ISSUE NO. 3

March 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Assalam o Alekum,It’s a ma er of immense plea-sure for me to give a message on the occasion of publication of 3rd issue of Focus Fatimiyah, a bimonthly newsle er of Fatimi-yah Education Network.FEN, as we all know, has pro-gressed wonderfully in a short span of time. Starting from a small girls school at Kharadar and expanding it by other two schools, a couple of colleges upto Degree level, FCCS and FLLC, etc. thus creating a record in the history of JamaatMarching ahead, the FEN, is in the process of launching the School of Early Childhood Edu-cation accommodating 600 stu-dents and a Teachers Training Centre from April 2007 with an ultimate goal to also have an E-Academy.I appreciate and congratulate the FEN team led by the Secretary Education Board, Mr. Ghulam Abid Lakhani and the Execu-tive Director, Mr. Minhas Tejani FEN for such an unmatchable progress.I wish all the best and pray to Allah (SWT) for their success in the years to come.

NISAR H. VIRANIPresident - Khoja (Pirhai) Shia Isna Asheri Jamaat

CERTIFICATE DISTRIBUTION

CEREMONYTeacher Training Courses:

Professional Development and Teacher Education is of prime importance for the sustainabil-ity of quality in education. With this objective, teacher training programmes were conducted at Fatimiyah Education Network in collaboration with Tejani Educational Consultants. Alto-gether 63 candidates qualifi ed for receiving their certifi cates a er successful completion of their course. The Certifi -cate Distribution Ceremony of these programmes was held at Fatimiyah Girl’s School on Jan-

uary 14, 2007. Prof. Dr. Sadrud-din Pardhan, Director Outreach at Aga Khan University- Insti-tute for Educational Develop-ment graced the occasion as the chief guest. He along with Mr. Dilawar Shaban, Chairman Lucky Group of Companies and Mr. Nisar Virani, President KPSIAJ gave away the certifi -cates. Many other dignitaries and well-wishers of the com-munity were also present on the occasion. These courses were conducted to arouse interest in the teaching profession among the new generation. The train-ing was on ECE (Early Child-hood Education), Pre-Service Teacher’s Training and English for Teachers.

VISITS BY RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS AND DIGNITARIES

Fatimiyah Education Network had the honour of visits by various religious scholars during the month of Muharram.

Ayatullah Syed Aqeel-ul-Gharavi visited the boys and girls campuses of Fatimiyah College. He also addressed the senior students of the Net-work (IX to XII).Maulana Sa-

hib shared the importance of acquiring knowledge and time management. He also encour-aged the students to pursue their careers in the fi eld of edu-cation and economics.

Dr. Kalb-e-Sadiq also hon-oured Fatimiyah College and provided his valuable time to us. A presentation on the activi-ties and future plans of Fatimi-

yah Education Network was given by the Executive Director. He visited both the boys and girls campuses. Dr. Sahib also spoke to the students regarding their studies. He appreciated the management of Khoja Ja-maat for providing excellent fa-cilities and a conducive learning environment to the students. Dr Abbas Borhany, Mr. Amir Ali Patel, Mr. Nisar H. Virani, President, KPSIAJ and Mr. Riaz Premjee also accompa-nied Dr Kalbe Sadiq during the visit.

A delegation of World Fed-eration KSIMC visited Fatimi-yah College. A presentation on the current status and future plans of Fatimiyah Education Network was given by the Exec-utive Director. This generated a healthy discussion during which valuable input was given by the

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EVENTSMESSAGE

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STUDENT’S CORNERSCHOOL DAYS

Poem By Tahira Amir AliVII-C FGS

Oh! My lovely school daysIs fun what every body says?Listening to the teacherWill be the featureTalking with my friendsStarts but never endsThese days, I’ll never forgetThe upbringing from here I getThe feeling I cannot tellAre the memories in a nutshell

PEACEMehnaz Zehra Asghar Ali

VII-C FGS

Everybody will live with peaceNo fi ghting with fellow beingsNo war against peopleLive with love and peaceThe bright colors will come inThe dark world will vanishThe world will be beautiful againFriendship and happiness shall reignProsperity shall be every whereFun and laughter, yet no despairI hope to see this ideal worldNice, lovely and peaceful world

ParentsWri en by: Muhammad Ali

Amjad Class: VII-B FBS

God has given us many gi s,And parents are the biggest gi When we are in our childhood,We do not eat without their holdWe are guided by our caretakers about healthy diet.And we are handled with care.When we are not educated,Our parents educate us,And when we need some help, First we go to our parents.Our parents give us everything,Yes! Thanks to all the parents.If you are a good child,You must respect your parents,With the help of their blessings,You will reach the sky.God has given us many gi sAbove all parents are the precious gi s.

This world is narrowing off to a ba lefi eld, and as usual the innocent stand armless and without any shield in the middle of the war zone. Hope is scarce and the feeling of in-feriority is placing itself neat-ly back into our hearts.This war my friends is not the one India is impatient for, it is not the war between Israel and Palestine nor it is the one Bush is planning against an-other clueless country…this is in fact the one we rage against ourselves.Our country Pakistan needs to be more than just a mere metropolitan country… it needs to be safe, clean, dy-namic and progressive.All this is just to tell you that we must pull ourselves to-gether before the a ack of

the enemy. (By the term “en-emy” I mean to say: poverty, violence, illiteracy and GAR-BAGE! All these things are ruining our country)Believe me; making Pakistan a be er place is simpler than you think. Just try your level best to be a good student, be an honest employee, a loving parent, a lawful driver and a responsible citizen.Try to discourage graffi ti on our city walls, rubbish being thrown all over the place, roads being uprooted for years at a stretch and all kinds of other things causing chaos in Pakistan.All I’m asking you to do is re-alize your mistakes; we can save Pakistan if you just “Be-lieve me!”

“BELIEVE ME!”By, Sharaf Nisa Mirza. XII Humanities

Education is really very im-portant in a woman’s life because she can pass on that to her off spring. Educating a woman is like educating a generation. If a woman is un-educated, what can be expect-ed of her in terms of training and educating her children? But it is a dilemma that a ma-jority of people in our society understand this. They think that the job of a woman is only to cook, clean and do all sort of household chores. But in my eyes, a woman must be

brave, strong and intelligent and if a woman is educated, she can stand up and fi ght for her rights. Education does not mean just being able to read and write. In true sense it means to follow what is learned and to behave like an educated person all the time. In our religion, education is of great importance. Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) said“Education is the responsibil-ity of every man and wom-an”.

The Importance of Education in a Woman’s Life

Shafaq Fatima Sarani VII-B FGS

I said good bye to all the trou-bles. I am so excited because of Kashmir’s Freedom. Wow! It will be the real heaven on earth. People are happy, in a

festive mood. It is a day to re-joice as our hopes are fulfi lled. But happiness was temporary as this was only a dream.

KASHMIR DAYNisa V FGS Kharadar

“Refl ections on ‘SIUT’ Training”

By, Rida Asghar AliXII Science

A students’ voluntary program was conducted by SIUT to pro-vide younger people an oppor-tunity to understand the special-ized medical fi eld and to promote the culture of voluntary commu-nity service. The duration of the program was from December 23 till December 30, 2006. It was a six day voluntary training program, which was a ended by one hun-dred and thirty seven students from diff erent schools and col-leges of Karachi. Majority of the students’ were from Foundation Public School, Karachi Grammar School and The City School. I and Maisam Abbas of XI Com were the only students represent-ing FEN. I a ended the whole training session in college uni-form and felt very comfortable and relaxed. On the fi rst day, I was a bit ner-vous with so many new faces, but I made an acquaintance with the students of St. Joseph’s College. We had a tour of the buildings, which were very awesome! The bridge connect-ing them was very fascinating. We visited the laboratories, the dialysis and pediatric wards. Later, all the students were asked to decorate the pad for Eid, which added a lot of fun and enjoy-ment to our tour. We also watched a live trans-plantation movie, which was just an amazing experience for us. We made advertisements for fund raising, and also had a short nursing class, which was not only informative but also enjoyable. Dr.Adeeb Rizvi conducted the Certifi cate Distribution Ceremo-ny and a er that diff erent people delivered their speeches. I was also invited to the closing cer-emony at Purple Hayes. On the whole, it was an enlight-ening and helpful experience in my life. These type of informative programs should be arranged more o en for the students.

Editorial!Dear Readers!

Assalam Alekum

We proudly present to you the March – April 2007 is-sue of “Focus Fatimiyah”. The culture of collaboration of the team to work for the be erment and up bringing of our young scholars has been maintained by encour-aging students to write their thoughts and ideas using their imagination.

Through the forum of Focus Fatimiyah our students have shared their thoughts in the form of writings with the community.

The creativity and brightness of the students of Fatimiyah has been acknowledged and appreciated by various Is-lamic scholars and members of World Federation of KP-SIAJ, who visited the FEN during the month.

We thank all our students for their contributions and hope it will continue in future.

Enjoy Reading!

Editors

Focus FatimiyahISSUE NO. 3

March 2007

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

A Teacher’s Workshop on Modern Genetics and Biotechnology organized by the Science Association of Pakistan, was a ended by the faculty members of FEN. The workshop provided an opportunity to science teachers to gain knowledge of Human Genome project and application of biotechnology in the fi eld of other biological sciences.

Another workshop a ended by the teachers was on Classifying Things Scientifi cally. This was also organized by the Science Association of Pakistan. Apart from this, teachers participated in various other workshops like Development of Reading Skills in Students organized by Taleem, and English for Life by JIBA International Karachi Chapter.

In-House Workshop on Reading Skills

The English Literary Society of Fatimiyah College (Girls Campus) organized an in-house workshop on the development of reading skills in students. The workshop was conducted by Ms Humera Idrees who conducted a series of excercises to enhance reading skills of the students. The aim of the workshop was to promote a way of reading that is easy, rational and fun.

THE MORNING STAR- A Newspaper by students of FGS

The students of FGS, class VI, VII &VIII came up with an ex-cellent project, a newspaper designed and presented in a comprehensive manner. The best of them was that of class VIII A. It was a commendable eff ort as the students had put in a lot of eff ort into it. The news-paper was fairly well designed. Current aff airs, news items, entertainment column, adver-tisement, beauty tips, women’s page and even business news including currency rates and KSE 100 index was also a part of the paper. It defi nitely shows how talented, enterprising and proactive our students have proved themselves to be. They also did not forget to include an interview and that also the choice rested at the top. Who else but the Executive Director’s interview can prove that The Morning Star aims high. Con-gratulations girls! It is a com-mendable eff ort, keep it up.

Teddy Bear Project

Fatimiyah Education Network is proud to be affi liated with the global organization iEARN (International Education and Resource Network). The orga-nization aims at upli ing chil-dren’s creativity and building their confi dence in order to give them a global exposure.The students of class V at Fatimiyah Girls’ School are par-ticipating in one of the projects of iEARN i.e. “The Teddy Bear Project”. In this project the students from one country ex-change a stuff toy with a partner

school of some other country. Later they exchange their dia-ries about cultural background and daily routines online. One of our partner schools in the US exchanged their “Browny” with

us. The students of both the countries are excited to know about each other.

Ms. Tabassum. F. HemaniiEARN FacilitatorFatimiyah Girls School

Health Cornersitting up straight

Is best for your back?It’s a well-known fact, repeated through generations and based on the theory that anything other than a 90-degree posture places undue strain on the back. Despite its persistence, that advice is wrong. Parents may insist that si ing up straight with your thighs parallel to the ground is the best way to sit, but a long list of studies has shown that position increases stress on the lumbar disks in your lower back.Thirty years ago, scientists fi rst showed this by inserting nee-dles into the backs of volunteers and measuring the amount of pressure created by various seating positions. They found that a reclining position was ideal, placing the least strain on the back and minimising pres-sure that could lead to back problems. Since then, multiple studies have confi rmed that fi nding. But it was only in 2006 that scientists produced direct visual evidence.In a study that used new mag-

netic resonance imaging ma-chines that allow people to sit instead of lie down, a team of researchers at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland looked at 22 volunteers who sat in three positions. The fi rst two posi-tions, si ing upright and sit-ting with the body hunched forward, produced the greatest spinal disk movement, caus-ing the internal disk material to misalign. The third position, in which the subjects reclined at a 135-degree angle with their feet planted on the fl oor, created the least strain.According to the study, any po-sition in which a person leans back, opening the angle be-tween the thighs and the back is preferable to si ing up straight. So si ing upright at a 90-degree angle strains your back; leaning back places less pressure on the spine.Dr Yasmeen RazaMedical Offi cerFatimiyah Education Network

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Glimpses of major events at FENCertifi cate distribution ceremony of Teacher

Training Programs

Visit to the Under construction ECE campus

Young Cricketers of Fatimiyah Boys School

Festivals celebrated by ECE StudentsSeminar on “Qafi la-e-Hijaz main ek Hussain bhi nahi”

for the senior students

Visit of FBS students to PAF Museum

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Inter School Urdu Declamation and English Essay Writing Competition

held at Fatimiyah College

... Contined from Page 1

VISITS BY RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS AND DIGNITARIES

delegates. They were shown vari-ous facilities by the Principal of Fatimiyah College in both the boys and girls campus. The del-egation included Mr. Ghulam Abbas Danani Vice President WF-KSIMC, Mr.Yasin Rahim Secretary General, Mr Azad Ka-nani Treasurer WF-KSIMC.Mr.

Munawar Ra ansey President Council of European Jamaats and many others Mrs. Nusrat Zaidi, Principal Jamiat-u-Zehra, Islamabad visited Fatimiyah Girls School and was shown various facilities of the school. She appreciated the eff orts of the community in pro-viding education particularly to girls.

Dr. Hasnain Walji former President World Federation KSIMC and Family of Mr. Mustafa Jaffar of NASIMCO also visited Fatimiyah College. A presentation on FEN was given to them and later on they were shown various facilities of the college. They took a lot of interest in the various activities that are undertaken at the network.

Dr Elizabeth Brooker of Uni-versity of London visited the Early Childhood Section of Fatimiyah Girls School. Dr. Brooker was on a visit to Pakistan at Aga Khan University- Institute for Educational Development. She went to the diff erent classes of ECE and observed the teaching learning activities taking place in them. She was very impressed to see the ECE approach in a holistic perspective. She visited the site of the new Fatimiyah School of Early Childhood Education and appreciated the planning of the new campus.

Mr. Abbas Gokal and his son Mr. Ali Gokal accompanied by Mr. Riaz Premjee visited The Fatimiyah College. They were shown around by Mr. Mohsin Tejani and Mr. Nus-rat Ali Zaidi. They took keen inter-est in the activities of the college especially The Learning Resource Centre and assured the college management of their support in en-hancing & upgrading the resources including books.

Brigadier (Retd) Syed Moham-mad Arif, the Citizens Founda-tion, Chief Operating Offi cer of the largest school network in the private sector in Pakistan visited Fatimiyah School. He was very im-pressed with facilities at the ECE section and the quality of teachers. He also appreciated the overall cul-ture and environment of the school and extended his support to the or-ganization.

1) How was your experi-ence of visiting Fatimiyah College?I visited Fatemiyah College with Allamah Dr. Syed Kalbe Sadiq, who was invited there. It is good fortune of the Fatimi-yah Education Network as well as the students that they have patronage of an eminent schol-ar. I found homely atmosphere in the institution. Without any exaggeration, if other institu-tions follow it as a role model, our educational system will improve a lot. While all leading educational institutions of the country have converted into money generating factories, fees schedule and facilities of FEN explain the generous role of its Trustees. You have started a mission and it is the fi rst step; yes, a chain of schools and col-leges are need of the time. It is the duty of the true followers of the “Baab-e-Madinat al ilm” to establish academic institutions

across the country and spend generously.

2) How did you fi nd the stu-dents of Fatimiyah College?A er hearing the discussion of some students, I observed a burning desire among them to do something for the improve-ment of the country and cur-tail the rate of corruption. May Allah allow them many more opportunities by Wasilah of Rasulullah(S) and his Itrat in their practical life to serve the nation and humanity at large.

3) Please share your sug-gestions for further im-provementUnderstanding of foreign lan-guages plays a vital role in pro-fessional life. One cannot ig-nore its value. Language of the Quraan and Saheb al Quraan opens non-counted vistas of learning and provides an op-portunity to build Dunya as

well as Akhirat. It is require-ment of the time, students must devote their time to learn and understand more languages. If you extend hand for friendship, then must remember that real meaning of the word friend is: one who helps in need, espe-cially in diffi cult time. Famous Arabi poet Mutanabbi says: · “Several claim for friendship during the time of comfort; but a sincere friend is known only in diffi cult”.

4) Kindly give a message to our students.Please communicate without hesitation to all who come in your touch that clash at any lev-el leads towards destruction, so avoid it especially in religious issues. Tolerance is the teaching of Rasulullah(S) Itrat Tahirah (S) and Ashaab(R), for which they devoted their lives. The best manner of communication is through pen, not sword. It is

a ripe time that we must appre-ciate genuine scholars and al-low them opportunity to serve for the cause of the progress and prosperity of the Ummah, by all possible means. Respect the elders, parents, teachers and whoever they are. Our re-ligion teaches us these values. Learn technology and use it as a tool for progress and prosper-ity, not become tool of technol-ogy, which means destruction. Always remember this Hadith:

“Khuz Ma Safa;Daa Ma Kadir”, Take the good and eschew the bad.

Dr. Qazi Shaikh Abbas BorhanyPhD. (USA),Shahadat al Aalamiyah (Najaf-Iraq)Mushir, Fed. Shariat Court of PakistanMember, Ulama Council of PakistanA orney at Law

Visitors’ Book/Comments

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Co Curricular Activities at Fatimiyah Schools

· Sukaina Shakir of class X won third prize in the English es-say competition held at the Fatimiyah College on the topic of “Infl uence of Media in our Life”.

· Raes Fatima and Sabin Moh-sin of class V FGS participated in a declamation contest held at Ghulaman-e- Abbas School . The topics were “Rainy Sea-son” and “Travel by Bus in Karachi”

· Students of FGS & FBS par-ticipated in The Fi h Science Olympiad held at The Aga Khan University – Institute for Educational Develpo-ment (AKU-IED). The pur-pose of this activity was to make teaching and learning of science a rejoicing and re-warding experience for both students and teachers.The activity was divided in four categories namely Puzzles, Quiz, Problem solving and Model making.

· Youm-e-Hussain was ob-served at both Fatimiyah Girls School & Fatimiyah Boys School. Mr Asad Jehan, renowned soaz khawan was invited as the chief guest at FBS.

· A Seminar on the teachings of Imam Hussain was held at the Fatimiyah Girls School for the students of class VIII,IX &X of both FGS &FBS. Dr Zahid Ali Zahidi Assistant Profes-sor at University of Karachi was the Keynote speaker who spoke on the fi ve important elements of Iman Hussain’s character, namely Courage, Determination, Patience, Sub-mission and Sacrifi ce. Mrs. Uzma Zaidi and Ms. Zainab Hussain also addressed the students.

· Students of pre primary and class I&II of FGS Kharadar visited the English Biscuit Factory, whereas students of class III to V went to a Shoe manufacturing factory.

· A visit to The PAF Museum was organized for students of class I to VII of the FBS

· Yumna Fatima of class V FGS was awarded a certifi cate of appreciation in the Debate competition held at Shah

Wilayat School on the topic “ Plastic Bags, Here, There, Soon Everywhere”.

· The cricket team of FBS par-ticipated in the Mukhtar Ahmed Memorial Cricket Tournament organized by District Sports Offi ce, City District Government. The opening ceremony was held on February 20 2007, at The National Stadium, Karachi.

· The students of class VIII FGS displayed an impres-sive project on “Mahawarat and Zarbul Amsal” (Idioms). The project was an example of interesting, intelligent and meaningful use of the topic of Urdu language.

· Posters were made by the students of Fatimiyah School on the topic of “Science and Technology in Today’s World”. These posters were invited by Science Founda-tion Islamabad.

· Students of FGS, FBS & FGS Kharadar participated in a Science Exhibition and teach-ing aid competition organized by Happy Home School.

Accompaning Pictures on Pg. 4

Sports Day at Fatimiyah Girls School

KharadarHealthy body has healthy mind’. Keeping in mind this view Fatimiyah Girls School, Kharadar Branch organized a ‘Sports Day’ at the school prem-ises on Thursday January 11, 2007 during school hours. Stu-dents from Prep I to class V par-ticipated in diff erent activities such as three legged race, frog jump, sack race, lemon spoon, jumping over the pillow etc. Our li le kids of Prep I were also very excited. They took part in various interesting ac-tivities such as eating bananas, bursting balloons etc. Students enjoyed a lot and appreciated winners also. These events give opportunity to students to build their confi dence as well as make children ready for healthy com-petitions. No doubt the school has less space to organize any event but we believe in ‘When there is a will there is a way’.

Published by: Fatimiyah Education Network, 174, Britto Road, Near Numaish, Karachi -74400 Phone: 2256361under the management of KHOJA (PIRHAI) SHIA ISNA ASHERI JAMAAT

Congratulations to our Alumni / Our Pride

We are proud and congratu-late Anum Naqvi, Nadia Zafar, Mariam Habib and Faiza Sajjad for securing admission in NED University and Karachi Univer-sity.Anum Naqvi secured 76% in BIE,K Examination, 2006. She got admission in NED Univer-sity in Bio Engineering Depart-ment. Nadia Zafar got admission in NED University’s Bio-Engineer-ing Department. She secured 80% (Pre-Medical) in BIEK Ex-amination, 2006

Mariam Habib has been an out-standing student of Fatimiyah Girls School and maintained her performance in Fatimiyah Col-lege by ge ing 78.7% in BIEK Examination; 2006.She has got admission in NED University in Computer Science Department. Faiza Sajjad was able to get ad-mission in Karachi University, Department of Computer Sci-ence. She secured 74% marks in BIEK Examination.We wish all of them glorious fu-ture and great success at every stage of life.

Inter-Schools Competitions, 2007at Fatimiyah College

An Inter School English Essay and Urdu Declamation contest was organized by Fatimiyah College for the students of class IX and X.Prominent schools of Karachi were invited to participate in the competition. A total of 15 schools took part in the event. The competition was held at both girls and boys campus. The function was a ended large-ly by the organizers of Fatimi-yah Education Network, Vice President of Khoja (Pirhai) Shia Isna Asheri Jamaat Mr. Ghulam Abid Lakhani and the Princi-pals, teachers and the students of the participating schools. Chief Guest of the Ceremony in Girls Campus was Executive Director, Fatimiyah Education Network Mr. Minhas Tejani and Mr. Khalil Ullah Farooqui a very popular personality of FM 100 radio was the chief guest at the boys campus . Welcome ad-dress and Vote of thanks were delivered by Mr. S. Nusrat Ali Zaidi, Principal Fatimiyah Col-lege. Students’ showed their active participation and enthu-siasm in the events. First prize in Urdu Declamation in Girls campus was awarded to Rubab Zehra of Qamar-e-Bani Hashim School. The sec-

ond prize was won by Mehreen Adil of Shah Willayat and third prize went to Sukina Shakir of Fatimiyah Girls School. The fi rst prize in English Essay writ-ing competition went to Bushra Ali of Mama Parsi High School, the second prize was won by Madiha Zehra of Al- Murtaza and third position was secured by Paiker Zehra of Qammar-e-Bani Hashim School. The win-ning trophy was awarded to Qamar-e-Bani Hashim School and runner’s up trophy went to Shah Willayat School. First prize in Urdu Declamation at Boys campus was awarded to Haider Abbas of Qamar-e-Bani Hashim School. The second position was secured by Ali Im-ran of Fatimiyah Boys School and third prize was won by M. Hassan Khan of St. Patrick’s School, where as the fi rst prize in English Essay writing com-petition went to Sajjad Haider of Al Murtaza School. The sec-ond prize was won by Ebrahim Arif of Generation School and third position was secured by Mohammad Saif of BVS. The winning trophy was awarded to BVS and runner’s up trophy went to Fatimiyah Boys School.

Accompaning Pictures on Pg. 5