Teacher buys pupil £750 suit as reward for success
FOR many pupils, success in the classroom is recognised with the award of prizes and certificates.
But the achievements of Ahmed Moula warranted something special. His teacher bought him a £750 Armani suit.
The surprise gift was a reward for Ahmed passing his maths GCSE with top marks seven months ahead of schedule.
The Parkwood Academy pupil, whom the school hopes may go to Oxford or Cambridge, will now look his best at the end-of-term prom.
Munif Zia, the Shirecliffe school’s 37-year-old director of maths, said he had spotted Ahmed’s potential and so entered him for the exams early.
“Ahmed comes from a Yemeni family and at first it was a struggle for them in this country,” he said.
“To get an A* was a tremendous achievement and I thought it deserved recognition – not just to reward 16-year-old Ahmed, but to set a marker for the other students.
“It shows them that high attainment brings high rewards and really gets the message across.”
Munif paid for the two-piece suit – imported directly from Italy – out of his own pocket as the school budget did not quite stretch to such a luxury item.
Munif said: “I decided on a suit, because I knew the prom was coming up.
“But more than that, Ahmed will soon be going for interviews at some of the top sixth-form schools in the city and we want him to look good to match his undoubted academic abilities.
“He’s quite a shy lad and I knew it would make a massive difference to him.
“At the moment, we are putting him on a further pure maths course to accelerate his learning further before he leaves us in June.”
Ahmed, of Herries Road, close to the school, has an ambition of working in medicine, hopefully as a doctor.
Munif said: “He’s delighted with the gift which came as a complete surprise to him.
“Some people have laughed about spending that amount of money on a pupil but I think it’s worth it.”
Academy principal Mike Westerdale said: “We are delighted with the progress Ahmed has made at Parkwood and it shows we believe in a culture of success and achievement in our journey to become a world-class academy.
“Ahmed is now pursuing further qualifications in mathematics and we look forward to hearing how he succeeds in his university career, hopefully at Oxford or Cambridge.”
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