Alicia Jabbar, teacher, mentor, friend

By Gibron Rahim
THERE is more to the career of teaching than standing in front of a blackboard. Those of us who have been fortunate to pass through the hands of truly gifted teachers know this fact all too well. Teachers can act as mentors, friends and parents. Educators who truly care deserve our eternal gratitude. Alicia Jabbar is among these teachers.

Alicia did not fall in love with the profession right away. She had not thought of taking up teaching as a profession originally she told the Pepperpot Magazine. About a year or two after completing her secondary education at the Anna Regina Secondary School, she decided to join the profession, initially as a way to earn a living. “At 19, I just sent in an application,” she said. “I got through and I started to teach.” She started off at Charity Secondary where she taught Home Economics..

GROW TO LOVE
In time, Alicia realised that she fell in love with her job and the responsibilities it entailed. “The children really motivate you to love it even more,” she further explained. In 2010, after a school year as a teacher at Charity Secondary, Alicia began her studies at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) on the Essequibo Coast to better equip herself as an educator. She completed her training there in 2012. In 2014, she again decided to upgrade her qualifications by attending the University of Guyana. She completed her Bachelor of Education in English at the institution and graduated in 2016.

There might appear to be a discrepancy between Alicia’s start as a Home Economics teacher and her current appointment as an English teacher. Explaining the circumstances that led to the change, she related that she had been in the Home Economics stream while in secondary school and it was in that area that she had been appointed to teach at Charity Secondary. When she started her training at CPCE however, English was one of the only two subject area specialisations that were available to her. Specialisations in more vocational subject areas, such as Home Economics and Agricultural Science, were not being offered since there were not enough teachers interested in pursuing them.

TEACHING ENGLISH
Alicia was undaunted by the choice and change in subject area. Given the choice between English and Social Studies, English was her clear choice, not least because she herself is partial to story and poetry writing. That interest was aided by the English teachers she was fortunate to have been taught by while in secondary school, chief among those she mentioned was Miss Deoranie Ramdeen.

Alicia explained that she enjoyed classes with her above all her English classes at Anna Regina Secondary. She related that Ramdeen’s calm and simple demeanour and way of teaching had made her learning experience a comfortable one. She also credited teachers Miss Dianne Henry and Miss Trevani as having made her education in English richer.

Her journey in the teaching profession so far has not been without challenges. Perhaps one of the most difficult was leaving behind her child. She was among the first group of teachers to be part of the initiative to transition CPCE Associate Degree teachers to Bachelor Degrees at the University of Guyana. Pursuing her degree required her to leave her daughter at home while she came to Georgetown to study.

It was very difficult for her, on an emotional level, to leave her child behind during her period of study. That was her greatest challenge since she related that she had not found her new environment especially challenging to adjust to. Neither was it difficult to adjust to teaching at Freeburg Secondary School, the school she was attached to.

OTHER CHALLENGES
Another challenge has been strategising to get her students to focus on academics since they are more athletically inclined. Though it was frustrating for her in the beginning, she has been able to adjust her teaching accordingly. “Over the years, [I’ve learnt] to try for improvement,” she said. That she said is her main goal – to motivate her students so that they improve. “I think as a teacher that should be the most important thing,” Alicia noted.

She has learnt that a teacher plays multiple roles in a child’s life besides teaching. Sadly, she noted that not every child can be reached despite an educator’s best efforts. They may leave the system she said without any change and without a teacher having gotten through to them. It is a sad truth that she has had to learn to accept.

May 15 will mark eight years since Alicia began teaching. She is presently teaching at Plaisance Secondary School where she holds the position of Trained Graduate Mistress. She had some advice for anyone who may be interested in entering the teaching profession. Much like she did in the beginning, some who pursue the profession may look at teaching solely as a way to earn an income. Alicia advised though that teaching is a career that requires dedication. “If you really want to teach, if it’s something that you truly want to do, go for it,” she said.

Alicia has spoken to numerous teachers and from those conversations and her own experience she has gleaned that the profession requires passion. “You will only be good at something if you really like it,” she made clear. “These are children we’re talking about and we cannot play with their futures.” She has also discovered that it is not just her students that learn. “You meet all sorts of children from all sorts of backgrounds and it’s very interesting because you yourself learn new things every single day.”