Malerkotla , May 8,(Venu Gopal): If teachers chose their profession by choice and not by accident, their (teachers) love for children and dedication towards vocation can work wonders for even those students who are normally considered ‘hard’ in India in general and Punjab in particular, says Samina Khan, a daughter of a Malerkotla family who had been conferred Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching in Chicago yesterday.
erming education as the noblest profession, Samina Khan stated that for her the prestigious achievement was like winning the Noble Prize.Acknowledging that she had inherited trait of teaching from her parents Prof Mohammad Hyatt Khan and Ms Santosh Khan of Malerkotla, Samina said she would love to share her joy and experiences with people of Punjab.
“Though I was born in Ethiopia and raised in Nigeria, I feel teaching is in my genes which I inherited from my parents. That is why I always wanted to be with people who looked like my parents,” said Samina Khan adding that she would be visiting Punjab after receiving the award on September 6.
Samina called upon social and religious leaders of Muslim society to launch a movement to aware people of their community about significance of higher education for women. “Every Muslim should get education even if he or she has to go China,” Samina Khan quoted a prophet.
According to Samina, science as a global activity and a field of evolving human venture that needs to be studied by all students. She feels that arousing curiosity in her students opens them to new ideas and helps develop a level of healthy disbelief about scientific discoveries and other claims made in the name of science.
Samina, a science teacher at Clark Academic Preparatory Magnet High School, Chicago, like other 9 winners, selected from among 850 nominees, will receive $3,000, a tuition-free spring term sabbatical at Northwestern University and a computer.
Samina Khan was born in Ethiopia to Indian parents but was raised in Nigeria. She did her B Sc in Kaduna Polytechnic in Nigeria and master’s degree in education from DePaul University. Maintaining first class throughout her carrier Samina Khan has received several accolades, including the ComEd100 in 2004 and the Drive Award in 2006.
The Golden Apple Awards, instituted in 1986, are given for excellence in teaching for teachers from grades 4 through 8. Samina is the first teacher of Indian origin to have won this award.