Celebrating teachers with four stories of outstanding educators
(Courtesy of Tolu Onibokun / Malala Fund)
As schools around the world close to limit the spread of COVID-19 and families transition to home learning, parents and students alike seem to be in agreement about one thing: we really don’t appreciate our teachers enough. (I for one agree with Shonda Rhimes’ recent tweet on increasing teachers’ salaries).
Whether they’re introducing new subjects and ideas, convincing parents to send their daughters to school or helping students realise their ambitions, teachers around the world do life changing work every single day. Join us in celebrating a few of our favourite teachers from Afghanistan, Australia, India and Nigeria.
(Courtesy of Andrew Quilty / Malala Fund)
Before Muzhgan arrived, the chemistry lab at the girls’ school in rural Bagram just sat gathering dust. With no qualified teachers, there wasn’t anyone to show students practical experiments. Muzhgan decided to change that. Muzhgan is a Teach for Afghanistan fellow. Teach for Afghanistan recruits and trains recent university graduates like Muzhgan to increase the number of female educators in the Afghan public system. Muzhgan tells Assembly about her work encouraging parents to let their daughters go to school and why Afghanistan needs more female teachers.
(Courtesy of Samreen)
Samreen understands the challenges the girls in her classroom face. She understands because she was once in their shoes. When Samreen finished eighth grade, her parents kept her from continuing her education because they believed that “girls don’t need to go to school.” Thanks to an intervention from Rehana Rehman, founder of Navbharat Samaj Kalyan Samity (NBSKS), Samreen was able to convince her parents to let her continue her education. Today, she helps other girls follow in her footsteps.
(Courtesy of Louise Kleinbergs)
At Holroyd High School outside of Sydney, 65% of students are refugees and 89% come from a language background other than English. As refugee support head teacher, Louise Kleinbergs focuses first on improving refugee students’ mental health. She says that because many of her students have experienced trauma, forced marriage and homelessness, she begins her work by restoring students’ sense of safety and trust. Louise, who has been working at Holroyd for 10 years, is amazed by the changes she sees in her students: “I really see over time that their mental health and well-being improves because of the number of support systems at school. There is an increase in their confidence and capabilities. They have stronger connections within themselves and their community.”
(Courtesy of Aramide Akintimehin)
In Ota, a low-income community in southwestern Nigeria, Aramide Akintimehin is fighting to change the status quo for her students. By raising funds from family and friends, she helps students cover their school fees so they don’t have to sell goods on the street after class. Through technology lessons, she teaches them the basic digital literacy skills they need for the jobs of the future. But Aramide wants to see change for Nigerian students on a greater scale. That’s why she advocates to ensure that the government invests in more teachers and makes school truly free for all students.
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