Teacher who brought the world into rural classroom wins another award

For students living in urban areas, writing a 40-word essay about having a family picnic by the beach would be a breeze.

However, this was not Muhammad Nazmi Rosli’s experience one month into teaching at a school tucked away in rural Sarawak.

It was not because his students could not write in English, as Nazmi learned.

“It was an easy question (about the family picnic), I had thought everyone would be able to write a simple essay. But I was wrong.

“It took some time to realise that the kids were simply disconnected from the outside world.

“They didn’t manage to write an essay about a picnic because they had never seen a beach before,” he said.

This experience then motivated him to transform his classroom into a ‘beach’ by using old boxes and plastic bags lying around the school grounds.

The English teacher at SK Long Sebangang, Sarawak recounted this story during his speech today after being announced the winner of the Malaysia Teacher Prize 2023.

Nazmi was among five finalists nominated for the award organised by Pemimpin GSL, which saw 2,135 applications from educators nationwide.

As the winner, Nazmi was awarded a RM50,000 cash prize. The other four finalists received RM5,000 each.

The 30-year-old was no stranger to awards though, having won the 21st Century Learning Teachers Campaign from the Education Ministry in 2019. At the time he was stationed at SK Long Sukang, Lawas.

In 2021, Malaysiakini also reported that he was one of 10 finalists for the Rise Educator Award after some of his students’ parents travelled several hours to a nearby town to nominate him.

Adventures without leaving classroom

After constructing the ‘beach’, Nazmi continued using his creativity in his determined efforts to expose his students to the outside world with everyday experiences.

“They had never been to a laundrette before, so I made them one with manila card. They had never been to a bakery, so I made one using boxes and some clay.

“They had never been to a swimming pool before so I made one using 200 plastic bags,” he said, adding that he had simulated train stations, airplanes, zoos and even a hospital for his students.

In his teaching career, Nazmi also pioneered the Filpen Club when he was working at SK Luagan, Lawas which gave students the opportunity to experience filmmaking.

‘Teether’, an independent short film by the club, was selected for the Screamfest Horror Film Festival New Orleans in the United States and the Horror Unleashed Film Festival in Portugal.

Closing education gaps

Separately, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, who was present at the award ceremony today, said that her ministry was committed to closing the education gaps in the rural parts of Sabah and Sarawak.

She said that the primary focus would be dilapidated schools in the rural areas - where the ministry would build new infrastructures next year, in line with the Budget 2024.

"We want that balance (in education) to happen. When we talk about co-curricular and character development, it also includes the development of infrastructure," she said during a press conference after the ceremony.

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