Inspiration
Stories of 3 Teachers & Their Dedication in The Face of Challenges
These 3 teachers are the reason their students are enjoying quality education without facing any inequity.
In Prey Veng, Cambodia, Seng, a preschool teacher, not only teaches her pupil with dedication but also transports them to school and back. Seng lives about a few kilometres away from the school just like her students, but those few kilometres are a lot for these small children. When Seng realised that the distance is keeping her students from attending regular school, as not all parents could drop the children off regularly, she took it upon herself. She then attached a borrowed cart to her motorbike and started picking and dropping off her students. Today, she visits her students’ homes in the morning everyday, picks them up one by one and brings them to school. When the school gets over, she takes them back to their respective homes as well. “I expected that the number of children would decrease after some of them would be off to primary school, but it kept increasing,” Seng says.
Seng is also trained in inclusive education, implemented by the Cambodian government and funded by UNICEF, which aims to train teachers on specific skills for teaching children with disabilities. Chhun is one of her special-ed students about whom she says, “At first, he couldn’t even hold a pen,” says Seng. “He was sick often and absent four or five times during the month.” But now Chhun is improving and will be ready to join Grade 1 next year with help of his teacher.
Another such story is of 19-year-old Najeeba from Balochistan, Pakistan who decided to bring the school to the children of her family. Najeeba says, “What bothered me the most was that it disrupted children’s education.” She volunteered for 'Mera Ghar, Mera School' (My Home, My School), the initiative supported by UNICEF and Balochistan’s Secondary Education Department for students, to continue learning even during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I wanted every child in my family to keep studying, but they couldn’t leave their homes," she states.
Najeeba now receives help via Whatsapp regarding the teaching material. She teaches English, Maths and Science in her home that she's turned into a classroom for fellow students. She also guides them about the precautions one needs to take during the pandemic like washing hands and putting the mask on.
“It feels like being at school. At school, there are so many students that I sometimes find it difficult to get my teacher’s attention. Here, it’s easy because there are only five students," says Mariam, Najeeba’s 8-year-old student.
Nicolau, a school coordinator from Timor-Leste, is making sure for 13 years to provide quality education to the children of his village. Nicolau has seen days where, due to lack of resources and violent conditions, he had to quit education. He remembers, “There was a lack of knowledge among parents. They couldn’t see the importance of education for the children. Young girls were getting married; others were getting involved in violence. I wanted to change things.”
He wanted to make sure no other child should go through the same so he called a 'parents and authorities' meeting to decide on the education’s fate. “Back then, the community had a very old school and there were 17-year-olds who were still in Grade 1. Others travelled long distances to attend a school in another village. Seeing this situation, I knew I wanted to make a change," says Nicolau.
His efforts soon paid off and the authorities gave him a piece of land to make a school on it. In 2016, UNICEF began the construction of the new school building, toilet facilities – including a separate stall for students and teachers with disabilities – and connected a water system, built with community and school participation.
His work, according to him, isn’t over yet as he wants to see this school (from preschool to grade 6) grow further. “My greatest hope for the future is that these children’s lives are changed. I want to stay here and continue teaching because I want it to develop even more,” he says.
Source: UNICEF