Malik M. Ali Awan

I am glad to lead an institute that pursues excellence in teaching and learning while preparing students to take on leadership, innovation and progress — in this country and beyond it.

We make a point of recognising what makes each student distinct, acknowledging their range of talents, and building both their confidence and their sense of the wider world. The aim is for them to leave as engaged citizens who are effective in whatever they set out to do.

A competitive advantage today comes from combining academic knowledge with real technical skill, and that combination is built through hands-on experience. It is a myth that entering a career-focused program at school locks a student into that career for life. In practice these programs widen a student's options rather than narrowing them.

There is a meaningful difference between deep learning and surface learning, and much of it comes down to how a student positions themselves as a reader. Some ways of engaging with a text open real opportunities for growth; others offer very little.

Many students read only to finish rather than to understand, because that takes less effort. Minimal effort brings minimal reward. We would rather teach students to read closely, and trust the process, than train them to clear a test.