The community of Qerelevu in the interior of Ba has correctly described its primary school teacher, Vimal Goundar, as a great role model.

The 28-year-old bachelor, who featured in an article in the Fiji Sun yesterday, is the ideal teacher whom everyone wants in their local school to teach their children.

Mr Goundar epitomises what the teaching profession stands for. He gives people hope and faith in our education system through his examples of hard work, sacrifice, perseverance and passion for teaching.

Teachers who work in the rural and maritime areas are some of the unsung heroes of our communities.

Like Mr Goundar, they work under difficult, extreme and trying conditions. Some travel on terrains that are not accessible by vehicles.

Those in the maritime areas have to put up with sometimes irregular shipping services and rough seas. Their love and passion for teaching keeps them going. They know that they are helping to prepare our children face a world full of challenges.

It’s a thankless and onerous task for which they have dedicated their lives to. We should not take them for granted but recognise the great work they do and  reward them accordingly, particularly when they work in an environment that is different to urban schools.

While the Ministry of Education continues to bridge the gap between the urban and rural schools, these teachers have to make do with the facilities they have now to achieve their education targets. Some of these schools are not as well resourced as their urban counterparts.

Because of their relative isolation, teachers don’t normally get the same kind of exposure that urban school teachers get. But they soldier on and have achieved remarkable results over the years.

Mr Goundar is the face of these dedicated rural teachers. Because public service employment issues are now merit-based, these teachers deserve an improvement in their remuneration package to reflect the difficult conditions they are subjected to.