WORLD Teachers Day was recently celebrated on October 5.
Teachers are an integral part of society and the bedrock in shaping the destiny and moulding the minds of young people and people in general.

This year, the Pepperpot Magazine focuses on the significant achievements and joy that teachers bring to the hearts of people worldwide.
The Pepperpot Magazine spoke with two teachers who have worked and continue to work feverishly and loyally in fulfilling their dream as educators.

Dawn Trotman Chandler began her career at Comenius Primary in 1988 and moved on to Sacred Heart Primary in 1995, then Winfer Gardens from 2005 – 2020, where she retired.
During her interview with the Pepperpot Magazine, Chandler revealed that she preferred to teach Primary school pupils as against other categories of learners because, at the primary school level, the foundation would be given. She stated that it is different in secondary schools or tertiary institutions, where there is a need for specialisation in a subject area.

The dedicated teacher also noted that there are a lot of delinquent pupils and students, who often times find themselves not learning as they should, primarily because a lot of the issues they deal with originated at the home environment.

She also noted that she believed that teaching should start in the home with the parents and that parents and teachers should have a strong relationship.
“Teaching is not only for now but is holistic, dealing with the whole child,” Chandler told the Pepperpot Magazine.

She believes that if there is greater cooperation from parents, then things will be better within the system. She added that what keeps her going is that she receives inspiration from God and from the children when they excel.

“ Sometimes you as a teacher would feel down and out, but when you go into a classroom and see the smiles on a child’s face, it would make your day, or [when] a child draws or picks a flower from the school yard and says ‘Miss, I brought this for you,’ it makes you happy. It is not the expensiveness of the gift but the thought behind it,” Chandler expressed during her interview.

The joys of teaching Grade Six pupils
Vijay Deonarine is another teacher who has been committed to her profession which she started more than 37 years ago. She began her career at the Enmore Primary School and is still teaching primary school pupils.
“I always wanted to be a teacher, and I taught my sister when I was just about nine years old. So I guess I was caught up with Primary education at a very early age. From a young age I would look at the teachers, and I said this is what I wanted to do,” Deonarine told the Pepperpot Magazine .

She expressed that she has been teaching at the Grade Six Level for a long time, and she really enjoys preparing those pupils to earn a place in a secondary school.
She noted, during her interview, that she enjoys working with the Grade Six pupils, both the ‘high-fliers’ and those who aren’t ‘high-fliers’.

“I enjoy when they do well so that many pupils can get a chance to a Secondary education,” Deonarine said.
She added that it is difficult to prepare pupils for the Grade Six Assessment when there would have been teaching deficiencies at the lower levels.

She noted that she would go back to the beginning and build on the principles to alleviate the problem.
She was the first in her family to join the teaching ranks; now, her daughter is a teacher at Enmore Primary School.