Shahnaz Wazir Ali Sitara-e-Imtiaz, has an illustrious career spanning 40 years as an Educationist, Social Sector Development Policy Specialist. She has been elected twice to the National Assembly of Pakistan and has served twice as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Sectors. She is also a well-known Women’s Right Activist. Her life time commitment since 1965 is as a Trustee of the Education Trust Nasra School, Karachi. In addition she has been deeply involved with Polio Eradication, Family Planning, Population, Education Sector Reform and Social Protection.
She served as Senior Education Specialist in the World Bank; held the position of Minister of State for Education, Govt. of Pakistan; is and has been on the Board of a number of prestigious national and international organizations, trusts, advisory councils, educational boards, including IBA, Sindh HEC and Higher Education Commission, Benazir income Support Program Islamabad, Social Policy Development Centre (SPDC), Women’s Action Forum (WAF), Executive Board, UNESCO, National Curriculum Council, Patients Aid Foundation at Jinnah Post- Grad Medical Centre Karachi.
Since 2013, she is the President of SZABIST University which has 5 campuses in Pakistan and one in Dubai, UAE. She is also a member of the Chief Minister of Sindh’s Task Force on Polio, the GoS FP Working Group and Vice Chair of the Social Policy Development Centre (SPDC) Karachi.
From 1988 to 1990, 1993 to 1996 and 2008-13 she had the unique opportunity to serve in key decision making positions in government, in the first term as Member of the National Assembly elected on the reserved seat for women and Federal Minister of State for Education and subsequently, in the second and third term, as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Sectors. From 1997-2001, she served as the Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank in Islamabad. Her career in and commitment to education can be traced back to 1965, when she commenced teaching primary school children of deprived communities in Lyari Karachi, and subsequently spent about 20 years in teaching and administrative positions in the private sector, which included 11 years as High School Academic Coordinator and Principal at the Lahore American School. She is also a Trustee of the Education Trust which runs Nasra Schools for children of low-income families in Karachi and provides K-10 education to more than 10,000 students from mid-low income countries.
Ms. Wazir Ali holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Arkansas, USA and also a certificate in Education Administration from Trenton College, New Jersey, USA. In addition, she has a Diploma in Principal’s Certification from Harvard University, Cambridge, USA. Her Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication is from the American University, Washington, D.C. All her basic schooling has been in Pakistani schools in Rawalpindi and Karachi.
