Teach Middle East Magazine Sep - Dec 2020 Issue 1 Volume 8 | Page 46

A Moment with of Information Technology (IT) and he went on to sit the IT examination at the GCSE level where he was awarded an A. Atif’s love for IT continued as he became a teacher and later the founder of Teacherly.io. In this article we learn more about this passionate educator, turned entrepreneur and the Teacherly.io platform, which is designed to help educators collaborate and plan more efficiently. Who was your favourite teacher? Why? I actually had two, Mr. William my IT teacher and Mrs. Bond my Geography teacher. They were both passionate about their subjects which motivated me to go beyond what was taught in the classroom. I believe it’s my interest and curiosity in these two subjects that led me to having a career in Computer Science and education and also ignited my desire to travel and experience different cultures. What or who inspires you most? A MOMENT WITH ATIF MAHMOOD BY LEISA GRACE WILSON I am convinced that teachers make excellent entrepreneurs. The qualities required to be a good entrepreneur are the same needed to be a good teacher, a good entrepreneur needs to be flexible, resilient, resourceful and a good communicator, just to name a new. These are the same qualities that a good teacher normally possesses. In this article I speak with Atif Mahmood, an entrepreneur who made the leap from teaching, to the world of business and entrepreneurship. 46 | Mar - Arp 2019 | | Atif was born in a small town in the Midlands in the United Kingdom, his father emigrated from Kashmir at the age of 14. He was the eldest brother of 6 siblings, he had the responsibility, very early on in his life, of going to work in order to earn an income to help his family to survive. His father loves to learn but unfortunately he never got the opportunity to gain a formal education. Atif attended a very multicultural state school. Mr. Williams, who was his IT teacher, instilled in him a love After The Bell My 7 year old daughter, Huriayya, inspires me most. When I need motivation or the extra hunger to succeed, I think of her. She actually talks about Teacherly.io with her friends and teachers at school. When asked what she wants to do when she is older, she says that she wants to have her own business. She loves drama and dance and her dream is to create a dance app. What prompted your move from being an educator to becoming an entrepreneur? I have always championed the use of technology in education, as well as being involved with teacher training in schools. After working in the field of education for some time, I realised that the majority of education technology solutions on the market were aimed at the students and that there was very little technology aimed at the educator. While studying for my Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), a number of students dropped out because of the workload. It was then that I began to think of ways of preventing this from happening. I wanted to develop a product that embodied a good user interface and user experience aimed wholly at teachers. My main aim is to eliminate