Syeda Malaika Rizvi

Syeda Malaika Rizvi, an A-Level student at Lahore Grammar School Defence, is an aspiring social entrepreneur who is passionate about using technology for social change. She cites the ‘Zainab Incident’, a high-profile child abuse and murder case, as one of the most influential moments of her life. In the aftermath of this incident, Syeda cofounded Ikhtiyar, a project that aims to reduce child sexual abuse in Pakistan by educating children about good touch and bad touch through a mobile app. 

Syeda is also a strong advocate of increasing female participation in STEM fields. She recently founded Girl Coders Pakistan, an initiative that uses project-based learning to teach girls how to think algorithmically. She is carrying out this program as part of her school’s coding club. However, in the future, she plans on expanding the program beyond the boundaries of her school, with the hope that she will be able to play a positive role in bridging the STEM gender gap in Pakistan.  

In the future, Syeda aims to use technology to make learning more engaging. This desire stems from her experience in an educational culture that uses outdated techniques such as rote learning, and focuses solely on achieving good grades. She firmly believes that in order to get the true benefits of education, students should be taught in a way that makes them develop a love for learning, and motivates them to use their education to be agents of positive change in the society.