Bushra Shaikh, (names changed) passed 5th standard from an Urdu medium school of the Mumbai Municipal corporation, but could not even write the most basic sentences in Urdu. She was refused admission by a few prestigious Urdu Medium School in Kurla Hamida Ansari, passed 8th standard from another Urdu medium Brihan Mumbai Municipal School. Even her proficiency was less than a primary class student of any of those reputed schools.
Both Bushra and Hamida were lucky enough to find admission in Anjuman Khairul Islam, Girls Urdu High School, at Kurla one of the most prestigious Urdu medium schools in Mumbai.
Today AKI Girls' High School at Kurla competes with the best in terms of quality of education it imparts. It is the choicest destination for all the parent who would like their kids to receive quality education. The credit for the transformation of an average school to an excellent one goes to the principal Shabana S. Shaikh.
She took over as Principal in the year 2002 and from 2003 onward the quality of teaching has improved tremendously reflecting in the 10th standard results which ranges between 98 to 99 per cent.
The management of Anjuman Khairul Islam, recognizing Shabana's contribution, recently conferred 'best principal award', among schools run by the AKI schools for the third consecutive year.
What is the secret behind her success? According to Shabana the intention of the individual at the helm is the most important factor. “When I joined AKI Girls high School, Kurla, as Principal, the 10th standard results were in the range of 60 per cent. My first task was to build up the team of dedicated teachers who will work selflessly to improve the overall quality of teaching across all standards, ultimately achieving the 100 per cent result in 10th standard”, she said.
It was a case of charity beginning at home. She motivated the teachers to take extra hours and assigned the maximum workload to herself. 'I myself started taking free remedial classes for weak students who were joining our school from Municipal schools', she inform. Led by example, she motivated other teachers to share the workload.
“We start from the basics, i.e. teaching them the writing and learning skills. Gradually we coach these weak students in individual subjects. By the time they reach 10th standard, they have would achieve enough proficiency in all the subjects to clear the board exam with good percentage” said principal Shabana.
Most of the students in AKI schools are from deprived section of society and majority of them are first generation learners as their parents are illiterate. The unique contribution of Shabana was to start coaching the mothers of students. She opines that if mother become literate, they can take care of their children. She initiated a separate literacy classes for mothers of the students who want to learn how to read and write and all of them are now able to put on their signatures. “I made it very clear to the mothers of my students that they need at least write their own name and sign any documents. Coaching mothers go a long way in improving the socio-economic condition of the family”, said, principal Shabana.
The strategy adopted by AKI Girls' Urdu High School, Kurla to improve the performance of the students is providing the customized coaching to students after conducting ABC analysis. Students are divided into three different groups depending upon their proficiency in various subjects.
“These students are given extensive coaching every Friday and every day during October and May vacations. After coaching we take three preliminary examinations for 10th standard students to make sure that they are well prepared. We also call external moderators, who are expert in their respective subjects for guiding students on how to prepare for the particular subject and write the examination”, said, principal Shabana.
What causes extreme pain to principal Shabana is when student drop out of the school because of the poor performance. She said when a single student drops out, it affects three generations. “Parents of the students are disheartened, the student future is at stake and the survival of the future generations comes under question”, she said.
When mention is made of the Urdu medium schools the performance is always under the scanner. That makes the entire team of AKI Girls' High School, Kurla very sensitive and a very high sense of responsibility. This prods them to achieve further excellence in their endeavour.