ONE might think about 50 years, and consider it to be a lifetime. To the average person, 50 years is half of a century. To the special occult scientist, 50 years has more significant and intricate meaning. To Ingrid Fung, fifty years represents the duration of shaping and moulding the young impressionable minds of Guyana.

Five decades as a great teacher arousing awe through magnificence. Her role as a pillar in the education sector of Guyana certainly puts her in the pantheon of all-time great teachers.

This immaculate journey originated in the Cinderella County of Essequibo. Ingrid commenced teaching at the Anna Regina Secondary School with the intense yearning of becoming an air hostess. After completing her GCE O’ level subjects, this young lady, armed with vim and vigor, made her way to the Capital city of Georgetown. Being in Georgetown meant being closer to her cherished ambition of rocking the skies. Fate found ways to thwart these aspirations.

Unwittingly, in 1969, she accompanied a family friend to an interview at the St. Theresa’s Anglican School (now Peter’s Hall Primary). In the flash of an eye, she was hired as an acting teacher in the secondary department. Basil Barnette Blair (the headmaster of the school at the time) was keen-witted enough to perceive her natural talent for tutelage and mentorship. He persuaded her to join the Government Training College (now known as the Cyril Potter College of Education). Ingrid accepted the challenge and was admitted to the college in 1972. By now, being an air hostess was simply an unrealistic and self-deluding fantasy, but she would go on to soar higher than any aircraft known to man.

After sedulous work, Ingrid graduated training college and was assigned by the Ministry of Education to teach at Queenstown Primary. Rapid upward trajectory was her mindset at this point. She decided to read for a degree in Education at the University of Guyana. It was definitely a period of toil and travails, but she emerged successful. Upon completion, this college graduate was transferred to the St. Joseph High School, which became her professional sanctuary.

In the year 2000 the millennium bug crisis failed to materialise, but there was a bigger phenomenon occurring. A young girl from Affiance, Essequibo, had morphed into the Principal of St. Joseph High School. This momentous milestone came only two years after Ingrid acquired a Master’s Degree in Education from the Framingham State College in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

Ingrid’s legacy at St. Joseph is unquestionable; when she retired as Principal in 2006, the school was embellished with the best academic results in decades. Her magnum opus spans regionally. This amazing teacher has been a CSEC examiner for 30 plus years. Her assiduous work launched her into the top position of Assistant Chief Examiner for many years. She is now a seed marker in the online format of marking.

Of course, her name is synonymous with teaching students, but her portfolio is replete with added responsibilities. She served as the facilitator for the Non-Graduate English Distance Programme for teachers around Guyana. She is mandated with the powers to train English teachers from all the Administrative Regions in Guyana. Ingrid is definitely a rock solid stanchion in the educational framework in Guyana.

Today, her legacy stands tall as she continues to serve as an active English teacher. Ingrid can now boast of teaching the offspring of persons whom she taught in the 1980s and 1990s – generations of positively influencing and inculcating outstanding morals.
Guyana endearingly perceived Ingrid’s devotion to education as she was bestowed with the Golden Arrow of Achievement for long and outstanding service.

If we were to hold a reunion with all the students who were taught by Ingrid Fung, it would probably rival the Indy 500 Car Race, which is the largest single-day spectating event in the world.

Ingrid Fung is a national treasure and must be lauded ad nauseam for her continued role as an amazing teacher.

Happy Teachers’ Day to a phenomenal woman!