Zafar Shayan
Aziz Royesh is a school teacher and a social activist from Afghanistan. In 2015, he was selected one of the ten top teachers of the year in the world by Varkey Foundation based in UK. He was accredited as the “Afghanistan’s Hero of Education” in the EU calendar of 2016 and won the membership of the International Association for College Admission Counseling in 2017.
Mr. Royesh started his cultural and educational activities when he was a refugee in Pakistan. He became an inspiring figure among the people who fled their country due to war. He established Marefat Highschool in Quetta Pakistan in 1994. After the collapse of the Taliban in 2002, he transferred the school to the west part of Kabul, Dasht-e Barchi.
Marefat High School soon became a highly respected and well-known model for a new approach to community building in Afghanistan. The school has been recognized as the best private high school in Afghanistan two times, in 2014 and 2016, by the Ministry of Education of Afghanistan.
Royesh and his colleagues also established the Marefat Civil Capacity Building Organization (MCCBO), which is working to strengthen and expand democracy and civil norms of life. The organization particularly works to promote civic education and empower women. Royesh has also written textbooks on human rights, democracy and social issues.