Abdullah Hossen, <I> Former mayor</I>

?I began my education at the Young Men?s Hindu Govt School in Port-Louis, as I was born and raised in Port-Louis. Then, I continued my secondary education at two different places - Forms I and II at Islamic College and from Form III to HSC at Royal College of Port-Louis.

Through these different experiences, I concede I was really lucky to come across many teachers who all played a key role in building me as a citizen, but more importantly as a decent human being. I will start by paying a vibrant tribute to my Standards V and VI teacher, ?Sir Joe?. It is important to acknowledge that, in those days, we used to call our teacher by their first names, preceded by the title ?Sir?. I have always kept very good memories of the teacher he was, and especially of the man he was.

Sir Joe was a great admirer of Parker pens. Coincidently, my family was commercialising this product. So, he was always bragging about the credit of the product. Moreover, I also remember Sir Joe for the great attention he gave to his students. He was a very friendly person and always liked to take some time with us to share some jokes. Furthermore, in my mind, Sir Joe represents the good souvenirs I have about school.

Coming to my experience at secondary school, I must say there were two teachers who really marked me. They were both at Royal College Port-Louis where I had some marvellous time. In those days, the likes of Arvin Boolell, Rachid Meerun (Ambassador of Mauritius in Pakistan), Gaëtan Siew, Raj Ringadoo, Ashraf Caunhye and many others were my classmates. As for the teachers who marked me, two names come to my mind: Reshad Utteem (the younger brother of the former President of the Republic) and Bala Nursimooloo.

Reshad Utteem is a man to whom I owe a lot. He is someone who has seen me grow, as I used to take tuition with him as from Form III. In addition to this, he was my history teacher at the college and later on, my GP teacher. In fact, I was predestined to do classical subjects at a very early stage. This is why I was doing history. But Reshad Uteem is without doubt the one who really sharpened my passion for the subject. Indeed, he inculcated into me this desire to know more by his way of teaching. He had this knack of making me do more reading every time and document myself.

At that time, we were taught about European history and British history. Before, none of our teachers had shown us a map of Great Britain. So we were unable to situate where the Midlands, Cornwall, etc were. Living in a small island like Mauritius, it was difficult to imagine the world outside. Reshad Uteem was the first teacher, to show us a map to make us aware of the location of the different areas. Reshad Uteem had a towering personality, as he was a big strong man with a very imposing personality. He reminded me of the likes of Napoleon and Churchill. Thereby, he got a real influence on me.

One of the things I will never forget about him, was that I used to take tuition with him early in the morning. After the tuition, I would take a lift from him, to be dropped at school, as he was meant to go there as well. At the beginning, it was a quite stressful journey from his place to school, as I was very shy towards him. After some time, he started making me feel at ease, so that I would even crack some jokes with him. Thereon, I was considered a member of his family because of the good relationship I had with all its members. I now realise he was not simply my teacher but also a trainer or more precisely: a mentor!

Bala Nursimooloo, who has unfortunately passed away, was my mathematics teacher. I started taking tuition with him when I was in Form IV. I always considered him as someone quite special. In class he used to give us the impression of someone who was severe and totally inaccessible to have a conversation with. But when I got to know him, my perception of him changed and I found him to be someone very philosophical. He even managed to break those intangible obstacles between a teacher and his students.

His approach towards us changed and with time, it proved to be not purely academical. Indeed, by giving some mates and I tuition at his place, he inculcated within us a passion for nature. Today, even if he has gone, he is still very present in my mind. I can still imagine him opening his door on Saturday mornings to welcome me in his tuition class.

To conclude, I would like to express my gratitude to all the teachers I had during my educational experience. Moreover, I would like to add that the teaching profession should be more valued as it is the key to the development of our human resources!?