Shabnam: Realising her dreams through BRAC

October 11, 2012
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Reading Time: 2 minutes

We’re sharing this story in light of recent events in Pakistan, where education activist Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban two days ago. We stand in solidarity with Malala and others like her — such as Shabnam, who works as an education team leader in Afghanistan.

We’re sharing this story in light of recent events in Pakistan, where education activist Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban two days ago. We stand in solidarity with Malala and others like her — such as Shabnam, who works as an education team leader in Afghanistan.

Shabnam became interested in education while teaching part time as a university student and sought a job in this field after graduation. Her reason for choosing BRAC over other education providers was simple – the teaching at BRAC schools focused wholly on the student.

In many schools, such as the one she taught at, the focus was on what was taught and many teachers would impart lectures without considering what the students were actually learning. As a recent graduate herself, she understood the importance of giving students the opportunity to explore and learn on their own. But before they could learn, they had to come to school.

One of Shabnam’s main responsibilities as Team Leader was to convince mothers and community members to let all their daughters attend school.

She arranged workshops to educate mothers on the importance of education for their daughters’ future. In the beginning, Shabnam recalls, it was hard convincing mothers to even attend the workshops, so she went to their homes instead. Her efforts paid off and now most of the support BRAC’s education programme receives from the community comes from the mothers.

One of the key factors in garnering their support was Shabnam herself. The confidence, with which she carries herself and the fact that she has a good job and bright future prospects are all testaments to the value of her education.

“We want our daughters to go to school and get an education so that they can easily tackle the problems they will face in the future; we want to send them even to university,” says one mother attending a meeting arranged by Shabnam.

“We see Shabnam and hope our daughters grow up to be like her. She has graduated from university and now she has a job. Our daughters should go to university, get jobs and earn income for our family.

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