Fawad Ahmed's inspirational story to be inculcated in Australian curriculum

Fawad Ahmed, who plays for the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League in Australia, is all set to feature in the books of Australian Primary school, in the subject of Modern Australian History. This is not the first time an Australian cricketer has been a part of the Australian academic curriculum.

Sir Donald Bradman’s statistics has been an integral part of Mathematics in a series of lessons called Bradman by the Numbers. These lessons are all a part of Cricket Australia’s initiative established during the World Cup of 2015 by the name of Cricket Smart, to inculcate history of sports into the curriculum such that the coming generations retain knowledge in a fun and engaging manner.

Fawad Ahmed escaped from his motherland in Pakistan and sought refuge in Australia after Taliban threatened his life for coaching young girls to play cricket and tried to forge western values in them. After gaining his citizenship in 2013, he has been an integral part of Victoria side in the Sheffield Shield. Ahmed also represented Australia in 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is.

Importance of Cricket History in Schools

“I’ve been to a few schools and I enjoy the Q and A sessions, The children say what’s on their mind and they ask some very honest questions. I try to explain to them about my background and my lifestyle, I think it’s a very positive development for children to learn about real issues.” quoted Fawad Ahmed in an interview with Sydney Herald.

“Cricket connects holistically with education, There’s a lot of math around cricket and we’ve used that to form Cricket Smart units that are quite engaging and powerful for learning. It’s different to what’s normally mainstream in schools but it’s nice to learn through a different approach.” Ahmed further added.

“And it isn’t only mathematics; there’s geography, science, design and technology. Cricket also ties in some significant moments in Australian history, as Fawad’s case study proves. However, in Sir Donald Bradman we have a highly regarded, wonderful person whose achievements can be studied historically, mathematically and even scientifically” concluded Ahmed.