During the last week of December 2001, a fruitful gathering of the concerned group was arranged at Sheikh Shaukat Ali’s residence, who is Chairman, Anjaman-e-Tajran (Traders body) of Kot Radha Kishan. As a result, the funds were announced for the school by the participants. This meeting was followed by the mission’s beginning to collect the maximum funds.

During the first week of January 2002, the collection of funds was started, and at the same time, a structure of the Trust was formed. Mutually was agreed that Dr. Noor Ahmed Akhtar was to be the Managing Trustee of the Trust and Mr. Muhammad Anwar as General Secretary. At the same time, Dr. Sameena Noor was selected as the Deputy Managing Trustee and Sheikh Shaukat Ali as Treasurer. When the trustees approached the organisation for funds, the people asked them why they had paid a large sum of money. They kept on convincing them that it was their moral, social, and even religious duty to spend their money on a good cause, and the only benefit they wanted was that the citizen of the area would recognise their services to the community. Indeed some more groups will form in this fashion.

Within one month, Rs.2.2 million was collected through trust members’ donations. Mr Arif khan - an architect, was hired from Lahore, and the building plan was ready by the end of January 2002. The Trust had to be registered in Islamabad as the relevant authorities in District Kasur resorted to all possible delaying tactics. The trustees had decided to start the school in April in its building. The race against time had thus begun.

The earth-digging ceremony was held at the site on 5th February by Hazrat Mian Noor Muhammad Nusrat Noshahi of Sharqpur Sharif and Dr. Farooq Ahmed Kanwar. The foundation laying work started in the 3rd week of February. The school is situated 200 meters away from the main road, so the landlords of the surroundings co-operated a lot and donated their land available for a 20 feet wide link road. Later on, the District Nazim was kind enough to get it bricked, and in 2004, MPA, Sardar Shaukat Ali Dogar, arranged a carpeted road. The classes started on 8th April 2002, but the Eid holidays, rain, theft, and electric wires were some hurdles that came the way. However, one thing, which never lacked in the process, was the will to complete the first phase and the start of classes on 8th April 2002.

The commitment is reflected through the fact that a staff advertisement required was made in Daily Jang, Lahore, on 10th February 2002, the following Sunday after the digging ceremony. After the ad, several candidates visited the site to see the school but gave up hope as they were not ready to accept that this school was to start in a short time.

Within two months, several tasks were completed that includes the construction of the school building comprising 12 classrooms (8,500 sq ft), selection of the school staff and their orientation training, admissions, arrangements with the banks for fee collection through challan forms, transport arrangements for pick and drop to the students and teachers from Kot Radha Kishan and surrounding villages. Same time Selection of the Uniform, the syllabus that the Government should approve as valuable and cheaper for our students, and arrangements for the generators, electricity, and construction of the road towards school from the main road.

The most important task was to involve the community in the whole process, and they should realize that it is their school and they should send their children to the school, for which every weekend visits to different villages were arranged, and video presentations through multi-media were given showing the under-construction building and our plans.

Citizens hesitated to visit the site as the school was one kilometre from the town. However, we aimed to share the progress of the building, so every weekend, a video recording of the under-construction building and the commitment of the contractor,  masons, workers, and the interview of the Trust Chairman was made. Some fliers were also prepared and distributed in the whole town with the story.

The most important task was to name the school. The friends suggested several names. Finally, Mr. Zafarullah Khan (Executive Director, Centre for Civic Education, Pakistan and later on Trust Member of Kot Radha Kishan Development Trust) suggested its name as “THE LEARNING SCHOOL”, which was immediately approved by all the trust members and the founder principal.

Several resisting forces did their best to delay and project. The private schools took it as a threat to their existence, forgetting that a top exit from their schools on an individual basis could not be more than 10 to 15% (it proved accurate later on). Some community members who had personal misgivings about the trustees started propagating adversely. Some religious people were worried that their children would be away from religion. The officials of WAPDA could not complete their work on time, and generators had to be installed. In the first week of May 2002, WAPDA provided electricity for which Trust paid more than three hundred thousand Rupees for the towers and the wires from the main road to the school campus. Trust members worked for three days and nights with the electricity department officials and were successful when at 10.30 pm, the electricity of the whole area was suspended, and wires of the School towers were joined with the main electricity lines. This did cause inconvenience for the citizens, but they realised that it was indeed for their excellent.

The supporting forces outdid the resisting forces. The supporting troops were the will and work of the trustees, neighbouring landowners, newly elected local government representatives, educated and well-meaning town citizens, and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s technical support (a German Foundation).

By the grace of God, The Learning School started its work on 8th April 2002 on its campus. Twelve classrooms were ready for the classes from Nursery to 7th, and 150 students were enrolled from 1st to 8th April 2002.  We applied for funds to construct two classrooms for the German Embassy, and a sum of Rs.412,000 was funded, the first funding for our school. In 2003, when Mr. Arno Keller, the then Resident Representative, Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, was leaving Pakistan on completion of his tenure, the name of this block was made “ARNO KELLER BLOCK” to recognise his technical and moral support to the school as well as the Kot Radha Kishan.