Meet Ahmad, the future Doctor

Ahmad, 7, was having trouble keeping up with the other children at school and could not read any English when we first met him a couple years ago.

This had nothing to do with his own abilities. Rather, it was because he was not getting the parental support and encouragement at home that every child needs.

Both of Ahmad’s parents have been incarcerated since he was just a baby. His elderly grandparents have done their best to look after him. However, as Ahmad’s sister and his two other cousins were also under their care, they were not able to provide all their grandchildren with the necessary guidance especially when it comes to school work.

Ahmad comes from a family with four generations of incarcerated parents. It was clear that if he were to fall behind at school during his formative years, it was highly likely that Ahmad would continue to follow in his parents' path.

With the help of the New Life Stories Early Reader programme, Ahmad’s future is now much brighter. Ahmad recently received the 'Best in Progress' award at school and will be moving up to Primary 2 soon!

His progress was thanks to the continuous support of his Learning Friends, Ed, and Lai.

They have been Ahmad’s Learning Friends for the past two years, providing him with access to proper education tools and encouraged him to strive for his goals every time they visited him. By providing one-to-one home-based reading sessions, they gave Ahmad invaluable help so that he could catch up to his peers. Not only have they seen Ahmad’s reading and English improve, but his confidence has also grown.

“I want to be a Doctor when I’m older!”

Thanks to his Learning Friends, Ahmad now has a better chance of realising his dream. He still has a long way to go, but by having regular reading sessions, he can now start off at the same level as the other children in his year!