1948 — Present
Seventy-five years of raunaq
"Raunaq" means radiance, life, festivity — the glow of a place filled with purpose. This is the story of how a handful of determined women lit that glow in 1948, and how it has never dimmed since.
The Founding · 1948
A new nation, a bold promise
Karachi in 1948 was a city remaking itself. Amid the upheaval of Partition, the Memon community's women gathered around a conviction that felt radical for its time: that the daughters of the new Pakistan must be educated — properly, proudly and close to home.
Khadija Hajiani and her companions founded the Pakistan Memon Women Educational Society that year. Seeking guidance for their venture, the founders met Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah — Madar-e-Millat, the Mother of the Nation — whose encouragement became part of the Society's founding lore. With community donations, borrowed furniture and volunteer teachers, the first Raunaq-e-Islam classroom opened its doors in Kharadar.
The name they chose — Raunaq-e-Islam, "the radiance of Islam" — captured their belief that faith and learning illuminate one another.
Interactive Timeline
Decade by decade
- 1948
PMWES is founded
Khadija Hajiani and fellow Memon women establish the Society in Karachi, months after independence, with the blessing of Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah.
- 1950s
The first school
Raunaq-e-Islam Girls School opens in Kharadar. Enrolment doubles within its first years as families embrace girls' education.
- 1960s
Expansion across the city
New sections open in Nanakwada and beyond; secondary classes begin, and the first Matric batches sit their board examinations.
- 1972
Nationalisation
Along with private schools across Pakistan, the Raunaq-e-Islam schools are nationalised. The Society keeps its community mission alive through welfare work.
- 1985+
Denationalisation & recovery
The schools return to PMWES management. Buildings are renovated, faculties rebuilt, and enrolment climbs to new records.
- 1990s
Teacher Training Institute
Recognising that great schools need great teachers, the Society opens its Teacher Training Institute — serving educators from across Karachi.
- Late 1990s
Cambridge stream launches
O Level classes begin, giving families an international pathway without leaving the Raunaq-e-Islam family.
- 2000s
Higher Secondary college
Intermediate programmes in science and commerce open, completing the journey from preschool to university's doorstep.
- 2000s–2010s
Neighborhood Schools movement
Low-cost community schools open in underserved localities, taking quality education to children who could never reach the main campuses.
- 2010s
Special education & vocational programmes
Dedicated special-needs classrooms, therapy support and skills training for young women broaden the Society's definition of inclusion.
- 2020s
Digital transformation
Smart classrooms, computer labs and blended learning arrive across campuses — accelerated by the lessons of the pandemic years.
- 2048
The centenary roadmap
A degree college for teachers, a doubled neighborhood network and an endowment that guarantees the founders' promise for another hundred years.
Founding Figures
The women who lit the lamp
Khadija Hajiani
Founder and moving spirit of PMWES. A social reformer who went door to door persuading families to enrol their daughters, she personally guaranteed the fees of children whose parents could not pay — a tradition of sponsorship the Society continues today.
Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah
Madar-e-Millat's meeting with the founders in the Society's earliest days gave the young organisation national moral weight. Her message — that Pakistan's future would be written in its classrooms — remains inscribed in the Society's mission.
Be part of the next chapter
Whether as a parent, a teacher, a volunteer or a donor — the story of Raunaq-e-Islam is still being written.