My schooling days stretched in the 60s and 70s in a school in Port Louis, then straight on abroad for further studies in the UK where I have eventually settled since 1977. I have been fortunate enough to return to the motherland regularly visiting relatives and in the last few years, thanks to the advance in electronic communications, I have ?reconnected? with many old Loreto school friends.

Each time I came on a visit, it was a good opportunity and an excuse for old school friends to meet over lunch or dinner. We then reminisced on the good old days supported with mementoes, like school photographs and the odd autograph book. After each of these meetings, I came out enriched with so many good memories of the carefree days spent at school. It is only when I stopped and delved deeper about how these school years had impacted on my education that I found I struggled to feel happy and enriched by the memories of the days spent behind the classroom desk.

Yet surely, I should be able to pick ?my best teacher?. It should be easy to pick one at least from the numerous teachers who taught me during the 12 years at school. However deep I dug, not one teacher?s name stuck out. What impressed me most about all of my teachers, was that most of them were so dedicated to their task of teaching their subjects. They never failed to turn up on time, their lessons were well prepared, and they delivered them with discipline and an eagerness to get their teaching across to us. However hard I tried to torment them during their lessons, they stood rock solid, plodding along relentlessly, injecting so much effort into their teaching. It would seem like they were on a mission to conquer our minds, to brainwash us with their subjects.

I am sure most of them felt rewarded with their efforts. Many of us produced excellent exam results. My school was the crème de la crème of all schools at that time. So now I can?t help but feel great admiration for all my teachers, for their dedication, their knowledge of their subjects and their strong discipline. Somehow, despite so much effort from them, I felt cheated. Of course not by them. After all, they did teach in class, they did their job diligently and seriously. To me, they were all ?best teachers?.

The feeling of being let down became so prominent when I embarked in higher education in the UK. It hit me so hard when it became apparent that I was lacking in so many learning and studying skills. Throughout my school education, emphasis was strongly put on writing and reading skills and rote learning was the norm. First of all, I was at a complete loss with the listening and verbal tasks at university. Then there were the other ?softer? issues like the cultural and social differences one faced with living in a foreign country. There was so much to catch up with, so much to do to reduce the gap. I did it with a lot of pain, effort, perseverance and countless sleepless nights.

Since 1990, I have had the privilege of following my children?s school years through the British education system. It would be so unfair to compare their experience of being taught in school with mine. First of all, the new technologies of the 1980s, with personal computers and the Internet, have transformed the world of education. The two education systems are also so different, despite the fact that I had a westernised education system.

But I could only watch with envy as my children progressed through their school years with self-assurance, so much zest for learning and always with the aim of going for the best exam results or else what is the point? According to my daughter, her ?best teacher? was an English teacher who guided the pupils through the lesson, gave them time to work things out for themselves, and encouraged them to express their ideas and thoughts freely. She said about her: ?In her lesson, she lets me be my own person.? If only?

Pauline BROOKE-LI MOW SANG [email protected]