CHUNILALL Brijlall and his wife, Sandra Brijlall, are educators who spent decades moulding the minds of learners; but these days, they have both retired and are gardening and enjoying the simpler things in life.

As a retired headteacher, who taught at primary schools in that region for 32 years, he has finally put away his teaching glove.

“After teaching in the school system for so long it was hard after I retired to get adjusted to being a pensioner and I developed skills in the garden and began planting so my days are spend [sic] tending to the yard, the dogs and doing simple things to pass the time,” he said.

He has been a resident of #68 Village for the past 21 years and over the years when he was a teacher, he taught at Wellington Park Primary, Massiah Primary, and #68 Primary among other schools.

“I am from a family of teachers, so I grew up wanting to become a teacher because of the example left by my relatives, who were teachers and I wanted to emulate them,” he said.

The father of one has a daughter; she too, is a teacher at the Line Path Secondary School, Skeldon.

During his teaching years at the #68 Village Primary School, he was instrumental in getting many things done, such as the establishment of the canteen, the play park and the benab, at the school.

The school is one of the cleanest and well-kept buildings in the country and the teachers there take pride in their jobs, to ensure every pupil receives the same level of attention.

Brijlall is a local of the village, but used to reside at his family’s house opposite the mandir, a few houses away and he later acquired a plot of land and built his own house, his current residence, a spacious two-flat house.

He retired five years ago but was asked by the ministry to become the monitor for Mathematics for the primary schools in that region, and he did that job for two years.

Brijlall is well-respected and well-known and visited the 52 primary schools in that region during his tenure as a Mathematics monitor for the Ministry of Education.

He related that the people have been asking him for help with the common entrance children. He decided not to host extra lessons, but would still assist locals to fill out forms and other documents, free of charge.

Brijlall told the Pepperpot Magazine that he enjoyed his years as a teacher and he lived up as a role model and is very pleased he was a part of the lives of many, who have since achieved a lot academically.

“There is a lot I learned over the years in the noble teaching profession and I know that teachers are supposed to be role models; just like a photocopier, children do what they see and we must be of good examples for them to emulate us as teachers and educators,” he said.

Brijlall explained that parents need to give children what they need and not what they want, but as in every home people have different parenting styles and techniques and there is no guidebook to follow.

This educator once had a dozen dogs as pets, but over time they died and he has two.He would feed the dogs in the village every day at 14:00hrs and they would gather at his gate for that time.

“These days I enjoy doing simple things. I did what I had to [do to] serve the community and now I am retired and just staying put at home with my dogs and garden,” he said.

Meanwhile, his wife Sandra Brijlall retired just a few days ago as headmistress of #68 Primary School after serving for 29 years as an educator.

She told the Pepperpot Magazine that she always enjoyed reading and she would sit and doesn’t like to be disturbed when reading the newspapers and she would read from cover to cover even the advertisements.

“Now that I am retired, I will have the time to read more and do more things that I have been meaning to do and who knows, would even volunteer at schools,” she said.

The former headteacher related that it would be difficult to get used to retirement, having spent so many years in the teaching profession, but she is looking forward to it.

This couple seem satisfied with their achievements as educators and are very pleased that they played a vital part in the lives of many.