Hello, I’m Izzat.
Writer, former student activist, educator and Leadership Development Officer at Teach For Malaysia.
Words are a way of making sense of people and the world.
Behind the writing.
I am Mohd Izzat Dahelan, a writer from Bintulu, Sarawak, drawn to education, history, society and the stories people carry. Studying history and social sciences at Universiti Malaysia Sabah left me with questions that still shape my work: whom does knowledge serve, and who is left behind when access to learning is unequal?
As a university student, I was active in Suara Mahasiswa UMS and served as its president. Student activism took me beyond lecture halls. I volunteered as a teacher with Sekolah Alternatif, working alongside children whose access to education was constrained by poverty, documentation and social circumstances. It was there that education became inseparable, in my mind, from questions of dignity and belonging.
I later worked with Borneo Komrad as an activist and Idea Design Manager (Pengurus Reka Idea). Fieldwork, including in Semporna, exposed me to stories and struggles that rarely make it into mainstream conversations. Alongside fellow volunteers and activists, I contributed to alternative education initiatives and conversations about approaches grounded in community realities.
In 2023, I joined Teach For Malaysia as a Fellow in the 2023 Cohort and was placed at SMK Penrissen, Sarawak. Over two years, the classroom challenged and refined my thinking about learning, student leadership and what it means to be a teacher. I completed the Fellowship in 2025.
Today I serve as a Leadership Development Officer at Teach For Malaysia, supporting Fellows as they develop their pedagogy, leadership and reflective practice. I continue to write because I believe that field experiences, history and human stories deserve to be recorded, questioned and shared — not simply remembered.
From the ground up.
A timeline of student organising, alternative education, writing, the classroom and leadership development. Published sources are linked where available.
- 2019–2021
From campus to the Alternative School
While studying at Universiti Malaysia Sabah, I volunteered as a teacher with the Sekolah Alternatif movement, working with children facing barriers to schooling. That experience brought me face to face with questions of statelessness, poverty and the right to education.
- 2021
President of Suara Mahasiswa UMS
As President of Suara Mahasiswa at Universiti Malaysia Sabah, I raised student welfare and access-to-learning concerns, including calls to rethink online teaching during the pandemic.
Source: The Star — Restructure online learning format (2021) ↗
- 2021
Writing about history and society
I published a book review on Sabah's political historiography in Jurnal Borneo Arkhailogia, alongside essays exploring student movements and activism in Borneo.
- 2021–2022
Activist and Idea Design Manager at Borneo Komrad
With Borneo Komrad, I worked on education and advocacy alongside marginalised communities in Sabah. As Idea Design Manager, I spoke publicly about the Sekolah Pemulihan Gam initiative in Semporna and its work with children facing difficult living conditions.
- 2023–2025
Teach For Malaysia Fellow, 2023 Cohort
I joined Teach For Malaysia in 2023 and served at SMK Penrissen in Sarawak, combining classroom teaching with student leadership, collaboration with teachers and school-community initiatives.
- 2025
Completing the Fellowship journey
After completing the 2023 Cohort Fellowship, I reflected on the experience and the transition beyond the classroom in a Teach For Malaysia Alumni Network feature.
Source: Teach For Malaysia Alumni Network — Life After Fellowship (2025) ↗
- 2026 · Kini
Leadership Development Officer
I currently serve as a Leadership Development Officer at Teach For Malaysia, supporting Fellows' professional and leadership growth through pedagogical coaching, reflective conversations, classroom observation and development planning.
Source: Information supplied by the author
My areas of curiosity.
Education
Thoughts on learning, teachers and the classroom.
History & society
Stories and questions about the world around us.
Literature
Fiction, poetry and stories of human experience.
Keep reading.
Explore essays, histories, poetry and stories, or follow new writing through Substack.