Feel proud of your journey of being a teacher despite the many ups and downs you may have faced during your years in this noble profession.

These were the sentiments ech­oed by the Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts, Premila Kumar during the teacher retiree recogni­tion event in Labasa on Tuesday.

Ms Kumar honoured and present­ed awards to 19 Early Childhood Education, Primary and Second­ary School teachers.

She said teachers have always been the pillar of strength and backbone of the nation in shaping productive and responsible indi­viduals that have later joined the working sector.

“Teachers have immensely con­tributed to the building of the public and private workforce of our country,” she said.

Ms Kumar said there were some teachers who might have not been able to grace this wonderful mo­ment of their life retiring because of unexpected early retirements and other factors like death, ter­mination, resignation, and other unforeseen circumstances.

“During this COVID-19 pandem­ic, our teachers have played the role of COVID warriors either through creating awareness or supporting health teams in data entry or verification support,” Ms Kumar added.

A total of 147 teachers have re­tired in the Southern, Western and Northern Divisions.

Retirees share last glimpse experience

Retired head teacher of Boubale Primary School, Satish Chandra Deo, talked about the challenges during his teaching career.

“During the 1900s, we did not have the resources and techno­logical capabilities to teach and at times resorted to traditional means to teach students,” he said.

He remembered a time when he used the blackboard and news­print to write the mid-year exam test questions due to the limited printing resources available.

Another retired Head of School from Nasavusavu Secondary School, Thomas Griffan said each day of his career was a new oppor­tunity to inspire and change the lives of his students.

“My advice is simply to trust your abilities and always stay fo­cused on your role as a knowledge member of the society,” he added.

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