WAN Zakaria Wan Abu Bakar, 43 yrs, believes all children can be educated despite their handicaps and disabilities and today the founder of Bizara, a school with 74 special needs students in Kota Bharu, Kelantan has built a reputation as an educator with creativity.
Bizara’s name was specially chosen as it translates from an Arabic word, which means “sowing seeds” as Wan feels all the special needs children at his school will be given the opportunity to progress through story-telling, activities and also art training.
Born to humble parents in rural Kelantan, who were rubber tappers, he was lucky to move to Klang to live with his brother, and from there he was exposed to urban schooling and community life. Wan successfully completed his degree in Arts and Design from UiTM, Shah Alam and it was here that Wan developed his distinctive creative style of teaching. It laid the foundation for the way he approached teaching his students, especially when he worked in an international private school for 13 years, earning a reputation for working closely with children of mixed abilities.
“I started Bizara in 2018, with just one student but today I employ 24 teachers in two centres, Tadika Sri Bizara, which provides early childhood education for children four to six years old and Bizara Intercare, which supports children 7 to 19 years old.
“Both have different aims, Tadika Sri Bizara’s aim is to provide a fun, play-based and inclusive learning environment, that builds a strong foundation in academics, creativity and social skills.
“Bizara Intercare uses an inclusive education approach, which integrates academics, life skills and therapy support where needed, ensuring that every student can learn and grow according to abilities,” he added.
Wan also shared that Bizara is run as a typical school from morning till 3.30pm. There are academic classes, homework, exams and report cards. Children join weekly assemblies, celebrate birthdays, enjoy their recess, play sports, learn outdoors, go on trips and perform concerts in halls for their families.
“Activities are the engine of learning here. In our Farmazara garden, children walk among plants, climb the stairs to Bizara café, feel the breeze and quietly build balance, coordination and courage.
“We use several kinds of swings to support body control and attention. Our swimming pool(waist to chest) depth builds confidence, breath control and whole-body strength, while gentle water features and aquariums provide the calming sound of running water.
“In the Bizara kitchen, children are allowed to eat barefoot on clean floors to safely explore textures, and grounding, while mealtime routines also build manners, turn-taking and independence is developed through carrying trays, finding seats and cleaning up.
Over time as Bizara grew, Wan shared that he joined Open University Malaysia (OUM) for a Master’s in Educational Leadership to anchor his work in research and governance.
“The master’s programme helped me formalise Bizara’s instructional and integrative approaches. Now I am pursuing my doctorate to codify the Bizara model; so it can be trained, measured and scaled responsibly.”
Wan also added animal petting sessions, using rabbits, fish and a turtle, for students to build empathy, and reduce fear at the same time and he discovered many students did benefit from their experiences.
While many parents are appreciative of his style and creativity, many wonder why Wan puts so much of his heart and soul into Bizara, when he himself is not a parent of a special child.
“You don’t need to have a special needs child to care deeply; you need conviction, humility and the patience to do the work. I don’t see labels. I see potential. My job is to create an environment for that potential to grow,” added Wan with a smile lighting up his face.