London: Mouhssin Ismail gave up a six-figure salary in the London city to become a headteacher in one of the poorest parts of the UK. He is about to send 95% of pupils to top universities of Britain in his first year as an in charge. Mr. Ismail, 38, left international law firm Norton Rose Fullbright and now is incharge of Newham Collegiate Sixth Form, east London.
Outstandingly during his first year of results, 190 of his 200 students have secured places at Russell Group universities — including nine who have received offers from Oxford or Cambridge and one youngster, Tafsia Shikdar, from MIT in the US. Some even got job placements at Abu Dhabi law firm, White & Case LLP.
The idea to quit the job and work as a teacher struck his mind on the night when he was preparing a £50million banking and finance deal, his conscience questioned him what contribution he was making to the society by striking that deal?
Mouhssin Ismail grew up in Ilford. He was a banking and finance lawyer in the City in Norton Rose Fullbright and earned 6 figure salary; and now he is a business and economic teacher. In 2014 he took charge of the then newly opened multi-million pound sixth form centre. He encourages and motivates his pupils so much so that they start believing in themselves and thinking that nothing is impossible.
One example proving his methods certainly paid off is Tafsia Shikdar, a sixth former who won a scholarship to the world-famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology worth £200,000. There she will study alongside some of the smartest people in the world for a degree in engineering. Tafsia lives with her father Mahmood Shikdar, 46 and mother Laila Sultana, 43 and three brothers, two older, Saif and Fahim, and one younger, Younous, at their three-bedroom terraced home in West Ham. She qualifies for the full grant because the household earns less than £30,000 a year. Tafsia will swap her family home in West Ham for the university in Boston. Tafsia says one’s financial condition, family background and the place you stay, don’t matter if you think big. And that big thinking was indoctrinated by none other than Mouhssin Ismail.
Mail Online has quoted Mr. Ismail as saying ‘I left a high paying job in the City because I wanted to make a difference to the people I knew and grew up with. Those whose potential went unfulfilled because of where they grew up.’