Expanding educational opportunities
Banjosa Valley Public School
Banjosa Valley Public School opened on 24 March 2009 in Banjosa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir. It is one of the schools of our partner, the Kashmir Education Foundation (KEF), founded so that children in this rural community could have the same opportunities as children in the cities.
The school takes its name from Banjosa Lake, a well-known local landmark. It teaches pupils up to the tenth grade, with facilities for learning and play. According to KEF, it has 257 pupils.
Banjosa Valley Public School, which opened in March 2009.
Girls and boys together
According to KEF, girls make up 53.7% of the school’s pupils. Many pupils travel long distances over difficult terrain to reach school each day.
Teachers trained by KEF
Banjosa’s teachers were trained at KEF’s Institute of Teacher Education in Bassali, now the Joan Atkinson College of Teacher Education. Lessons are interactive and move beyond rote memorisation, encouraging pupils to think critically, be creative and understand what they learn.
A visit from our patron
Our patron, Sir David Green, has visited all of KEF’s centres, most recently in April 2025. In November 2018 he spent time at Banjosa Valley Public School, and he later wrote about what he saw.
When I visited Banjosa Public School I arrived to find a class learning about fractions by jumping into boxes painted on the playground floor.
Read about our patron’s visit, with photos from November 2018.
Life at Banjosa Valley
The school’s first days in March 2009, its teachers, its pupils at work and the lake that gives it its name.
First assembly at Banjosa Valley Public School, 24 March 2009
The first assembly at Banjosa Valley Public School, 24 March 2009.
First pupils at Banjosa Valley Public School, March 2009
Some of the first pupils at Banjosa Valley Public School with staff and guests, March 2009.
Children performing at the inauguration of Banjosa Valley Public School
Pupils perform a play at the inauguration of Banjosa Valley Public School.
Children at Banjosa Valley Public School
Pupils listen on headphones as they work at Banjosa Valley Public School.
Children in the audio visual room at Banjosa Valley Public School
Pupils in the audio-visual room at Banjosa Valley Public School.
Children at Banjosa Valley Public School
A young pupil at Banjosa Valley Public School.
Banjosa Valley Public School teachers
Teachers at Banjosa Valley Public School beside a plinth bearing the KEF emblem.
Banjosa Lake
Banjosa Lake, which gives the school its name.
Partner
Kashmir Education Foundation (KEF)
Location
Banjosa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Established
24 March 2009
Pupils
257, up to the tenth grade (KEF figure)
Girls
53.7% of pupils (KEF figure)
Project type
School
QEF raises funds in the UK to support KEF’s work at Banjosa Valley, where places do not depend on a family’s ability to pay. Your gift helps keep the school open to children from Banjosa and the surrounding villages.