<B>Dinesh Somanah</B> <I>Associate Professor at the University of Mauritius</I>

?When I was at primary school, more precisely at Notre Dame de la Confiance, I came across a great teacher by the name of Mr. Lefou, while I was doing LA PETITE BOURSE. He was full of qualities, but above all he was versatile, not only as a teacher but also as an educator for inculcating values through extra-curricular activities. Although Mr. Lefou was giving most of us private tuition, he would teach us the maximum during school hours, unlike many private teachers nowadays. Moreover, he would have only around ten to fifteen students in his tuition, so that he could give all of us the attention we needed. And he would do the same in class. I remember very well how well he treated us. Actually, he would give every student the appropriate care and attention without any sign of negligence, and would treat every student from any level equally.

Coming back to the person himself, I believe that he entered into teaching by vocation. He was always in quest of something new at the pedagogical level. In fact, when I recall my memories, I realize that he inculcated a sense of discipline and other moral values within us in order to make us more responsible.

Mr. Lefou was teaching us four subjects, namely, French, English, Mathematics (Arithmetic at the time) and Geography. Incredibly enough he mastered all four subjects on the tip of his fingers. In addition to this, he knew exactly how to act as a good pedagogue in order to make us like the subject. One of the things he liked doing was drawing on the board with his piece of chalk, once or twice a week. He was as good as an artist. He would also tell us to do the same. I personally think that his aim behind this was to develop other faculties that were dormant within us. Maybe it was also to make us do something that was outside the curriculum. Another great aspect was the fact that he would encourage us to follow the news and would do his best to sharpen our curiosity, for example by doing some quizzes which were great. He would also tell us sometimes to clean the class together.

Mr Lefou was quite strict and rigorous. Since corporal punishment was the order of the day, I remember getting hit by his stick for having lied. Asked who had done their homework, I raised my hand with those who had, when I had not. Nevertheless I must concede that he did so for my own benefit. Furthermore, besides his strictness the man had a good sense of humour. He was very open and friendly with all of us. But this does not mean that we would not show him respect him for all that. After the class he would often come and share some jokes with us just to show us that he was a human being like us.

As regards bad teachers, the only one I had was at Royal College of Curepipe. He was a physics teacher. I disliked him because of his laziness and his lack of desire to work. He could hardly answer questions we would ask him. As a result we did not attend his class for a year.

Before concluding, I would like to seize the opportunity to pay a vibrant tribute to a lecturer when I was studying in India. His name was George Sudarshan. He was teaching elementary particle physics. His level was so high that he could teach physics by mixing it with psychology. Indeed, he managed to show us that, by using a holy stick approach, it would be easier for us to go deep into the subject. Furthermore, he gave me the opportunity to meet one of the greatest philosophers of the last century: Gidu Krishna Moorti.?