Qatar using sport to bring students back to school

Generation Amazing programme supporting Educate a Child (EAC) initiative

LONDON: A bid to use sport to get 200,000 out-of-school children back into the classroom across Pakistan has been launched by the organisers of the next World Cup.

The three-year project is being promoted by Qatar as a legacy of the 2022 tournament, which the tiny Gulf state is hosting.

In Pakistan, over 5.4m primary school children are out-of-school, which is 27% of the population for that age.

Although the country supports compulsory education for all, from age 6-16, this goal is hampered by a lack of safe, accessible schools, teacher shortages, natural disasters and insecurity.

Now, World Cup-linked Generation Amazing is supporting Qatar’s Educate a Child (EAC) programme with the British Council by using football in education for social change in Pakistan.



The programme, which seeks to boost retention in schools, is being piloted at 66 schools in eight districts namely, Punjab: Sialkot (8 schools, 1467 children), Jhelum (8, 814), Muzaffargarh (8, 800), Sindh: Ghotki (8, 1118), Thatta (8, 784), KPK: Peshawar (8, 2168), Swat (10, 1074) and Baluchistan: Lasbela (8,791).

Generation Amazing’s programme is aimed at helping teachers develop relationships with pupils by introducing fun activities that break up the routine of the school day.

Fawad Aziz, aged nine, said: “We love Generation Amazing.  We get to play football, learn things such as how to cross the road and the importance of playing together”.

The aim is for the 90,16 children involved in the ‘Ilm-possible: Take a Child to School (TACS) Project’ being more respectful to teachers, parents and their classmates.

They are also expected to become better at working in teams and showing improved personal responsibility.

Dr Mary Joy Pigozzi, executive director, EAC, said: “Through our partnership with British Council and Generation Amazing, we aim to support a sustainable future in Pakistan.

“Together we strive to reach 200,000 of the country’s most vulnerable and marginalised children and inspire them with a quality primary education that will positively impact their lives, communities and country.”



Generation Amazing does not only use sports teachers, but all its workers are trained in a ‘United Generation’ curriculum which includes twelve everyday challenges.

Faiza Inayat, director of ‘Ilm-Possible: Take a Child to School Phase II’, said:  “We are always looking for innovative means to support our retention objectives and to keep children engaged and supportive of their own education. The Generation Model aims to do this by utilising an easy to understand and interactive approach. The Generation Amazing programme has had considerable impact in the schools where it is implemented.”