Last Monday, schools across the country opened their doors and welcomed back students from their summer holidays. Over at Royal City School, it was no different.
With four new teachers joining the staff (more on them later), there was a palpable sense of expectation and excitement in the air at the school. We were struck by the (what must be universal) nostalgia about the promise of a new, unblemished textbook, a brand new pencil case filled with brand new stationery, and a rucksack bigger than the child wearing it. A great reminder of the common humanity we all share.
Sitting down with the new Standard I students, we asked them how they felt about coming back to school. “GOOD!” a chorus of tiny voices replied. “There is lots of fun in learning and writing and being with my friends”, 6-year-old Sujana confidently announced (who then could not stop laughing, giggling and wiggling in her seat as she posed for a photo).
The smiles, laughing, giggling and wiggling didn’t stop there. Kemal, Ayesha, Sana and Damodar, our new teachers, share this sense of excitement and positivity surrounding the new school year. Damodar (our first male teacher) told us, “The quality is so high and the experience of being here is exciting. The other teachers are very supportive, and I am excited to share and learn with the children. We can learn together”.
Similar to our other teachers, Kemal, Ayesha, Sana and Damodar grew up dreaming of being a teacher. “I remember my first teacher, Ms Bharti”, Kemal tells us “, she had such beautiful writing. From that moment I knew I wanted to be a teacher”.
With this great influx of enthusiasm, the school’s head, Lakshmi, said, “I feel very positive about the coming year. In the previous academic year, we learnt a lot. We have implemented lots of new things and we really can’t wait to see the fruits of our labour and ultimately, benefit the students”.
