A TEENAGER shot by the Taliban gave pupils at Woodfield Middle School a first hand and devastating account of the horror prejudice can provoke.
Ahmad Nawaz is helping the ‘Anne Frank and You’ exhibition, which is touring schools and public buildings across the country and speaking on his Education and Peace campaign aimed at combating extremism and radicalisation.
In December 2014 Ahmad, now aged 16, was a pupil at the Peshawar Army School when six gunmen affiliated to the Taliban burst in, killing 141 people, including 132 schoolchildren.
Among the dead were Ahmad’s brother while he was wounded and ‘played dead’ to survive.
He was eventually taken to Britain for treatment and has since devoted his young life to combating prejudice.
Last Monday and Tuesday Year 7 and 8 pupils at Woodfield were involved in workshops organised by the Anne Frank Trust called ‘Switch Off Prejudice’ and on Wednesday the school held a VIP event for parents and governors to tour the exhibition and see the work carried out by students.
Staff from the Trust have also trained 22 pupils to act as peer guides at the school to keep the anti-prejudice message alive.
The week was complete by a second visit to the school from Auschwitz survivor Mindu Hornick who will met with and presented her testimony to the students Years 7 and 8.
She then had lunch with the peer guides and presented them with certificates marking their achievement.
