Opinion | A tribute to teachers

As matrics and their families waited anxiously for their final exam results this week, we should acknowledge the important role that teachers play in society.

Teachers prepare pupils for these high-stake exams, sacrificing much of their time, hoping the latter will go out and make a difference in society.

Teachers also have an influence on the path a pupil might follow. They could inspire pupils to follow certain career paths or damage them psychologically by being disparaging about their abilities.

I had an exciting high-school career at Northbury Park Secondary in Bombay Heights, where I matriculated in 1988. My teachers were strict and expected us to work hard, but they were fun.

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As we approached our matric exams in October 1988, we attended revision classes in the evenings, early mornings and on weekends. During this time, our teachers took us through sections of the syllabus that were challenging or that we were unsure about.

These teachers sacrificed their time to help us pass the exams. Their pupils passing was a feather in the teachers’ caps and gave them a sense of accomplishment.

But it was my English teacher, Mr Ranjit Ramlal, who stood out for me. He taught us literature which covered poetry, plays by Shakepeare and classics by Thomas Hardy.

My first encounter with him was when he swept into the classroom and dramatically recited a scene from Shakespeare’s Macbeth:
“First Witch: When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Second Witch: When the hurly-burly’s done,
When the battle’s lost and won.
Third Witch: That will be ere the set of sun.
First Witch: Where the place?
Second Witch: Upon the heath.
Third Witch: There to meet with Macbeth.” (Act 1 Scene 1)

While my classmates were shocked, I was enthralled and became hooked on Shakespeare for life. Mr Ramlal was eccentric, passionate and humorous, while his lessons were unpredictable.

He taught us that literature is a mirror reflection of life. When teaching us about the poem Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, he showed us that a great ruler and his legacy, were prone to impermanence and decay. We learnt that pride goes before a fall and a good heart is never proud.

He inspired me to read voraciously. I would read until three in the morning and lie in bed for most of the weekend, reading, to the annoyance of my mother.

Mr Ramlal encouraged me to learn a few new words from the dictionary every day to expand my vocabulary. I would fall asleep with the dictionary in my hand.

Because of Mr Ramlal, books were my friends. They took me on adventures. He knew how much I loved his classes, so he would allow me to take the set books home for the December holidays, so that I could read them before the start of the new school year.

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Despite him being my favourite teacher, he used to rap me on the knuckles for being defiant. One day, he used imagery to compare my funky hair with that of mythical witch Medusa, who had living snakes for hair, thereby implying my hairstyle was inappropriate.

Amused, I ignored him, as I dreamed of becoming a rock star like Jon Bon Jovi. But his use of imagery was a catalyst for me taking an interest in Greek mythology.

A teacher’s role is to impart life lessons to pupils. Mr Ramlal taught me how to write succinctly.

I remember his poetry lessons fondly, some of which centred on death and the madness of war. As my late husband David reached the end of his fight against leukaemia, I could hear Mr Ramlal, reciting the poem by Dylan Thomas: “Do not go gentle into that good night”, where we are urged to fight against the inevitability of death.

And on days when I was overcome with grief, I would recall Mr Ramlal reciting the poem Virtue by Ted Hughes, which suggests that a virtuous soul does not die.

I phoned Mr Ramlal in 2018 after my 30th matric reunion to tell him how grateful I was to him for inspiring me to read and to pursue a career in journalism and marketing. “You are my babies. I cared a lot about you all,” he said.

His light was snuffed out when he died recently, having had thousands of pupils pass through his classroom, many going on to achieve greatness.

So, dear readers, as you get the matric results of your family members or friends, spare a thought for those hard-working teachers who did their best for your children and taught them life lessons. They help produce future leaders and need to be revered like Mr Ramlal.

• Primarashni (nee Pillay) Gower was an education journalist at The Witness in the 1990s and works at a university in the Eastern Cape.