Doha: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of World Teachers’ Day, a day assigned by Unesco to commemorate the valuable contributions of teachers all around the world, The Next Generation School paid tribute to its teachers by organising event at the TNG Wakra campus on October 6.
The topic chosen this year by UN “Valuing Teachers, Improving Their Status” follows the roadmap of the Global Education 2030 agenda which highlights the fact that teachers are fundamental for equitable and quality education and, as such, must be adequately trained, recruited and remunerated, motivated and supported within well-resourced, efficient and effectively governed systems.
Dr. Faryal Khan, Program Education Specialist at Unesco Doha was invited as the key note speaker of the day. Commodore Irfan Taj, Defense Attaché, Hafiz Junaid Amir Sial, Community Welfare Attache and Abdullah Al Muftah were invited as the Guests of Honor.
The evening started with the recitation of verses from the Holy Quran followed by a beautiful Naat presentation by students of year VII. A beautiful poem “The Hundred Languages” written by famous Italian educationist Loris Malaguzzi was narrated by year VII students, Shahzeb and Emaan. The poem summarised about giving students more control over the direction of learning.
Principal Qudsia Asad Khan gave the welcome address, sharing the difficulties that a teacher has to face every day with her tasks, meeting deadlines, controlling classrooms and connecting with students but then the determination and courage helps her achieve the mile stones.
Seminar session began with the key note speaker Dr. Faryal Khan. In a message to TNG teachers from Director General Unesco Irina Bokova, Dr. Khan said, “Teachers are essential for empowerment, for societal progress, for peace and understanding. Times have changed — our core message remains. Nothing can substitute for a good teacher. Putting education first means putting teachers first. This is why education is core to the 2030 Agenda.”
Giving voice to the teachers, Asma Asim who is in the teaching profession for more than six years and is currently the class teacher at TNG school was the second speaker at the event. She shared her belief that any successful nation will show that teachers played the most crucial role in shaping up their destiny from schools to colleges to universities and producing thinking students.
Nida Maroof, with her considerable experience in one of the prestigious institutes of India and a dedicated teacher at TNG school was invited next for the session. Nida expressed her thoughts on how the teaching profession is undermined and undervalued in today’s world which has led it to become the least picked profession for a student. She added that patience and positivity is the key to bringing out the best in students, academically and otherwise.
The third speaker of the evening, Ailia Rizvi, a seasoned educationist with an experience of sixteen years in the field of education, engaged the audience discussing famous education theorists Maria Montessori and John Dewey who explored and implemented radical changes to improve the educational landscape for future generations. Ailia quoted “Born in a repressive society, Maria Montessori experimented with allowing children free choice of the materials they were familiar with and interested in, because to her education was a natural process which cannot be acquired by listening alone, there have to be experiences woven into the learning environment. Dewey did not just advocate an approach to reduce the gap between school and life by injecting more real life experiences in the learning environment and promoting a more interdisciplinary curriculum but he strongly believed that schools played a critical role in creating social change and reform”.
To celebrate the contribution of teachers for special needs, a short presentation by the Pakistan Special Need Community ( PSNC) was played showing the special needs children adapting to the classroom environment which led to a huge applause in the hall. Co-founder PSNC Nawal Hafeez shared the challenges faced by the teachers in carrying a big responsibility of educating children with special abilities. “Determined and undaunted, with love and courage together we initiated this project and accomplished milestones during this journey”, said Hafeez.
TNG Director Riyaz Ahmed who is also the President of Pakistan Welfare forum stated that quality education is the primary goal of TNG and to achieve this vision management has implemented a well-designed approach towards achieving its goal. Towards the end of the programme, a shield presentation ceremony took place. Guests of Honour Commodore Irfan Taj, Community Welfare Attache Pakistan Embassy Hafiz Junaid Amir Sial and key note speaker Dr. Faryal Khan were presented shields by Director TNG Riyaz Bakali. Teachers Aila Rizvi, Asma Asim, Nida Maroof and Nawal Hafeez were presented shields by Dr. Faryal Khan.
CEO Shagufta Bakali gave the vote of thanks. She said: “TNG management perseveres to ensure that we provide a supportive environment to our teachers so that together we can create a rich learning experience for our students.”
