Bangladeshi-origin educator and community leader Afifa Khanom is set to make new history in Scottish politics. For the first time, a Bangladeshi woman has been nominated as a candidate for Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the Scottish Labour Party in the upcoming Scottish Parliament election, scheduled to be held in May.
Khanom will contest the Mid Fife and Glenrothes constituency, becoming the first Bangladeshi woman to run for the Scottish Parliament. The nomination is being seen as a significant milestone for the Bangladeshi diaspora community in Scotland.
By profession, Khanom is an experienced educator. She previously served as Principal Teacher at Glenrothes High School and later worked as Deputy Headteacher and Business Manager at the Community School of Auchterarder.
She continues to remain active in the field of education and is widely recognized in Scotland’s education sector for her long-standing work in education, human rights, equality, and community development.
Afifa Khanom was born in Barkot village of Dhaka South Union in Golapganj Upazila of Sylhet, Bangladesh.
In 1982, she moved to Scotland after getting married. Overcoming the challenges of a new country and language, she restarted her education through ESOL classes offered by the local council. She later studied at Clackmannan College and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Stirling, followed by a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the same university.
Alongside her professional career, Khanom has been actively involved in community development and voluntary work. She founded the International Women Group in Scotland to promote women’s empowerment. Since 2018, she has served as a board director of the Glenrothes-based charity Later Life Choices.
She has also contributed to educational collaboration between schools in Scotland and Bangladesh through the British Council’s “Connecting Classrooms” project.
Khanom has been an active member of the teachers’ trade union NASUWT since 2012 and is also involved with the Black Workers Committee of the Scottish Trades Union Congress.
Her involvement in politics dates back several years. In 2018, she ran as a Labour Party candidate in a by-election for the Clackmannanshire Council.
If elected as an MSP, Khanom has pledged to prioritize improvements in education, tackling poverty, addressing the cost-of-living crisis, and enhancing transportation and local infrastructure.
Drawing on nearly 30 years of teaching experience, she emphasized that every child deserves access to quality education and said she hopes to work toward that goal.
Her nomination as the first Bangladeshi woman candidate in a Scottish Parliament election is widely regarded as a proud achievement for the Bangladeshi community living in Scotland.
Bd-pratidin English/ ANI
