Latest news with #KhurshidMohammadi
The Age
04-07-2025
- General
- The Age
This Melbourne school is one of the best in the world for overcoming adversity
For most Australian children, school is a place to learn and to socialise. But for Khurshid Mohammadi, attending classes is an act of defiance. When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, women's rights were eroded, including access to education. 'I was crying, it was unbelievable. Families were scared of the Taliban taking women from their houses,' said Mohammadi, 21. 'It changed the dreams of women all over Afghanistan.' But she, along with 120 other female refugees and asylum seekers, found hope and a community on the other side of the world at River Nile School, a small independent school in North Melbourne. The unassuming school on Capel Street is a finalist for educational platform T4's award for World's Best School for overcoming adversity, alongside schools in Uganda, England, Latin America, Pakistan and war-torn Palestine. Principal Charles Hertzog said the students – who he calls 'friends' – had a real gratitude and desire for education that he hadn't seen elsewhere. 'I think that having had education removed from you for some block of time, which is true for all of our young women, makes them their own advocates for school in really different ways, based on their lives and their family situations,' Hertzog said. 'But it does create this kind of shared camaraderie and gratitude that crosses over those country lines and experiences.'
Sydney Morning Herald
04-07-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
This Melbourne school is one of the best in the world for overcoming adversity
For most Australian children, school is a place to learn and to socialise. But for Khurshid Mohammadi, attending classes is an act of defiance. When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, women's rights were eroded, including access to education. 'I was crying, it was unbelievable. Families were scared of the Taliban taking women from their houses,' said Mohammadi, 21. 'It changed the dreams of women all over Afghanistan.' But she, along with 120 other female refugees and asylum seekers, found hope and a community on the other side of the world at River Nile School, a small independent school in North Melbourne. The unassuming school on Capel Street is a finalist for educational platform T4's award for World's Best School for overcoming adversity, alongside schools in Uganda, England, Latin America, Pakistan and war-torn Palestine. Principal Charles Hertzog said the students – who he calls 'friends' – had a real gratitude and desire for education that he hadn't seen elsewhere. 'I think that having had education removed from you for some block of time, which is true for all of our young women, makes them their own advocates for school in really different ways, based on their lives and their family situations,' Hertzog said. 'But it does create this kind of shared camaraderie and gratitude that crosses over those country lines and experiences.'
