Masters of their own fate
HIGH school sweethearts, Yogeswaran S.P. Muniandi and Pavithra Saraswathy, both 32, are among the 5,000 graduates who will be receiving their scrolls at OUM’S 26th convocation.
“We believe that even a single investment in knowledge returns the best interest in future. So we did our bachelor’s degree together at OUM, followed by our master’s. We got married a year into our master’s programme, but that didn’t stop us from achieving our goals,” said Yogeswaran.
While he pursued Master of Instructional Design and Technology (MIDT), Pavithra studied the Master of Counselling programme.
Previously an international school educator, Yogeswaran is an aspiring young edupreneur who sought to acquire strong instructional design skills.
Taking up MIDT enabled him to launch his own business, which delivers e-learning solutions for different industries.
Said Yogeswaran, “The MIDT programme strengthened my e-learning project design and development skills. Together with my technical skills, it enabled me to establish a business model for a new market.”
Meanwhile, Pavithra gained deeper understanding of human behaviour through the Master of Counselling programme.
“It has benefited my job as a Human Resource Services head in the healthcare industry, especially in communication strategies and training needs,” she said.
Having mastered the full spectrum of being a HR practitioner, Pavithra has founded Partners in Counselling (PIC) together with her coursemates. It is a registered non-governmental organisation, which provides pro bono counselling services, peer consultation and mentoring for counselling students.
On their learning experience, the couple said, “Studying part-time while working full-time was challenging, but we supported each other, which is one of the secrets of our success.”
Yogeswaran and Pavithra are among the approximately 5,000 graduates at the 26th OUM convocation. Among the graduates, 31 are persons with disabilities (PWDS).
One of them is Mohd Huzaire Ahmad, 46, a school teacher at SK Felda Mempaga 2 in
Pahang. A fall from a rambutan tree at his fiancee’s house in Perak in 1999 had confined him to a wheelchair.
“I had been in the final semester of my studies at a teachers’ training college. At 24, I became paralysed from the waist down, my fiancee left me, and I lost my chance to become a teacher.”
Two years later, the skies brightened for Huzaire when he was given a chance to do his practicum. He went on to become a music teacher and even obtained a bachelor’s degree in primary school music education.
Challenges continued to come and Huzaire continued to overcome them with his wife by his side.
“She is an administrative assistant at the school where I teach. Each school day, she would carry my wheelchair while I would go up the stairs on my own. I didn’t want to burden anyone else,” he shared.
As a PWD, Huzaire is not immune from discrimination and disrespect saying, “I felt unappreciated at work, so my wife encouraged me to do my master’s. I enrolled in the Master of Education programme at OUM in 2020.”
The learning environment suited him well.
“Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, I attended only three face-to-face classes before all the classes were shifted online. So I didn’t have to worry about how to get to classes anymore.
“The discounted study fees for PWDS, flexible mode of learning, easy-to-understand courses, and friendly, fast-to-act staff also helped a lot,” he commented.
In his 20 years as a teacher, Huzaire has won 13 awards. Last May, he was one of 25 teachers nationwide who won Anugerah Guru Inspirasi Mcdonald’s 2022, which honours teachers who go beyond their call of duty. Huzaire has also written three anthologies and is in the midst of writing a motivational book based on his life experiences.
“This master’s is not the end of my education. I plan to do a PHD next, also at OUM. Education is a weapon for PWDS. We are always being looked down upon by some members of society. When we study more, we will be respected and valued more,” he concluded.