Al-Murtaza School was established in 1982 in a rented building with 50 students. Today, by the Grace of Allah (SWT) we have grown to encompass a Pre-Primary, a Junior Branch, a Senior Boys' Branch and a Senior Girls' Branch comprising about 4000 students.

The Board of Governors under the Chairmanship of Mr. Altaf Agha includes a select group of dedicated and committed individuals offering honorary services namely, Mr. Hussein M. Alibhai (Vice Chairman), Mr. Jameel Yusuf (Hon. Secretary), Mr. Muslim Hassanali (Hon. Treasurer) and Mr. Shams Haji, Mr. Mustafa Kassam, Mr. Mohammed Rajpar, Mrs. Rukhsana Haji and Mr. S.M. Taqvi as Members. The Board formulates a policy for the educational programmes and assists in handling and reviewing all financial matters, whilst guiding the School in the attainment of its envisaged objectives. Mr. Hussein (Shaney) Haji passed away in January, 1999 after serving as Chairman, leaving an irreplaceable vacuum in our midst. Mr. Anver Rajpar resigned as Vice Chairman of the Board due to commitments abroad after 14 years of valuable association.

The objective of Al-Murtaza School is to develop the potential of mind, intellect and character of a child, making him/her confident, well-disciplined and well-groomed to take over the challenges and responsibilities of life. Our philosophy is based on a simple word: CARE - care for the staff, care for the students, care for the support staff and care for the community.

The schools are custom built on UNESCO specifications for educational institutions, with spacious well-illuminated classrooms, well-furnished libraries and fully-equipped science laboratories and an air-conditioned auditorium with a capacity of 350 persons. Well-equipped Computer Laboratories exist in all four branches with Internet facilities, thereby incorporating the latest technology in the field of education. Other aspects such as Fine Arts, Cooking and Yoga in the Girls', and Karate in the Boys' Branch help in the all round development of the child. Full time medical consultation is also provided to all the students in line with the saying of our Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) "Health is Wealth".

Admissions are not granted to just a privileged few. Students from all strata of society are accommodated, especially the under privileged. The financial assistance, routed through different Trusts, given to deserving students is kept confidential, so that neither the other students nor the teachers / administration have any knowledge of the recipients, thereby preventing any embarrassment, reluctance or discrimination on such grounds.

To meet the ever changing demands of teaching / learning environment, Al-Murtaza School is proud of its association with the Institute for Educational Development (IED) Agha Khan University, Notre Dame Institute of Education, Teachers Resource Centre and SPELT with a view to conducting comprehensive training programmes for our teachers. As part of continuous improvement in imparting education, the active support of the teachers is necessary in bringing about these changes. Al-Murtaza School is also proud to be part of the pioneer team of Head Teachers taking the Advanced Diploma in School Management from IED. The Head has to be an effective leader and decision maker who can respond effectively. We are also extremely indebted to IED for having trained one of our teachers for M.Ed. and also currently training another. This does not end here, but the continuous monitoring, input and further development of the trained teachers at various stages earns the respect and gratitude of the staff and management alike. In this context, professional training is making us aware of the school's vision, students' learning needs and challenges in managing people, creating a climate for critical change. No doubt learning never stops; as the Holy Prophet said "Seek Knowledge from the cradle to the grave."

Our School is slowly bringing in changes, however, the constraints in bringing about these changes are many. Amongst the parents' community some are open minded and others indifferent or suspicous as old traditions die hard. The teacher student ratio is enviable: it is 1 to 12 in the Pre-Primary / Junior Branches and 1 to 15 in the Senior branches. The School provides modern education, the need of the present time within the framework of Islamic values. This has been achieved by developing our own Islamic text books for different classes and incorporating Hijab as part of the school uniform from Class IV onwards. The results of the graduating students with increasing numbers, is also showing further improvement of overall grades from the already existing high grades averaging 80.79% for the entire batch.

In the end, without a word on the community's participation for the above achievements, would be like teaching to bake a cake without mentioning the essential ingredient, sugar. The members of the community have actively supported not only in funding, the making of the school structures and in providing the excellent facilities, but also with their most valuable time and efforts through their honorary participation in the fields of Management, English Conversation, Yoga, Cooking classes, Library improvement and Medical checkups.

However, we are constantly facing these challenges and steadily marching ahead. As someone once said "A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for".

All correspondences may be addressed to:
The Principal, Al-Murtaza School, 163/M, Block III, P.E.C.H.S., Karachi-75400, (PAKISTAN).
Tel: (92-21) 4558715 - 4559271 Email: amsbb@cyber.net.pk