Express press service
VILLUPURAM: The winds were howling, whistling the approach of seasonal downpours about to catch NK Hemalatha on wheels, as eerie clouds hovered above his scooter carrying educational materials and toys.
His two-wheeler squealed on the great Gingee-Villupuram highway for about 30 km, reaching the government Se Kunathur High School in Villupuram in time, where Tamil language lessons took on a new dimension. As the drizzle turns to a downpour in the blink of an eye, the 53-year-old high school teacher is asked to take a shield under the roof of a roadside bus shelter.
“Innu ennathu tha special, madam”, the students of class 7B of the secondary school, slightly out of patience, speak in unison just as their favorite teacher comes into class almost 20 minutes late.
“Mazhai, it’s special,” the teacher replies, settling into her comfort zone. The toys, mostly made of bamboo, are assembled on the table. The teacher takes the form of a spider in the batch.
“We public school teachers are well paid. We can afford to reinvest some of it in the children of our own schools. I make these toys myself,” Hemalata told TNIE. “I use toys to help students improve their cognitive abilities to better grasp complex texts like the Thirukural and the Puranaanuru,” she adds.
Other days, Hemalatha takes lessons out of the box in the open: outside of language lessons, she raises awareness of a wide variety of issues, including child abuse in the villages where the students come from.
“It’s more personal when children participate in such outreach programs from their own villages. It connects them on a deeper level to the subject, letting the thought flow freely. Parents also attend these sessions,” says Hemalatha.
One of her students, a grade 8 student, says Hemalatha breaks through language barriers to enlighten them to a more free and independent way of life. The teacher was featured in a Mann Ki Baat session in December 2020, where he praised her efforts to mold words into craft.
VILLUPURAM: The winds were howling, whistling the approach of seasonal downpours about to catch NK Hemalatha on wheels, as eerie clouds hovered above his scooter carrying educational materials and toys. His two-wheeler squealed on the great Gingee-Villupuram highway for about 30 km, reaching the government Se Kunathur High School in Villupuram in time, where Tamil language lessons took on a new dimension. As the drizzle turns to a downpour in the blink of an eye, the 53-year-old high school teacher is asked to take a shield under the roof of a roadside bus shelter. “Innu ennathu tha special, madam”, the students of class 7B of the secondary school, slightly out of patience, speak in unison just as their favorite teacher comes into class almost 20 minutes late. “Mazhai, it’s special,” the teacher replies, settling into her comfort zone. The toys, mostly made of bamboo, are assembled on the table. The teacher takes the form of a spider in the batch. “We public school teachers are well paid. We can afford to reinvest some of it in the children of our own schools. I make these toys myself,” Hemalata told TNIE. “I use toys to help students improve their cognitive abilities to better grasp complex texts like the Thirukural and the Puranaanuru,” she adds. Other days, Hemalatha takes lessons out of the box in the open: outside of language lessons, she raises awareness of a wide variety of issues, including child abuse in the villages where the students come from. “It’s more personal when children participate in such outreach programs from their own villages. It connects them on a deeper level to the subject, letting the thought flow freely. Parents also attend these sessions,” says Hemalatha. One of her students, a grade 8 student, says Hemalatha breaks through language barriers to enlighten them to a more free and independent way of life. The teacher took part in a Mann Ki Baat session in December 2020, where he praised her efforts to mold the words into the craft.
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