Women at work: 18 years in education and still going strong

'Education is the cornerstone that enables you to face challenges that life throws at you,' Ayesha Bibi

PESHAWAR:

Teaching began as a means to supplement income for Ayesha Bibi, however, over the course of the 18 years that the 44-year-old has spent in the profession, she fell in love with it, despite the pitfalls.

Her dedication is reflected in her daily two-and-a-half-hour-long commute to her school. And Ayesha Bibi does not flinch despite being asthmatic.



The Swat-born wakes up at daybreak, makes breakfast for her daughters and walks from her home in Mohallah Gul Badshah Jee to Firdous bus stop around 6am to catch a bus to her school in Warsak Colony where she teaches at Government Girls Primary School (GGPS). “I change two buses everyday to get to school and my monthly transport costs around Rs2,000,” Ayesha, a widow, tells The Express Tribune.

She got married in 1987 at the age of 17. “My husband was 40 years old; at the time I was too young to understand or raise any objections. Like most daughters, I obeyed my parents,” says Ayesha.

Forced into the workforce

However, she discovered marital life was not a bed of roses. The family soon grew and income was meagre if not absent on most days.

“My husband, Mukhtiar Ahmed was a private contractor and would repair pipes, but he left the job soon after we got married,” she explains. He started working as a daily labourer but jobs were hard to come by; on most days he returned home empty-handed, she recalls.

“Seeing how terribly broke we were, I decided it was time for me to break the status quo and start looking for work,” says Ayesha. “I began teaching in 1996 at a government school at an initial salary of Rs2,400 per month,” she adds.



Ayesha also began giving tuitions at home and slowly their financial condition improved. “Now, because I have asthma, I cannot do two both school and tuitions,” says Ayesha after having stopped the latter.

Learning: a lifelong process

“I am a strong supporter of education, especially for girls and that’s why I made sure my children go to school. Education is the cornerstone that enables you to face challenges and the difficulties life throws at you,” says Ayesha.

Ayesha had only completed her matriculation when she started teaching in 1996. The determined woman obtained a primary teaching certificate (PTC) soon after but that wasn’t the end of it.  “I continued with my own education while I was teaching and finally got a degree in education from University of Peshawar in 2003,” she says proudly.

Now, in her 40s, Ayesha is doing her masters in education alongside more teaching certificates from Allama Iqbal Open University.

During her professional career, she has served in Government Girls Middle School (GGMS) New Jahangir Pura, GGMS Mattani and GGMS Sarai Kala Khan.

Passing on the work ethic

Ayesha’s four daughters, Sadia, Faiza, Kiran and Arfa, help share the financial burden and household responsibilities with her. After experiencing first-hand the need and benefit of financial emancipation, the sisters—armed with hindsight—made sure education was a priority alongside financial independence.

Following her mother’s footsteps, Sadia also tutors students for extra income. She is also doing her bachelor’s from Agriculture University Peshawar and isn’t the only sister looking to expand her horizons.

Faiza is enrolled in a teaching certificate course and an MSc degree, while Kiran is pursuing a master’s and a primary teaching certificate from the University of Peshawar (UoP).

Her fourth daughter Arfa is also a master’s student and got married in February. Ayesha single-handedly made all the arrangements for her child’s wedding—from arranging her dowry to paying for the various celebratory functions.

Personal loss

Ayesha’s life changed completely on March 19 this year when her husband died.

“I can’t forget that unfortunate day. He was returning from the market in the morning when he spotted a shopping bag placed outside a trader’s house in the neighbourhood,” she recalls tearfully. “As soon as he picked up the bag, it exploded, leaving him critically injured. He was taken to Lady Reading Hospital but died two hours later.”

Ayesha says the image of her husband lying in a pool of blood, the innocent victim of an extortionist out to get money from the trader, is permanently seared on her brain.  The family still feels frightened in their four-room house, after the incident.

The upper portion of Ayesha’s house which was damaged in the blast is yet to be repaired. The family cannot afford to get it fixed; Ayesha spent all her savings on her daughter’s wedding.

With three other children, she has to save more to finance their futures. However, none of life’s curveballs have affected her will to survive and excel. She continues to make the long commute to her school every day regardless of her illness and fears; a role model for her daughters, the next generation of teachers.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2014.