Imagine standing in front of 25 students who can barely read and write, and asking them to complete activities for an English lesson.
For Hazman Hafiz, this was a daily challenge during his first year as a Teach For Malaysia Fellow.
“Many of them wouldn’t even bother to listen,” he said, recalling his experiences teaching at a high-needs school in Perak.
“For both students and their parents, it all boils down to the level of awareness about the importance of education, especially in an underprivileged community like the one my students lived in.
“How many of them really care about attaining excellence in education to change their life trajectory? I always pose that question to myself and ask what I can do about it.”
Hazman joined the Fellowship in 2013 after graduating in Mechanical Engineering. One year prior, he came across Teach For Malaysia at a career fair. He took home a brochure, and left it unread for nearly a year until a recruiter called him.
It was a moment that made him realise he was “fated to be part of an unstoppable movement”, fighting for excellence in education across Malaysia.
He was soon placed in Perak, where he taught English, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Design to students in a rural area.
“The best analogy for my first year of teaching was the weather: bad and gloomy,” he said. “In the beginning I found understanding the job as a teacher and performing it effectively rather difficult.
“It really tested every part of me, but I had to hit the ground running because there were lots of things to do in school with the kids, with little time to spare.”
In order to improve his skills, Hazman underwent a process of trial and error, taking time to “master the art” of classroom management and lesson delivery.
He observed lessons by other teachers, approached the principal and parents to understand the current school challenges, and was “blessed” to have supportive colleagues who would “open their doors” to him.
“Never had any teachers in my school sighed, felt like giving up, were hopeless or even tired of trying their best to change their students’ lives through education,” he said passionately.
“It kept me going during my tough days at school when seeing them in action in the class. A teacher does not only inspire students, but other teachers too.”
In time, Hazman discovered some of the biggest challenges within the community: access and exposure.
“Given the location of the school and the community which is far away from the city, access is a major challenge,” he explained.
“Subsistence economy in the community widens the gap between what the students want to be and what type of profession is available in the future.
“Hence, the teachers have to bridge the gap.”
Hazman laid down the first foundations to building this bridge, with a special project – giving students exposure to careers in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
He arranged school trips to educational institutions, and guest appearances from university students, in the hope that the children would feel inspired to “leave their kampung and fulfill their dreams.”
Though he no longer teaches, the project is still running to this day, making scalable impact with the help of external bodies.
While he’s positively affected many kids through the project, Hazman said his greatest personal success came from an interaction with one particular student.
One day, while working at his current job as an analyst for Bank Negara Malaysia, he received a phone call. It was his former pupil.
The teenager explained to Hazman that he planned on dropping Additional Maths for SPM because he wanted to be a chef. He figured the subject was not a requirement to be admitted into culinary school, anyway. Despite his reservation on the idea, Hazman wished his student the best of luck.
However, just a few days later the phone rang again. In a last minute change of heart, Hazman’s student told him that he still wanted to study Add Maths for his SPM.
The student had realised that just in case he failed to secure admission to culinary school, he would still have an advantage over those who don’t have the qualification. As such, there would be more options for him to pursue his tertiary education.
“He promised he would try his best and realised the importance of education which would enable him to change his future,” Hazman said. “That was the greatest success I had ever felt!”
Though no longer a teacher, Hazman is still passionate about the role of education. Being on the classroom frontline, he learned that Malaysia’s teachers are given the best head start to finding solutions to systemic problems.
“Education inequity is a very complex problem, it’s a wicked problem,” he said. “There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but rather it’s about finding the most suitable ones.
He believes that while teachers can’t fix all the challenges in their schools, they are instrumental in achieving a better education system in Malaysia.
Hazman is currently an analyst for Bank Negara Malaysia, and a 2013 alumnus of the Teach For Malaysia Fellowship program.
For more information on the mission to end education inequity, visit teachformalaysia.org
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