Aileen Soares

Who is Aileen Soares?

Aileen Soares, a school teacher from Karachi, Pakistan, has been teaching for more than fifty years.

She was educated at St Joseph's Convent School. A distinction she shares with the likes of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Sehba Musharraf. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Education degree both from the University of Karachi.

She started teaching at St Joseph's Convent School in 1962. Since then she has taught mathematics to classes 7 to 11 mainly in the Cambridge Section of the school. Her main interests in life are music and teaching.

She has obtained excellent results with her students achieving nearly all A’s in the Cambridge ‘O’ Level examinations.

As the school’s longest serving teacher she has been able to contribute to one third of its 150 year history. She is much loved by the thousands of students she has taught over this period. Even the world’s oldest teacher, Father Geoffrey Schneider, has only been teaching for around 51 years.

Soares’ achievement is remarkable when the plight of women in Pakistan is examined. According to UNESCO, Pakistan’s track-record in empowering its female citizens falls far short of expectations. Female illiteracy in Pakistan is among the highest in the world. Pakistan’s gender empowerment measure is among the lowest in similar countries. The percentage of women in the labour force is very low.