Nov
2012
Nov
The Abraar School is celebrating another year of stellar performances on province-wide academic tests.
For the sixth year running, third and sixth grade students at Abraar School scored well above provincial averages on the standardized EQAO Test that measures performance in reading, writing and mathematics.
In the 2011-2012 school year report, Abraar Grade 3 students scored 22 percentage points higher than the provincial average in reading, 24 per cent higher in writing and 28 per cent higher in mathematics; with a perfect 100 per cent in writing.
The scores for Grade 6 students were similarly impressive. They scored 12 points ahead of the provincial average in reading, 22 per cent higher in writing and claimed a whopping 42 point advantage in Mathematics.
In Ontario, the EQAO test is considered one of the most objective and reliable means of judging a student's academic progress. Although not required of private schools, Abraar School decided in 2004 to enroll its Grade 3 and 6 students in EQAO in order to compare the school's performance to public schools. The Islamic school's Grade 3 students received a 100 per cent in the EQAO for the first time in 2008, in the subjects of reading and writing. And the school has since 2009, ranked in the top six percent of province's best elementary schools.
It's only onward and upward for the school's administration.
“The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement,” says Abraar School's principal, Dr. Muhammad Saleem.
Dr. Saleem strongly believes that a strong parent teacher partnership is the key to student success. To that end, he says he will continue the Abraar tradition of regular town hall meetings with parents.
“Our goal at Abraar School is to provide all the means within our capacity to help our students reach their highest potential,” he says.
Abraar School provides educational options that are not available in schools under the Ottawa Public and Catholic School Boards, such as Quranic studies, Arabic and Islamic history. Abraar students receive 440 minutes of instruction per week in these three subject areas. The school scrupulously follows the Ontario Ministry of Education Curriculum in all other subject areas.
On October 12, Abraar students were involved in a Canada-wide practical science lesson which established a world record. An estimated 15,000 students at over 135 locations across the country joined together to set the record for the largest practical science lesson occurring simultaneously in multiple locations
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Noman Bajwa
My name is Noman Bajwa. I have been involved in the journalistic profession, on and off, since 1987. I graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor's degree in English Literature and received a Master’s degree in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia. I was a reporter for several newspapers in Southeastern Pennsylvania, including the Philadelphia Inquirer, for fifteen years. I served in the position of Civil Rights Coordinator for CAIR's national office in Washington, DC from 2005 to 2007. I have been a contributor to the Muslim Link since its inception in 2004.
