I’ve been mum, carer, teacher, campaigner.. even a YouTube cook
The year’s been non-stop for Nuzhat
TOMORROW marks the anniversary of the day the country went into its firstever lockdown. One of those who has worked almost non-stop throughout the pandemic is primary school teacher and mum-of-two Nuzhat Uthmani.
The 42-year-old from Glasgow has been juggling her job with caring for her family, including her mum. Nuzhat, who is of Pakistani and Indian heritage, has fought to keep ethnic minority teachers safe and sits on the board of several Educational Institute of Scotland committees.
In February last year I was getting ready to transfer to another school, then suddenly we were told they would be closing. It was a matter of lots of quick meetings, learning how to use Microsoft Teams…
In the first lockdown, teachers didn’t have daily interaction with their class because we were not set up for it but it worked for families as everyone was juggling working and home-schooling.
It was better for children to choose when to do their work.
My class and I met online weekly for a catch-up and to do fun things like quizzes. There was an understanding: Do as much as you can.
I was also caring for my mother, who came to live with us in February. She was recovering from a knee operation and ended up staying for the whole of lockdown. On top of that I was schooling my daughter and son, nine and 14.
For us as a family, it was very important to stick to a routine. We always reminded ourselves, “We are healthy and happy and this time will pass”.
Between April and June, I did a lot of professional networking and I started to develop my own work around antiracism education and global citizenship.
I wrote articles highlighting the need for anti-racist education and about studies showing inequalities and bias within the education system such as the regular undermarking of black, Asian and minority ethnic students.
One of the other things I managed to enjoy was cooking. I had my own catering company for four years before I went into teaching, so during lockdown I reignited that fire by starting my own YouTube channel called Mrs Uthmani’s Kitchen, where I shared recipes.
In May, we observed Ramadan and
GETAWAY Nuzhat and her family go dolphin watching
celebrated Eid. Being home and fasting was hard. We really missed our Iftar parties and didn’t get together with my brother and his family on Eid.
In June, we were told we would go back part-time in August, so teachers started planning but suddenly we were told we would go back full-time.
There were huge concerns nothing had been put in place for minority
communities. I organised a meeting for EIS union members and we created a bespoke risk assessment for black, Asian and minority ethnic teachers.
As a family we were able to go up to the Highlands in July for a break.
We explored towns around Inverness, John O’Groats and Aberdeen. We went on a speed boat and saw the dolphins.
In October we entered a level system, which meant if we entered level 4 would have been a lockdown.
We could see cases rising in school with thousands of teachers off.
It was a huge mental strain – you know the risk is continuously there.
Then December kicked in and we locked down again. Remote teaching was different this time. We have morning registration and we then watch a video I made the night before, explaining to the children their work for the day.
It has been more stressful, there is triple the amount of work.
At the beginning of February, Mum got vaccinated. It was emotional, it felt like she was part of history.
Covid should be used for learning going forward – helping learners feel empowered by knowing they survived the biggest challenge of our times and are able to learn lessons from it.
I had mixed feelings about primary school children returning to the classrooms on March 15. However I’m relieved to see the end of remote learning, which has been a huge burden on both staff and pupils.
As a family we’re looking forward to going out again and having another holiday in the beautiful Highlands at some point this year. it