Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

Mumbai :

An army officer, a policewoman, a teacher, a civil engineer, a management executive, a doctor, a beautician. These are some of the jobs that Class X girls of the BMC-run Imamwada Urdu School aspire to.

Their school, on its part, is taking all possible initiatives to compete with private educational institutions to ensure the students inch closer to the dream job. In an attempt to enable its students, the school has started a blog, a Facebook  page and a WhatsApp group for parents, and begun posting You Tube videos. It’s mobile app is at the trial stage.

Around 200 girls travel as much as 20km in dedicated BEST buses from Govandi and Sion to reach the school located in Bhendi Bazar. Their bus fare is paid by Aaisha Bai Trust, an NGO, and school teachers. “To keep up with the changing era, we need to update our students and make sure that they can compete with others. We are therefore trying to provide them with all the facilites we can,” said Shah Fakeer Ahmed, head master of the school.

“Last year, our students’ pass percentage in Class X was 76.9. We are working very hard to increase it. These girls come from various parts of the city and we have seen an increase in the number of admissions, from 217 students last year to 350 this year,” said Mohammed Aslam, an assistant teacher who is credited with taking up the web initiative for the school. “We want our students to be experts in using the latest technology for their career.”.

The school, located opposite Mughal Masjid, has two playgrounds, a garden, a sewing class for students, a science laboratory and a digital classroom. “Our students are brilliant and we expect them to reach great heights,” said Imran Khan, another teacher.

School authorities send announcements, results and attendance reports on WhatsApp. Currently, as many as 115 parents are on the group. The app, being developed by a Hyderabad firm, will be used to send notices, day-to-day activity details and results, said a teacher. The school has posted YouTube videos on the annual day, plays and activities.

The enthusiasm is palpable among students. Govandi’s Sakeen Bano said, “I am studying hard and want to join the Indian army to serve the nation.” She was her school’s best NCC cadet last year. Saira Khan hopes to ‘teach in the same school’. Sayyed Muskan and Rahe Huda want to become doctors. Shaikh Saober wants to be a police officer. The school is compiling records of its successful students for inspiration. One such recent example is Dr Rehnuma Khan, who holds MD (Unani).

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Mumbai News / Schools & Colleges News / by Mateen Hafeez / TNN / Novmeber 25th, 2017