On World Students’ Day, FMT spoke with Sujithraa Baskaran and Sasveni Subramaniam, who both teach at a tuition centre here, about their experience as teachers.

Sujithraa said it was her mother Anppalagy Thangaiah who inspired her to become a teacher.

She said her mother dreamed of becoming a teacher herself but never had the chance. Neither was she able to witness her daughter become a teacher as she passed away in 2019 from ovarian cancer.

However, the lessons she taught her daughter stayed with Sujithraa through the years.

For example, Anppalagy prioritised communication, especially listening to her kids. Sujithraa, who’s been teaching Malay and English for two years now, does this too.

Beyond the textbooks, Sujithraa, 28, makes it a point to converse with her students, aged seven to 18, in Malay and English by asking: “How are you?” or “Are you okay?”.

She said her students either give a sigh in reply, or say: “Teacher, today is a long day, I am so tired. Can we do something different today?”

“When you talk, you will get a response accordingly, so that is the most important thing,” she said.

Remembering her mother’s positive attitude even in the face of cancer, Sujithraa tries to instil the same in her students. When they feel like giving up, she encourages them to keep trying until they make it.

Sadly, two years after her mother’s death, her father, Baskaran Mangly, passed away from kidney disease – on the very day she planned on telling him about her graduation.

She said this experience gave her a sense of empathy for students from poor families, which is why she either waives or reduces their tuition fees.

She also makes her language lessons interesting by incorporating Malay songs into it. These include songs from local band Alleycats, her mother’s favourite.

She recalled one particular incident involving a pair of 16-year-old twins. They never spoke in class, she said, but eventually came out of their shells after many one-to-one sessions. They even personally thanked her during their graduation ceremony.

Asked what her mother would say about her career, she replied: “I think she would be very proud.”

The accidental teacher

In 2016, Sasveni was studying to become a nutritionist when her neighbours asked if she would help their children with homework. She loved the experience and before she knew it, more teaching jobs followed.

Her mother, Usharanni Ragavan suggested that she pursue teaching as a career although she had already graduated as a nutritionist. And that’s precisely what she did.

In fact, this accidental teacher is part of a long line of teachers – her late grandfather was a headmaster, and two aunts are retired teachers!

Today, the 25-year-old teaches mathematics and science to students aged eight to 17. Besides teaching at the centre, she also gives private tuition classes.

Along the way, the teacher had to become a student herself. With no formal training in teaching, she had to continuously find the best ways to teach her students.

A profound learning experience came in 2021 when she discovered one of her students – an eight-year-old boy – was autistic. He didn’t interact with his classmates and when spoken to, didn’t make eye contact.

She started researching autism and consulted her friends who taught at autism centres.

“I didn’t want him to feel alone and I started to give him more work in pairs with a student he was comfortable with. I also discovered his interest in art, so I started to incorporate art and crafts in my class,” she said.

She was thrilled when he began speaking more. Since then, she has taught over 10 autistic kids as well as those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The experience taught her the value of patience and she said she’d love to teach special needs kids again if there were such requests.

Like Sujithraa, Sasveni also waives or reduces fees for poor families, believing that they “deserve an opportunity to learn”.

“I feel like I’m making a change in their lives. I think that’s what I really love doing.”