About
Who we are
Bridge Solutions and Consultancy Limited is a UK-registered international education consultancy, incorporated in 2018 to formalise work its founder, Rasheda Zaher, had been delivering for more than twenty years. That work runs from the World Bank, UN agencies and the British Council through to national ministries, universities and individual schools.
We work across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, drawing on local and international expertise and on a network built over two decades of delivery.
Our founder
Rasheda Zaher
Founder and principal consultant
A senior education consultant, programme manager and team leader with more than twenty years in the field, holding a Master’s degree in International Education from the University of Bath.
Rasheda has worked across the public and private sectors on major education programmes and served as an education advisor to a regional Ministry of Education and Higher Education. During that time she initiated and led the development of a national education strategy with support from the World Bank, focused on child literacy and teacher training.
She has sat on ministry steering committees, most recently on EU-funded programmes strengthening institutional capacity in education administration and building capacity in primary and secondary education. She briefed the UK Government’s working training group in London on the state of education in the region, alongside the British Council, UK universities, the Association of Colleges, UKTI and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Rasheda trained with the British Council as the first IELTS examiner in her region, and went on to become the first Centre Exams Manager and team leader for Cambridge English examinations there.
Track record
Government and multilateral programmes
- Initiated and led a national education strategy developed with World Bank support, focused on child literacy and teacher training
- Strategic partnerships with governments, the World Bank, UN agencies, NGOs and international companies, including human capacity development programmes in a post-conflict country
- Organised the donor conference launching the UNICEF report on the cost and benefits of education, attended by a serving Prime Minister, ministers, consuls and international organisations
- Ministry focal point for the Council of Ministers on evaluating and responding to international reports
- Devised and delivered teacher training courses for a regional Ministry of Education
- Curriculum development, training, education reform and rehabilitation in post-conflict settings
Examinations and accreditation
- Established the first Cambridge Assessment examination centre in the region, with a local education partner
- Subsequently opened the first City & Guilds and Pearson examination centres in the region
- Set up and ran the first ACCA online examination centre in the region, still operating
Commercial and delivery
- Consultancy and trainers provided to Macmillan Publishers for the rollout of a new English language curriculum across grades 1 to 12
- Established a chain of language schools
- Set up a language school in Manchester, including policy writing, curriculum development, teacher training and academic support
- Developed soft skills and purpose-built training courses, including cross-cultural relations, business etiquette, health and safety, report writing, and goal setting
- Teacher training for schools and college staff
- Runs an online tutoring service
Cited in
- A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts: Journeys in Iraqi Kurdistan by Christian Bird, 2004
- The Bradt Guide to Iraq: Then and Now by Geoff Hann and Karen Dabrowski, 2008, contributing author
- The Kurdish Quasi-State: Development and Dependency in Post-Gulf War Iraq by Denise Natali, Syracuse University Press, 2010
Work with us
Book a call to talk through what you need, or send us a message and we will come back to you.
Prefer email? Write to info@bridgesolutions.org.uk.