Latchmin Gopal cops Best Teacher Award

Mar 13, 2011 News

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Her commitment to educating the nation’s children saw Ms Latchmin Gopal of the Leonora Primary School, West Coast Demerara, being duly recognised with the Best Teacher of Region Three Award for 2010.
The award was presented to her during the Teachers’ Award ceremony which was held at the National Cultural Centre last February.
It was her dedication and style of teaching Common Entrance (now National Grade Six Assessment) students that caused Ms Gopal’s role in the public education system to become well known.
For more than a decade she has tirelessly worked with Grade Six students, efforts which saw the Leonora Primary School being placed among the top performing public schools, as designated by the Ministry of Education.
Ms Gopal’s teaching career started at the Vreed-en-Hoop Primary School in 1975. She was just 19 years old at the time but decided to bolster her academic standing by attending the in-service training classes (1981-1983) and obtained a trained teachers’ certificate Class I Grade I.
She subsequently taught at several schools, including two secondary schools within Region Three. She taught at all levels within the Primary School System.
She began her tenure at the Leonora Primary School as a Senior Assistant Mistress in 1992.  She succeeded the teacher at the examination class in 1997 and the resounding results for the said year won her much acclaim throughout the Region.
For 13 consecutive years the Common Entrance results would remain consistent and steadfast at the Leonora Primary, an accomplishment which saw Region Three being placed on the map as it relates to children placing in the top ten position of the country since 1998. “Every year Leonora Primary got 10 and more pupils in the first 100 children in the country’s Common Entrance results,” Gopal related with a sense of pride.
She attributes her success to her teaching methods and thorough knowledge of content. She has over the years gained the realisation that children can “get bored and distracted with plain discussion and chalkboard.”
As a result, she decided to adopt a style which saw her introducing stimulating lessons to her students.
According to Gopal, her teaching techniques entail real life experiences.  For instance, her attempt to teach her students about the elections process saw her orchestrating a mock election in the classroom which entailed the use of ballot paper, officers, the staining of finger with electoral ink, a process which even demonstrated the swearing in of the President and the appointment of Cabinet members.
Through her method Gopal is convinced that her children have been able to gain firsthand knowledge which they can carry with them throughout life.
She said that despite the fact that there is no laboratory for Science experiments many are still done in the classroom using materials, some of which are improvised.  These manipulative materials, according to her, excite the children and undoubtedly lead to positive learning outcomes.
In addition, she allows her pupils to do research, write stories and poems, do role play and artistic pieces to maximise the process of learning.
She explained that the use of drama, art, storytelling and group work are used to convey messages in lessons taught while mini concerts, Spelling B competitions at class level are very important to the learning process.
And in recognition of the fact that reading is the key to success, she created a class library where pupils are allowed to borrow books three times a week. She revealed, too, that her pupils are allowed to take part in cultural activities as well as external and internal rallies. “They take part in national competitions and at most times emerge as winners including National Spelling B, Road Safety quiz and marches and essay competitions…”
Ms Gopal said that regular evaluation of pupils is done through quiz, as well as through formal and informal testing methods.   And in order to encourage students to learn she disclosed that awards are given in the form of tangible gifts which are procured through the school’s Parent/Teacher Association fund.
According to her, badges are awarded to pupils who gain 90 to 96 percent and the label ‘Special Group’.
Above that percentage pupils are given the privilege to wear badges bearing the caption very ‘Exceptional Child’.  The highly competitive spirit among the pupils in the class is partly responsible of the children’s great success, she asserted.
As an ideal role model to her students, Gopal has demonstrated a commitment to her work characterised by a career which entails an almost flawless work ethic, which has been inculcated by many of her pupils, even after they would have left her classroom.
Despite her dedication to teaching, Ms Gopal leads a balanced life attending temple and is very involved in extra-curricular activities even assisting members of the community in various ways as the need arises.

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