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Muqdas Saeed : A Social and Emotional Learner in the time of COVID 19

Studying in class 5C, Muqdas is a 13-year-old student at Khatoon e Pakistan Government Girls School (KPS). She has been studying here since the first grade. The past year or two has seen an unprecedented level of growth and learning for Muqdas, beyond the confines of academic learning. Muqdas is a high achieving student in most of her classes and a keen artist who works hard to maintain this course every day. Her career aspirations were to want to go to the army but her parents’ concerns for her safety led her to resign herself to a different dream – that of becoming a doctor.

Like many students in Pakistan, Muqdas believes that good grades are important and she should work hard to achieve them. When she was in the 4th grade she was elected as a Prefect, a role on the Students’ Council, for her class. Muqdas has always been a high achiever, but ended up failing her Science class that year. Out of concern for her studies and the regard of her teachers Muqdas relinquished her role as prefect so that she may focus better on her studies.

She said when asked for how she faces the challenges in her life, which seems to have worked well for Muqdas as she was able to regain her position as prefect in the 5th grade. She appreciates all those who help her, the teachers who are willing to work with her and supported her in this.

COVID 19 presents a difficult time for someone like Muqadas who is quite passionate in her studies. Online classes make learning more difficult – even for an otherwise high-achieving student like Muqadas it is challenging to understand concepts, especially mathematics, which she considers her favorite subject. Muqadas shared that although COVID19 posed many challenges which still persist, many of her fears and concerns have been allayed through the efforts of her teachers, the Admin Officer from Zindagi Trust who coordinates between the students and the school and through the provision of a smartphone she got from the school as part of an intervention to keep students connected and learning.

The smartphone particularly has connected Muqdas to the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) classes that are being taught through online means to help children express themselves and harness their emotions in a healthy way. Muqdas has suffered from kidney disease for a long time has been often prone to fevers.

The impact of the classes, Muqdas explains has caused her to think about herself more, to harness the ability to self-care in a healthy manner and caused her to adhere to her medication. This practice has led to her keeping healthy both mentally and physically. A student who was dedicated to her studies at the expense of co-curricular activities, she has now shown self reflection and self growth. This has been an essential part of learning at school in the past year despite the uncertainty that the year has presented.