Me, My First Job, and Quranic Education Centre

Happy weekend, everyone!

---

---

Reflecting on my first job also serves as a chance to reflect on how far we’ve come and what we’ve achieved along the way up to today.

In 2009, when I’d just finished senior high school, I immediately started looking for any opportunities that could earn me some money. Then, not long after, someone told me I could teach part-time at a Quranic education centre, with a working day of just about two hours after Asr prayer. Although I had no previous teaching experience, because I could already read the Quran, I plucked up the courage to apply for the position there. Of course, I was accepted straight away!

Armed with courage, the head of the centre directed me to teach the younger children who were just starting to read the Iqro’ books 1–3. The older classes would be taken by another teacher. Indeed, for teaching in a small space like in my village, no special certificate is required; it is sufficient if one can read the Quran, as I mentioned earlier.

What I learnt from my first job was that it is not easy to teach very young children to read the Quran. It is not just a matter of pronunciation, but also of their moods. There was a moment that was absolutely hilarious where my very young pupil (a boy) had a row with his older classmate and ended up throwing a tantrum. He climbed the fence of the mosque where the educational programme was held, thrashing about and screaming that he wanted to go home. Honestly, I wasn’t annoyed; in fact, I laughed at the children’s antics. I couldn’t stop that child from crying at the time, as I had to continue teaching the other pupils; however, my more senior colleague managed to handle the situation, and eventually the child was picked up by his mother to go home.

In any case, I was impressed by the children’s determination to learn. Nothing is in vain when it comes to learning.

That’s a brief glimpse into the story of my first job. What about the pay? Ah, I was grateful at the time, whatever the pay was. I felt it was also my first learning ground for facing the working world after leaving school. To this day, that beautiful and precious memory continues to stay with me, reminding me that life is not about stopping learning. Learn anywhere, anytime, about anything, with anyone.

Life is, in essence, about lifelong learning. Apologies for not having any photos to illustrate the situation back then. At the time, I didn’t even have a mobile phone with a proper camera, or sometimes I didn’t have a phone at all and had to borrow my older sibling’s. Thank you for reading my piece. See you next week.

---

---