all the four Provinces of Pakistan as well as the Islamabad Capital Territory.

Over the years DIL had been providing support for training by outsourcing training to various well reputed training institutes. It was frustrated by the slow rate of improvement, and the lack of standardization among its different projects. In a major review of its policies in February 2007, the tenth anniversary of DIL, the Executive Board members identified the professional development of teachers as one of its major goals.

DIL Trust UK was established in March 2007 to provide Pakistani expatriates in the UK the opportunity to participate in the work DIL does in Pakistan.  As with our sister chapters elsewhere in the world, we seek to establish or adopt, and operate primary and secondary schools in Pakistan.  DIL Trust UK is committed to raising the standard of education in all of its schools by:

• Providing ongoing teacher training. 
• Improving school construction and environment. 
• Establishing libraries and computer labs. 
• Building the capacity of the field staff. 
• Setting up vocational training 
• Setting up mentors system for DIL Trust UK students

As DIL was mandated to providing quality teacher education itself, the best way to achieve this was to start building the capacity of the teachers and the support staff, so that learning could be improved and the children graduating from the DIL & DIL Trust UK schools could compete with the best in the future. During the summer of 2006, DIL hired its own trainers, did the needs assessment and planned its training according the specific needs of the community teacher. The results were so positive that DIL & DIL Trust UK realized that it had to provide its teachers with training geared to their particular needs, with continuous on-site support and feedback.

To implement DIL’s Strategic Goal no.1: Improve the quality of education by raising the standard of teaching at all DIL & DIL Trust UK supported schools it was decided that instead of outsourcing its training, DIL would set up its own professional development centre in Islamabad, known as DIL’s Teacher Education Centre (DTEC) This centre would design the training program according to the needs of teachers teaching in community schools in rural areas, after consultation with all its stakeholders – partners, field staff and the teachers themselves. At the moment there is no education institute which caters specifically to the needs of rural teachers, and DIL & DIL Trust UK hopes that in the future it can open its doors to all those who wish to avail its services and use its materials.

Most importantly, DIL assigned two Master of Public Policy graduates from UCLA, John Hellmann and Sarah Simons, to study the existing professional development practices in DIL & DIL Trust UK’s projects and identify the most effective ways to improve teacher development. The excellent report they produced after seven months of intense work, is the basis for much of the program design and we are grateful for their extremely valuable input.