A noble mender of soles

Saturday 10th December, 2022

Most workers in the state sector fight for their rights but do not give a tinker’s cuss about their duties and responsibilities. They take to the streets at the drop of a hat, and win pay hikes and other demands by holding the public to ransom. Sad to say, teachers are no exception. Gone are the days when people held the teaching profession in high esteem. This however does not mean that all teachers should be painted with the same brush.

The education sector is in deep crisis, and the cost of private tuition, which every parent has to bear, makes one wonder whether ‘free education’ is a myth. It is chronic deficiencies in the public education system that have led to the rank growth of shadow education. Some government teachers who neglect their duties at school do not scruple to double up as private tutors and live the life of Riley. Instead of addressing burning issues in the education sector, teachers’ unions have chosen to lock horns with the Education Ministry over a non-issue; they want the government to allow female teachers to report for work, wearing clothes other than the saree!

There are however instances where teachers’ unions take up the cudgels for students and their parents, but they are few and far between. These outfits have been shedding copious tears for the parents who have to cough up a great deal of funds as school fees and donations to the so-called school development societies despite the current economic crisis, which has caused pecuniary woes to everyone and reduced many people to penury. The teachers unions should be thanked for their concern for poor parents, but if they ensure that all their members perform their duties and functions diligently at school to the satisfaction of their pupils, there will be no need for the latter to attend private tuition classes and the hapless parents will be able to save a lot of money.

We are however not short of teachers with hearts of gold, who go the extra mile to make their students happy. An uplifting story about a village schoolmaster on a noble mission to help poor children has been reported from Nikaweratiya. He repairs the shoes of his students whose parents are struggling to keep the wolf from the door. Shoe repairs at school cost children absolutely nothing! Working at Mirihenagama Primary School, Nikaweratiya, as an art teacher, the compassionate mender of soles answers to the name of Mahinda Kumarakanda. Hiru TV deserves praise for having featured this teacher who is worth his weight in gold.

One may wonder why on earth a teacher should go out of his or her way to mend his or her students’ shoes when there are enough and more cobblers around. But Kumarakanda has revealed the reason why he took to shoe-repairing. He says he was saddened to see many of his students wearing broken shoes due to poverty; shoe prices have gone into the stratosphere and most parents cannot afford them. Thanks to his kind heart and sole-mending art, now neither students nor their parents have to worry about damaged shoes. This mender of soles, in our book, deserves national recognition, and his example is worthy of emulation.

We are aware that there are some teachers who help their students in numerous ways, expecting nothing in return. There have been reports of teachers feeding their poor pupils who have to skip meals due to abject poverty. They are the unsung heroes and heroines in this country. Let this editorial comment be a tribute to these compassionate souls who go above and beyond the call of duty for the sake of poor students.

May their tribe increase!