Lead Researcher

Anushay Mazhar

Anushay is a PhD student at the University of Oxford's Department of Education, where she is exploring early childhood education in Pakistan. She has previously completed her Master's from Yale and UCL in Developmental Neuroscience & Psychopathology and her undergrad in Psychology from UCL.

She is the lead researcher for this study, involved in all aspects, including conceptualisation, planning, hiring, recruiting and managing data collection. 

Principal Investigator

Iram Siraj

Department of Education. She has co-directed a number of influential studies, including the Effective Provision of Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE, DfE, 1997-2014) study. She has over 250 publications including three widely-used rating scales which measure the quality of environments and pedagogy in ECE.

​Iram is overseeing all aspects of the project.

Principal Investigator

Katharina Ereky-Stevens

Katharina Ereky-Stevens is a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford's Department of Education. Katharina has expertise in child development and wellbeing in the early years. She has a particular interest in supporting the development of children facing disadvantage.

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Katharina is overseeing all aspects of the project.

Fieldworker

Eman Fatima

Eman is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Clinical Psychology from Ziauddin University. Eman has previously volunteered at Indus Hospital and Marie Stopes Society. She led multiple societies during her A Levels, including the Publications Society.

Eman will be supporting school recruitment and will collect data on ad ad-hoc basis.

Fieldworker

Hamza Effendi

Hamza is a fresh graduate from LUMS, majoring in Sociology & Anthropology and minoring in Psychology. He placed on Dean’s Honor List for all 3 years, ranking among the top 1% of his cohort. During his junior year he also worked as a research assistant on a study exploring the effects of domestic abuse. He also conducted a case study with a young child to understand his developmental milestones. He also worked as a research intern at Tarjuman where he digitized the organization’s database by curating a list of 200 schools to collaborate with on educational restructuring. Hamza is hoping to pursue a Master’s in Developmental Psychology in the next academic year.

Hamza will be supporting the data collection for this project.

Fieldworker

Laraib Asdaf

Laraib co-founded an Adult Literacy Society (Mah-e-Muneer) at Cedar College, Karachi. This experience highlighted the importance of early childhood learning for an individual. Until recently, Laraib had been teaching at a low-income school ‘HarSukh’ in Lahore since October 2021. Along with HarSukh, she worked with The Citizens’ Foundation’s (TCF) where she conducted research that explored ways to support children’s effective learning through understanding student learning outcomes, which she then used to develop school curriculums for T. Prior to this, she completed her bachelor’s in History and Political Science from the University of Toronto, where she also took up psychology classes. 

​Laraib has been supporting the recruitment of schools and will be conducting the data collection for this project.

Fieldworker

Maira Mughal

Maira is a final-year student at Bahria University's  Institute of Professional Psychology where she is undertaking a BSc in Psychology. She has previously supported multiple mental health campaigns and workshops alongside Horizon Welfare Association, Dar ul Sukoon, and other organisations. She has also worked as a training coordinator where she designed training programs and worked with professionals to provide specialized training sessions

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Maira has been supporting the recruitment of schools and will support data collection on an ad-hoc basis.

Fieldworker

Nawal Amir

Nawal is a fresh Psychology graduate from Bahria University. She conducted her thesis on adolescent development, giving her hands on experience in study preparation, data collection, and working with vulnerable individuals, while also ensuring accuracy and reliability in her work. She also interned at Dar ul Sukoon where she supported sensory-impaired children. Additionally, she undertook a clinical internship at Umeed e Nau where she conducted child assessments and led group therapy activities while building rapport and maintaining ethical conduct. Nawal hopes to pursue a Master’s in psychology.

Nawal has been closely supporting the recruitment of schools and will be conducting the data collection for this project.

Fieldworker

Sara Khalid

Sara graduated last year from Jinnah University for Women, having completed her undergrad in Psychology and being awarded a gold medal from the university. After this, she worked at the Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning (PILL) as a community researcher where she conducted and scored patient assessments, including those for young children. She took part in outreach activities conducted by PILL while also managing client and staff data securely. Previously she also undertook an internship at Kazim trust during which she worked with young children with neurodevelopmental conditions, planning their daily activities and conducting regular assessments.

Sarah will be conducting the data collection for this project.

Volunteer

Iqra Ali Mirza

Iqra is a final-year psychology student at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST). She has been working as a campus leader at Teach For Pakistan (TFP) and a community volunteer at The Citizen’s Foundation (TCF). Previously, she has also interned at Pakistan’s first pregnancy and baby milestone assistant application, Goud. She has also worked as a research intern at Project Yaqeen and Aga Khan University. She looks forward to combining her learnings from all these experiences in her current role.

Iqra has been supporting school recruitment, document preparation, and other aspects of the project