Author: Zainab Mohammad

William Butler Yeats once stated, “Education is not the filling of a pail but the lightning of a fire.” It is rightly called “the passport to the future”.

The purpose of education today is to convert mirrors into windows. These windows provide opportunities to the students to scale the scope of their skills. One of many such windows of education is competition, which results in collaboration.

Badri High School, from time to time, has procured such prospects for its students, which have affirmed real life learning exposures and experiences to its pupils.

Recently, BHS participated in an Inter school Bilingual Declamation contest, held at Aga Khan Higher Secondary School, Karimabad. Fatima Najmuddin of Class IX A and Tahera Abbas (Head Girl) of Class X A represented Badri High School at the competition in English and Urdu Language Declamation respectively. The participants were brimming with exhilaration on the morning of 3^rd  February 2018. They were prepped and rehearsed when they reached the venue of the competition.

Fatima Najmuddin orated on the topic “To be or not to be, that is the question”, while Tahera Abbas presented on the topic “ Bus zaroorat hai ek aaghaz-e-safar ki”.

The competition was intricate and challenging as around 26 elite schools of Karachi such as Beaconhouse, Charterhouse, Froebels, MamaParsi, Aga Khan and Habib Public locked horns with each other.

The silver tongued orator of Badri High School, Fatima Najmuddin, bagged the consolation price for BH S over the elites mentioned above. It was a joyful moment for the students. Fatima was awarded a shield along with a certificate while the Urdu presentor, Tahera Abbas was also praised by the judges and awarded with a certificate of participation. The students felt appreciative of the opportunities they were provided with.

A weekend well spent brings ahead a week of content.
Being teachers, all of us, look forward to the weekend. These days are significant for teachers because they help them gear up for the challenges that are in store for the upcoming week. Here, at BHS, the teachers envisage the vitality of professional development above anything else. Intrinsically motivated, they were jubilant to converge on a Saturday morning, dated 27th of January for a workshop entitled “Project Based Learning- Facilitating autonomous learning”, which was conducted by the BHS Project Based Learning team, which comprises of four teachers, trained formerly in this contemporary emerging pedagogy.
Participants were piqued when they set their feet in the Hifz room. Each one was excited to discover the innards of the PBL package, the team was ready to offer, as the workshop was publicized in an appealing way with the help of flyers, posters, and a video message.
At the onset of the workshop, the visionary Principal of BHS, Janab Shk. Hashim Bhai Saifuddin, intoned the Imani perspective of teaching and learning which served as a catalyst for the rest of the learning process. Participants of the workshop were briefed about the theoretical content that gave birth to the pedagogy. Theories such as Maslow`s Hierarchy of needs and Individual differences were assimilated.
Use of online tools in the classroom and its consequences were discussed and practically demonstrated in the workshop. The participants of the workshop were acquainted with various new strategies such as Socratic Circle and Think-Pair-Share during the course of the three hour workshop. Design thinking was also discussed and displayed.
Albert Einstein declared experience to be the only source of gaining knowledge. Subsequent to the thought, PBL team led the participants hitch the roller coaster of events that took them to the preparation of a board game. The objective was to create a board game that is interactive and mesmeric. Every group had to prepare a prototype for their idea and present it. Each game was supposed to be designed with a USP- Unique Selling Point.
The rendition part of the prototype board game was enjoyed by everyone. At the end, the participants were rigorously thanked by the team. Certificates for attending the workshop were given. The conductors of the workshop, Miss Zenab Mohammad, Mr. Ibrahim Shabbir, Miss Rashida Adnan, and Miss Rashida Mohammad, were also awarded with certificates and appraisal in terms of persuasive remarks from the colleagues.

Class IX visited SCINOSA Day Home which is a school for children with special needs. The children were eager to learn more practical aspects of Special education after reading a lesson about Helen Keller, which is a part of their syllabus.

When children reached the school, they were amazed to see the purpose-built infrastructure. The teachers of SCINOSA greeted the group warmly. The tour started with a little discussion about the purpose of the visit. One of the students, Sakina Shabbir of Class IX A promptly replied that they wanted to learn more about people who have more challenging lives than them.

Firstly, the group was taken to academic classes where students, out of their curiosity, asked a number of questions. The teacher satisfied the students by briefing them about the individualized curriculum and planning for each child that they do. The time table for each day was also shared with the students. Then, the students were taken to rooms serving different purposes. These rooms include a speech therapy room where certified speech therapists were working with some children in order to make their speech clearer. There was another room which was specifically made to improve the motor skills of these special children.

Students were surprised to see special children making show pieces, frames and other things out of newspaper in the recycling room. Khaddar room was another jolt to the students where they saw a senior special student working expertly with the khaddar machine, making cloth. All were rendered speechless. In the arts and crafts room, some special children were busy with embroidery while some were engrossed in khaatli work. Then came the turn of the fine arts room where master pieces made by the special children were on display. Our students were tongue-tied. The teacher of SCINOSA showed the students a mural which was painted by the special children.

There were rooms for teaching cane work, jewelry making, bead work, and wood work. Students were surprised to see each room packed with special learners. One of the students inquired about the reason of teaching these skills to special children, to which, the teacher replied that they believe in facilitating each child of the school to become a functioning member of the society. These skills support the children in advocating for themselves in all practical life settings.

Students were also taken to a gym where special children are encouraged to do physical activity in order to regulate their weight. A special child, in the gym, greeted each student individually. This was the way he showed his excitement upon seeing visitors. Another special child, Zain, pointed to the watch reminding his coach that it was time for milk. These children are provided with milk and other healthy food, according to their individual diet plan made by the school. Students were also taken to hydrotherapy room where luke warm water is used as a remedy to soothe and relax special children.

Culinary art is also a part of their need based curriculum. Rida, who was busy practicing how to make tea, along with another child, who was making an omelet, demonstrated to the students their particular method. Grooming class was the last spot of the school where special girls were taught how to take care of themselves. In the end, students of BHS thanked the vice principal of SCINOSA Day, who specially came in the lunch room to meet them. The Principal talked about the initiative that the school has taken. The students asked her a bunch of questions, which she answered.

This was indeed a special trip. A major objective of this trip was to encourage students to show empathy towards children with special needs. They were deeply moved after the trip. This trip was an attempt to open up a new window to the students as Sydney Harris has rightly said that the whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.

Communication is the backbone of today`s society, which helps in forming connections and bringing about a positive change. Today BHS witnessed a silver-tongued orator Zahabiya Zoaib of Class XA, inspiring young pupils of class VI. Her motivational speech was based on a constructive inspirational video which showed how Sam Berns, a teenager suffering from the rare medical condition Progeria, is perfectly content with his life.

Children were touched by the way Zahabya convinced them that happiness is a choice that we ourselves make. She put forth a new meaning of happiness using Sam Berns` philosophy of a happy life. What made the session more productive was the perpetual interest of the young learners. They appreciated Zahabiya by applauding and thanked her vigorously for showing them the effectiveness of gratitude and happiness. Cheers for the future motivational speaker!!

What is education but identifying and polishing skills of students and giving them a platform to shine.