TEBOHO KHATEBE MOLEFI - Public Eye

 

A Hindu teacher’s professional journey in a Christian country

 7th August 2020

He comes from humble beginnings, an expatriate whose survival in a third world country when many young educated children are unemployed has not been an easy one too.

And for a Hindu working in a Catholic school and attaining positions unusual is what has been the strangest in Ajayagosh Narayanan’s journey as a professional in Lesotho and the respect he has earned through his contribution to the country’s education sector. But that is the generosity of the Basotho! 

Narayanan’s struggle and effort when he arrived in Lesotho were to build a home, support his family and to give something back to the indigenous community that welcomed him then, and continued to feed him and his family for 30 years.

He says those are the very people that gave him strength throughout his journey while God gave him the will to continue.

“I am now retired as a teacher but continue staying in Maseru with the hope to pursue my dreams to support education in the country, if and when possible. I continue dreaming, and that keeps me alive,” he continues.

What can be written about me? What can be emphasised on my survival and existence when I am surrounded by people who supported me in Lesotho, how can I act differently? Muses the veteran teacher when asked to share his experiences and how he has helped shape education in the country.

“I was simply following the tradition of a great nation of Moshoeshoe. My Indian background gave me the dreams and values of a culture that I considered extremely precious to me, yet I could not find an earning at home!

It was one of my teachers, Mr Thampy who helped me find a job in Kenya in 1988. That was the beginning of my long journey that ended in Lesotho,” Narayanan recalls.

He says he had never heard of Lesotho, but only of the neighbouring South Africa as a green pasture. As a young person from a humble background earning a steady income migrating would only be to a place where he earned more to make a better life for himself and family…this was important.

Narayanan was born and brought up in a South Indian state of Kerala, where he spent long arduous 30 years; spending the other 31 years in Africa - 29 of those in Lesotho invited by one of his well-wishers, Mr Bhanu, while he was struggling in Kenya.

He started working at ‘Mamohau High School in 1991 and Koali Moima, a teacher, veteran politician and now Private Secretary to the Speaker of the National Assembly, was the school headmaster who gave Narayanan his appointment letter to join his team.

“I believe that the three years that I lived at ‘Mamohau has taught me a lot about Lesotho, her welcoming rural life and about Basotho. That was the period when qualified teachers were scarce in Lesotho, but revolutionary transformation was taking place in the education sector.

At the same time, conflicts and tension between the Ministry of Education and school proprietors were brewing and that caused church schools to be closed indefinitely in 1992 because as I heard ‘the infrastructure belonged to the churches, so the ministry could own the children and the teachers and remain with them’,” he recalls.

This tension indeed changed the education sector in Lesotho, and according to Narayanan, this compelled government to build more government classrooms for primary and secondary education.

“I could be wrong! This is the same time when debate on a free education policy was also aired. Year 1995 brought the teachers’ strike, and from that incident teachers learned about the newly implemented education policy for Lesotho. Free Primary Education Policy was also implemented soon and that indeed benefitted many vulnerable Basotho children.

This is the background that shaped my teaching career in Lesotho. However, what disturbed me throughout this transformation in the education field was that, the professional development programme was slowly diminishing. And this had a long-term impact on the quality of education in Lesotho,” he says.

Teaching life in Lesotho

The teacher says it was shocking for him to live in a thatched Basotho hut, a young Indian who just landed from a crowded town living a modern life in Kisumu (Kenya); a hut was unbelievable and unacceptable.

But he says he had no choice, and that this was an eye opening experience, as “’Mamohau taught me the other side of human life as I soon became part of the school community.”

Due to family issues he had to opt for a transfer to Cenez Secondary School in July 1991; the late Kanono Ntoane was the headmaster at Cenez, and Narayanan was invited to join the team there – which he accepted.

Both ‘Mamohau and Cenez are Roman Catholic Church school and movement between those is easy.

Narayanan remembers, “moving from ‘Mamohau was painful but I received a wonderful and memorable farewell from the staff there; and when I reached Cenez Secondary School in Naleli, Maseru, I found a yard with two blocks for 6 classrooms facilitating about 300 students all total, a small admin block with 10 teachers and two cooks working in a small open kitchen. Lunch was cooked using gathered fire wood.

I remember, we had to walk to the nearest mountain to gather firewood, but I enjoyed that fully. I remember those days of teaching the kitchen staff the Indian way of cooking soup!”

Cenez at the time had no electricity, water or other resources but this is where he learned typing using two fingers, which he still does typing on his laptop even now; and printing  documents using stencils.

In 1995 management took the initiative to upgrade the school and opened the first Form D classroom in a small domestic science laboratory. He says raising funds for the project was fun.

“The school had a humble starting, and we build from there to today’s Cenez High School you see with 19 classroom blocks, a multi-purpose hall, computer rooms, library, drawing room, domestic room, a science laboratory, computerised office…and above, all electricity and water.

The progress was remarkable; however, I am more concerned with the inadequate human resources and human development.”

Narayanan’s observation is that the Lesotho education sector, though doing a lot for teachers, is not enough, and that teacher’s professionalism is always compromised.

Their dreams and visions are marginalized, when a teacher enters in a school with hopes and dreams to bring changes in the life of a student child, the teacher thinks this is inevitable and his ability must be appreciated, he says.

He continues, “Soon, the inadequate and inefficient machinery crushes the dreams. As a result, he becomes part of the existing system and lives up living the life of a mechanic as a teacher. Learning is highly compromised in the walls of the classrooms and the light in the eyes of our children fade away. Lucky those are those few who, somehow, were successful.”

Many schools excelled because the school headmaster had a dream, and in most it was a one man show, he says, adding that others followed blindly or rebelled.

The outcomes are obvious then, either the schools soon excel or fall off the wagon completely from fatigue; this because the system requires revisiting of policies and programmes. Teachers need to be committed to shape their professional identity, and that has always been Narayanan’s worry. 

“Shall we conduct a capacity building activity for teachers,” he once asked, and luckily received instant support from his headmaster, Benedict Moiloa, and from the education ministry’s officials.

“I met Ntate Moiloa when I joined Cenez High School in 1994 July. He was deputizing Ntate Kanono, the principal. We were young, energetic and dreamers but did not compromise on our views. After the unfortunate death of Kanono in 1997 Ntate Moiloa was promoted as the Principal of Cenez High and then I became his Deputy.

A long road we walked together, a team with a common vision and aim. We took Cenez High to a better level from about 300 students and 12 teachers in 1996 to about 1 000 students and more than 30 teachers in less than 10 years,” he reminisces the old days.

Ntate Narayanan and Ntate Moiloa fought, argued, and debated a lot and on everything under the sun. They faced challenges together too, making his principal a special component of his life in Lesotho.

“He was a pleasant guy, highly emotional and argumentative but able to give freedom to a person once he was convinced they deserved it. He enjoyed being bossy, an authoritative leader, but appreciated hard-work. He was one who would not hesitate to extend an opportunity that came his way to others,” he remembers his friend and boss.

He says their journey together was unique, exciting, energetic while challenging at the same time; a journey they travelled on together until 2017 when Moiloa retired.

Moiloa extended his vision to reach out to other teachers in Lesotho, and that motivated Narayanan to conduct various capacity building activities for primary and secondary school teachers across the country. His contributions to education as a teacher, as a deputy and as a principal in a Catholic schools remains unchallenged.

“He took me to heights that I could not climb; he introduced me to the leaders of the nation, and to various organizations. He took me to places which I could not reach, if travelled alone. He believed in me, confided in me, and shared his worries, dreams and secrets with me.

At work, we complemented each other and progressed on the same pace. I am where I am because of him, that I acknowledge at this moment with gratitude and appreciation.”

“My focus was on Mathematics and Science. We aimed to share ideas on peer learning and innovations. Visionary officials like Dr Lira Molapo, Mr Vincent Sekoala and Mr Teboho Moneri (Ministry of Education) supported me unconditionally, and participated in many such activities.

The academics from other countries whom he met during various educational conferences also listened to his plea and visited Lesotho for the facilitation of a small-scale teachers’ programme. In many occasions these invited academics raised funds for their own travel, and Narayanan’s task was to raise money for catering.

“Many well-wishers, friends and non-governmental organisations helped me to meet the cost, Professor Mark Schafer (Rhodes University), Dr Patrick Barmby (WITS University), Dr Harries Anthony (Durham University), Dr Mpalami Mpalami (LCE), Dr Norma Boakes (Richard Stockton University) were some of those academics who supported our programmes.

Since 2012, we conducted about 8 workshops on peer learning, origami, numbers, creative ideas etc., and that motivated teachers.

In 2016, I was approached by the Irish Oblates to conduct a study to investigate the needs of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) schools in Lesotho. I conducted and completed the study successfully by 2017 with support from Dr Harries and Dr Mathot I also received support from the Ministry of Education and the RCC leaders. The findings pointed out the need for resource development to improve the classroom learning and teaching.

40 schools participated in the study and the findings were shared with various stake-holders. The study also helped me in the sense that Professor Peter Tymms and Professor Christine Merrelle ((Durham University) approached me to conduct a study on Grade 1 pupils under the PIPS (Primary Indicators for Primary Schools),” he narrates.

This was another milestone in the research field, with PIPS, the teachers developed local materials for teachers and learners, then conducted and coordinated the study to evaluate the Grade 1 pupils’ learning capacity.

The study was completed in 2019 and the report was published (www.ipips.org), after which it was proposed and prepared for the next stage by expanding the study to all districts in Lesotho.

Unfortunately, with the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic also striking Lesotho, the execution of the plan remains on ice due to prevalent safety protocols borne by the national lockdown. 

Reflective thoughts

How did these experiences empower him as a person? A question he says he repeatedly asks himself.

“I believe that I was lucky, and I repeatedly say this to myself. It was my school teacher who took me to Kenya. I was a raw material with crude thoughts in mind. I was inclined to an Indian way of looking at situations. What mattered then were the Indian values and my Indian background!

Kenya was my classroom, and I learned restlessly. The political chaos in Kenya (1990) forced me to explore elsewhere.

Basotho then opened the door for me through Ntate Moima. He appointed me as his Head of Department (Maths and Science) and I remember the first question that my neighbour-teacher asked me then, when will you be leaving for South Africa? I simply said, wait and see. I am still in Lesotho!”

During those days, Lesotho was a transit for many young fortune seekers, and he says he can’t blame anyone for thinking like that as life was tough.

He continued, “I have seen the changes and transformation on the education sector, in about thirty years in Lesotho. As a teacher I have seen my colleagues, headmaster and some students growing into politicians and ministers or pursuing decent professions. 

‘Mamohau was an experimental pool for me to draw the correct kind of organic materials as nourishment for my career! Cenez High School was my dream child, and I progressed in career with the school growing. Thanks to the Cenez community. I was one of the first Heads of Departments officially recognized by Ministry of Education.”

Narayanan says he got the opportunity to be the Deputy Principal and then took over the school for a couple of years after Moiloa retired as the headmaster at Cenez, having appreciated and acknowledged his earlier shown enthusiasm and efforts - and working together as a team.

He says he has also received and opportunity to attend MPhil (Management in Education) at St Augustine College in South Africa, his third Master’s Degree. 

“MPhil helped me a smooth entry for my PhD at Rhodes University (Mathematics Education). Soon after, I received a great opportunity to engage in a study to investigate the needs of catholic Schools, and then became part of iPIPS team to conduct a study.

All these are blessings from God, through various great humans and academicians as his agents. I strongly believe that you do your karma (god given duty) and god will give you the opportunities to grow, and to serve others. Materials do not matter, what mater is your dreams, vision and values!” he continues.

The travelled teacher says that many officials ranging from government ministers to education inspectors supported him, friends offered their financial help, international organizations simply extended their backing to his calls; that they all believed in him and cemented his efforts to conduct various workshops for Lesotho teachers.