KARACHI: While belonging to a well-educated and landlord family, Abdul Kabir Kazi son of Muhammad Siddique Kazi was born on November 13, 1969 at Tharu Shah, district Naushehro Feroz. His father was a prominent lawyer and a well-known zamindar of the area. Kabir has two brothers and four sisters.
Mr Kabir Kazi received his early education in his native town from Government High School, Tharu Shah in 1975 and clinched A-grade in the matriculation. He passed his intermediate from the Government Degree College, Naushehro Feroz in 1978 and secured A-grade.
With the decent and active personality, Kabir was extraordinary student in studies and always took part in extracurricular activities.
After doing his intermediate, Mr Kabir Kazi moved to Hyderabad, the second largest city of Sindh province, and got admission in the University of Sindh, the most prestigious education institution of the province. He completed his Bachelors of Arts (BA) in Economic in 1981 with flying colors.
Soon after his graduation, Kabir Kazi qualified for the commissioned post of Second Lieutenant in Pakistan Army. He joined the Army and served the most prestigious institution for more than eight years with utmost dedication and dedication.
Being the book lover and a wish to do something extraordinary in this life, Mr Kabir Kazi had qualified the most competitive examination – Federal Public Service Commission – in 1989 and got allocated in distinguished cadre of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS).
While joining civil services of Pakistan, Kabir Kazi served as Assistant Commissioner in Punjab’s various district including Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Rahimyar Khan. He also served as an Administrator of District Council Lodhran and Political Agent Rajanpur.
In 1998, the services of Kabir Kazi were transferred to Sindh and he was posted as Additional Commissioner of district Larkana for a brief period. He then also served as Additional District Magistrate and Administrator District Municipal Corporation (DMC) East and Malir districts.
He also served as Deputy Secretary (Services), Services General Administration & Coordination Department and also served as Secretary of the Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate (SITE) Ltd.
In November 2002, Kabir Kazi was promoted to BS-19 and was posted as Additional Secretary in the Finance Department where he worked for two years.
Moreover, Kabir Kazi was actively involved in implementation and management of a number of development projects funded and assisted by international partners such as World Bank, Asian Development Bank, USAID and Department for International Development supported by the Government of United Kingdom. His engagement with international agencies included experiences as Team Leader, Sindh Education Project (DFID), Public Sector Specialist (USAID/Sindh Basic Education Program), Program Director, Sindh Cities Improvement (ADB), Program Director, Devolved Social Services Program (ADB) and various other key positions.
Abdul Kabir Kazi was known as the best officer in Sindh who always accepted numerous challenging portfolios and he delivered up to the expectations of the government achieving the most difficult targets. He has also led the Karachi Neighborhood Project under Planning & Development Board (Government of Sindh) for which his services was acknowledged not just by the government but judiciary as well.
He also served as the Secretary Universities and Boards, Government of Sindh, Director General Bureau of Statistics, Secretary Sindh Higher Education Commission, Secretary Local Government, Secretary SGA&CD, Secretary to Chief Minister Sindh, Secretary Trade Development and Promotion (Government of Pakistan), Joint Secretary Commerce Ministry, and many other key portfolios.
In 2018, he was posted as most sensitive post of Secretary Home where he served till his retirement in November 2019.
With his passion for education development and vast experience to promote and improve the state of education in the province, the Government of Sindh engaged him as the Managing Director of the Sindh Education Foundation, a premier institution with the largest portfolio of public private partnership in the education sector; governed by the elite Board of Governors chaired by the Chief Minister Sindh.
Apart from Sindh Education Foundation, the Sindh Government has also appointed Mr Abdul Kabir Kazi as a Board Member of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board for his expertise in Financial Management. In addition to the foregoing, as the Managing Director SEF Abdul Kabir Kazi also serves on the Board of the STEDA Sindh while he is also an active member in various committees notified by the Government.
In the past couple of years, the SEF, under his dynamic leadership has gone through notable transformation including organizational and a near 100 increae in portfolio through which SEF is now reaching out to more than 80,000 students across the province. According to Kabir Kazi, the education sector is no more a subject that can be addressed by a single department or entity. If we need to pursue the targets as set out in the Sustainable Development Goals and overcome the challenges that are being faced by this nation at present, we need to engage different stakeholders of public as well as private sector in dynamic arrangements under innovation policy and governance frameworks capable of yielding effective and efficient service delivery to the beneficiaries.