With the aim to create and inspire sustainable change, the Centre for Business and Society (CBS), LUMS, in partnership with The Citizens Foundation (TCF), recently conducted the 4th cycle of its flagship ‘CBS Ambassadors for Change Program’. The orientation for the educational program was held on January 15, 2023, at the Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB). The transformational three-month-long program is being attended by 76 TCF students, supported by a cohort of 27 volunteers, selected by CBS from the LUMS student body, who are participating as teachers and coordinators.
‘Quality Education for All’ is one of the SDGs closest to the LUMS Centre for Business and Society’s heart and vision. The Centre actively works towards creating opportunities that not only offer educational empowerment to society but also give a platform to the LUMS students to give back to the community through their dedication to the cause.
Speaking about the Program, Dr Misbah Tanveer Choudhry, Assistant Professor SDSB and Director, CBS said that it is a first-of-its-kind volunteer-led initiative at SDSB. “It is designed to prepare underprivileged students for university applications and encourage students at LUMS to become more socially aware; cultivating within them mindfulness to become responsible citizens and leaders of tomorrow.
The program is structured on the principles of reciprocal learning, advancing agency through educational empowerment and bridging educational and knowledge-based gaps.”
CBS launched this program in partnership with The TCF, which is one of the country’s leading NGOs in the field of formal education. TCF has a wide nationwide network of Urdu-medium schools which go up to Matriculation level (grade 10) with over 250,000 enrolled students. While more than 3000 students complete their Matriculation from TCF schools every year, it was found that once these students become alumni, they need additional assistance and guidance with applications for tertiary level education as their test-taking skills, English language proficiency and concepts of Mathematics are not at a competitively comparable level as that of students belonging to private, English-medium schools.
CBS has completed three cycles of its Ambassadors for Change program from 2019 to 2022, while the fourth cycle for 2023 is currently underway. The program allows student volunteers from across the university to run classes for, mentor and manage program logistics of this integrative pre-University program for less-privileged students – all of whom are likely to be the first to enrol in a university in their households.
Student volunteers from across disciplines and schools – from undergraduate to MBA and MS and PhD students have helped develop and deliver the program to several cohorts of pre-university alumni from schools run by TCF. So far, the program has benefited more than 315 TCF students by recruiting 84 LUMS students as volunteers.
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