Aqeela Asifi
Aqeela Asifi is an Afghan woman teacher who has educated thousands of refugee children in Mianwali, Pakistan.[1]
Aqeela Asifi | |
---|---|
Born | 1966 Afghanistan |
Citizenship | Afghan |
Occupation | Teacher |
Known for | educating thousands of refugee children in Pakistan |
Awards | Nansen Refugee Award |
Asifi trained in Afghanistan as a teacher of history and geography.[2]
She had to leave her country when the Taliban took over in 1992. When she arrived as a refugee at the Kot Chandna camp in Mianwali, there were no schools for refugee children. Aqeela set up a school in a borrowed tent. In 2017 there are nine schools in the camp with over 1,500 students.[3] Several of these schools are also attended by Afghan refugee girls.[4]
In 2015 Asifi was honoured with the Nansen Refugee Award for her untiring efforts in providing Afghan refugee children with an education. She has used most of her US $100,000[5] Nansen prize money to building a new school.[6] The Award honours extraordinary service to refugees.[7]
References
- For refugees, education is as essential as shelter The Guardian Retrieved 24 March 2017
- A life of teaching Afghan refugee girls BBC Retrieved 24 March 2017
- The Global Teacher Prize website Archived 2017-06-26 at the Wayback Machine Global Teacher Prize Retrieved 24 March 2017
- Amid Mass Returns, a Teacher’s Hopes for Refugee Girls in Afghanistan Archived 14 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine News Deeply Retrieved 24 March 2017
- Pakistani Teacher Aqeela Asifi ranked among Top Ten Teachers of the World Daily Times Retrieved 24 March 2017
- Educating Afghan refugees in Pakistan UCA News Retrieved 24 March 2017
- UNHCR names Afghan refugee teacher Aqeela Asifi its 2015 Nansen Refugee Award winner UNHCR Retrieved 24 March 2017