The S
unday bombings of Peshawar’s All Saints Church deprived Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of William Ghulam, noted educationist, dedicated teacher and a great trainer.
Mr William’s young son and daughter were also killed in the terrorist attack, while wife suffered critical injuries.
His son, Noel William, was the final-year MBBS student at Khyber Medical College, Peshawar, and daughter, Merib William, second-year student at Edwardes College, Peshawar.
The 50-year-old principal of Government Centennial High School, Peshawar Cantonment No 4 had attended various professional training courses in the US and UK.
He was known for imparting quality education to children.
Born on December 19, 1961, Mr William passed his Secondary School Certificate examinations from Saint Jones High School, Kohati Gate, Peshawar in 1978 and completed his intermediate education from Government Superior Science College, Peshawar in 1981. He did his graduation from Edwardes College, Peshawar in 1983 and post-graduation in English Literature in 1993 from University of Peshawar.
Also, he secured a master’s degree in education from Al-Khair University in 2006.
Mr William got leadership training from Heagi Institute in the US and attended several other training sessions at the United Kingdom.
He began his career as assistant English teacher at Edwardes High School in 1983 and later joined St. John’s Cathedral High School, Peshawar Cantonment as senior English teacher in 1987 and remained there until 1999.
Mr William was appointed headmaster at Government High School, Ahmadkhel in 1999 after he qualified the Public Service Commission test.
Later, he was transferred to Government Centennial High School, Peshawar Cantonment No 4 in 2007 and remained there until death on Sunday.
Brother Shaukat Ghulam, lawyer at Peshawar High Court, said he couldn’t explain in words the deceased’s greatness as a brother as well as a human being. He said his forefathers basically belonged to Gujranwala but migrated to Peshawar some 60 years ago.
Abdul Samad, a local schoolteacher, said besides being a best teacher, Mr William was also a very good administrator.
“He never took any problem lightly and rather owned it and worked hard for its early yet effective solution,” he said.
According to him, mostly headmasters of the schools don’t teach students but Mr William used to take three English classes daily besides efficiently discharging duties as the school’s administrator.
“On return to school after undergoing professional trainings inside or outside the country, he used to call in teachers to share details of the training courses with them for the benefit of the students,” he said.
Mr Abdul Samad said the deceased often urged teachers to listen to the students and encourage them into voicing their concerns and problems for solution.
Abdul Raqib, principal at Government Higher Secondary School, Peshawar Cantonment No 1, said he’d never seen anyone as committed to education and honest as Mr William was.
“He (Mr William) was the Elementary and Secondary Education Department’s trustworthy headmaster and that’s why he was given the additional responsibility of the member of the oversight committee of Textbook Board Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The department always gave importance to his views on how to improve and reform the education system,” he said.
General Secretary of Schools Officers Association Samiullah Khalil said the deceased was his close friend, who always actively participated in the association’s activities for the teachers’ rights.
He said Mr William was so sociable that he participated even in every major event of Muslims and that no one ever had the impression that he belonged to a religious minority.
Principal of the Government Higher Secondary School, Chagharmatti Tariq Nawaz said the deceased was a very good trainer, who used to keep his trainees engaged for three to four hours.
“I never got tired or bored during his training sessions,” he said.
Source: The Dawn
