Wednesday 16th October 2019

I went to Palmerston School today and I watched Miss Aruni take the fourth lesson of the day, just before lunch and Mr. Agilan take the fifth lesson of the day immediately after lunch, both English grammar lessons. Both lessons were very good, and I was able to give each teacher feedback immediately after their lesson, which was extremely helpful. 

The most impressive thing about both teachers was the lengths they go to in order to teach at Palmerston every day. Miss Aruni has at least a 2-hour journey to and from school each day, but Mr. Agilan’s journey is even more arduous. He leaves home at 05.30 each morning and walks for 30 minutes before catching a bus that takes more than 2 hours to get to Palmerston, arriving at school just in time for the 08.30 morning Staff Meeting. He leaves school at the end of the day around 16.30 and eventually gets home between 19.30 and 20.00. This means he spends 6 hours travelling each day in order to complete an 8-hour working day at school. He does this from Monday to Friday (being allowed to leave an hour earlier on a Friday afternoon). I find such dedication mind-boggling, as when I was a Headteacher I was able to jump in my car for a 20-30-minute journey to school, with the same at the end of the day, although I did often put in a 10-hour working day at school.

We were supposed to leave Palmerston at 14.30, but, inevitably, we didn’t leave until 15.15!  It is moments like these that continue to leave me feeling very humbled and extremely grateful for the very privileged life I have led in comparison to people here in Sri Lanka! 

Today's pictures are of these two teachers at Palmerston School (I am sorry, but the one of Miss Aruni is a bit blurred).







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