Dawood Vaid, 33

Dawood Vaid, 33
Mumbai, Maharashtra
Parallel Educationist

Sunaina Kumar

'We teach children to learn from the stories of Moses and the Prophet’ says Dawood Vaid Photo:Ms Gopal

As an immigrant engineer working in an MNC in Dubai, Dawood Vaid’s story was similar to that of countless other Indians. But that was only half of it. The other half began when Vaid, while working as a researcher on educational projects, dreamt of starting something different. The dream was soon realised and in 2007 the Burooj Angels, a Sunday Islamic school, was born. Students in the school are taught Surahs and Hadiths, the fundamentals of Islam, and the stories of prophets, but all this is undertaken with one approach — “fun learning”. Children between the ages of 5-14 can be seen engaged in skits, quiz sessions, art and craft and board games. Vaid says the two-hour sessions are meant to provide parallel complementary education. The medium of education is English and the school even has its own curriculum. “I grew up loving school. I want to share this experience with children, and so our books and educational tools are fun, and not pedagogical,” says the soft-spoken Vaid. In four years, the school has expanded to 24 cities across India, and has 6,500 students. The 33-year-old has recently started primary schools under the name of Red Camel.

Vaid can be contacted at +91 22 27715424

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 8, Issue 29, Dated 23 July 2011

Courtesy: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ne230711INSPIRATIONS.asp