Bringing the classroom home
When the children in Najeeba’s family couldn’t go to class, she arranged for the next best thing: class would come to them. “I decided to teach them myself, at home,” she says.
Like millions of students, Najeeba wasn’t able to continue studying at school due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But she was disappointed about more than just the disruption of her own plans.
“What bothered me the most was that it disrupted children’s education,” says Najeeba, 19, who lives in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province.
"I wanted every child in my family
to keep studying, but…they couldn’t
leave their homes."
Najeeba volunteered for Mera Ghar Mera School, which means “My Home, My School”, an initiative supported by UNICEF and Balochistan’s Secondary Education Department that helps children continue learning despite the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Najeeba turned a room inside her home into a classroom to teach english, maths and science and receives support in the form of access to WhatsApp groups that provide guidance on home schooling.
Najeeba also teaches her students how to protect themselves from COVID-19, including explaining the importance of handwashing and physical distancing.