Each year, Deakin recognises, acknowledges and celebrates our amazing alumni around the world who have achieved outstanding successes in their communities or professions.
Nazariah Sahu Palar is an alumni award winner and a Deakin teaching graduate. This is her story.
Nazariah Sahu Palar
Deakin Alumni of the Year Award
Master of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
Master of Education
When Nazariah Sahu Palar learned that in Aceh, the Indonesian province where she grew up, around 3,500 teachers and educators perished in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, she knew she had to do something. For this passionate young teacher, the idea of a generation of children missing out on a decent education was unthinkable. So, together with a group of Deakin Indonesian alumni, she set about making sure that education wouldn’t end up being the invisible casualty of the natural disaster.
Nazariah was concerned about what impact the loss of so many educators would have on the education system in Aceh and feared that the children who were already suffering would be further disadvantaged. On her return to Indonesia, Nazariah brought together a large group of Deakin alumni living in the country, and together, they began to offer professional development opportunities for teachers. Working as part of a partnership between Deakin University and the Indonesian Government, they devised a course structure for using English as the language of instruction in class.
Nazariah’s commitment to giving back has been passed on to her students. ‘I call my students my soldiers because they will do anything. They don’t worry about payment, they accept what they can. They have built an organisation that is a voluntary one and is supporting students and their communities whenever they can’.
__
Nazariah studied the Master of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and Master of Education at Deakin. Explore education and teaching to find out more.
You must be logged in to post a comment.