KS26 Jun '26
I am Mohamed el Arkoubi, 32 years old, born and raised in Rotterdam-West. I grew up in a disadvantaged neighbourhood called Spangen. My parents both came to the Netherlands at the age of 20 and did not speak the language. As a result, I, like many others in the neighbourhood, struggled with the Dutch language. Poor results were a logical consequence, until at a young age a teacher advised me to read a lot. That eventually paid off, because my results improved considerably.
That advice was so valuable to me that years later, as an adult, I wanted to follow the same path: a job in education. I wanted to do my bit, and I knew where the stumbling blocks were for so many students.
After 8 years in education, where I have had the honour of working at both "black" and "white" schools, I know exactly what students struggle with and how to present the material so that every student can visibly improve. I do this with life experience, humour and personal attention.