The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on Tuesday began their tour of Pakistan with a day of education, conservation and official engagements in Islamabad.

To begin the day TRH visited the local, government-run Islamabad Model College for Girls school to champion the importance of quality education, particularly for girls.  The school educates students between the ages of 4 and 18. 

They met pupils from kindergarten to sixth form and heard about how the students are benefiting from Teach for Pakistan, a fast-track teacher training programme modelled on the UK's successful 'Teach First' scheme. Like Teach First, Teach for Pakistan is focused on improving the quality of teaching in schools which serve families from disadvantaged backgrounds through a rigorous teacher selection and training programme.

Continuing the education theme, TRH then visited the Margalla Hills to take part in a number of activities which highlighted Pakistan's work to meet several of the Sustainable Development Goals.  Their Royal Highnesses joined children from four local schools to set up a leopard camera trap.  Environmental change and its impact is an increasingly serious issue in Pakistan, a country especially vulnerable to climate change.  The Margalla Hills in particular face threats of encroachment, poaching, wildfires, invasive species and littering.

UK aid has helped more than 5.5 million girls like those in the Islamabad College since 2011 get a quality education. UK aid has also focused on girls who are out of school to make sure they get education to improve literacy and numeracy, as well as training in skills for work.