PLEASE allow me to reply to a letter published in Guyana Chronicle under the headline ‘Berbice Student Being Harassed at School’. The letter was penned by a Shirley Lewis, the grandmother of the student involved.

I went to that school. I was in the graduating class of 1977. Maybe things have changed, but the guiding principle has always been striving for excellence in that school.

The teachers who taught us then, always pushed us to the limit in order for us to work to our potential.

We were disciplined constantly by teachers. The dress code was strictly enforced. Assignments must be completed on time. Competition was good.

Also, the importance of being on time at school was a must. I can recall a Geography teacher, Mr. Azeez, who is now deceased, closed the door of his class if you are one minute late.

Dissents were tolerated, heated discussions were allowed between teachers and students.

However, the teachers always came out on top of those discussions. We were also called names, berated, and teased. It was part of the learning curve and a preparation for life. It was not harassment. But if it was harassment then, it made a whole lot of people successful.

Skeldon Line Path Government School was a powerhouse in providing the intellectual curiosity that made many of us successful men and women. Some of my colleagues are now doctors, lawyers, nurses, business executives, et cetera.

I sympathise with Ms. Shirley Lewis’s plight in relation to her grandson’s problems at school.

However, I will strongly advise her to examine her grandson’s behaviour and not to blow things out of proportion. Do not be confrontational with teachers and let your grandson fight his own battle at school as he will have to do in life.

My father gave me an advice as a young man, “do not come home and complain against teachers.”

“They are always right even when they are wrong.”

Or else, “a second whipping awaits you at home.”

Teachers were held in high respect then and we should continue to do so today.
IQBAL EMAMUDEEN
New Jersey, USA