KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — Teaching is indeed a noble profession. Teachers carry the responsibility of nurturing youth in schools and shaping them for the future.
Whether it is a face-to-face lesson or through the teaching and learning at home (PdPR) method, their enthusiasm always able to inspire children.
In appreciating teachers’ devotion, McDonald’s Malaysia has organised the fifth edition of Anugerah Guru Inspirasi (Inspirational Teachers’ Award) for teachers who go beyond their call of duty.
The award assesses the ability of teachers to educate and inspire students beyond the ordinary limit, and therefore, nominations for ‘Cikgu Luar Biasa’ (extraordinary teacher) also comprised teachers from the person with disabilities (PwD) group or teachers to PwD students.
EXTRAORDINARY CHALLENGE
An outstanding teacher who is nominated for the Anugerah Guru Inspirasi this year, Maisura Abd Jalil, teaches at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Pendidikan Khas Princess Elizabeth, Johor Bahru, which is a school for children with visual impairments.
Despite having to use a wheelchair due to kidney disease, Maisura is always optimistic and never make her condition an obstacle to continue helping her special students.
Her younger sister Mardhiah Abd Jalil, who nominated her for the award, said Maisura or fondly known as Cikgu Mai, had also been assigned as the class teacher for blind children with other disabilities such as deaf and hyperactive.
“With her condition, Cikgu Mai was very positive when she was given the task because to her all children have the right to education and they can also be taught.
“Adept at sign language, Maisura never ran out of ideas in educating her students by using various methods and experience, besides training the students until they are able to communicate with others,” said Mardhiah.
NURTURING STUDENTS’ INTEREST TOWARDS KNOWLEDGE
Meanwhile, a teacher of SK Felda Mempaga 2, Karak, Pahang, Mohd Huzaire Ahmad, who is also a wheelchair user, proved that teachers must always be proactive in teaching and learning methods, in line with the changing of times, to develop students’ interest to knowledge.
One of his pupils, Putri Rania Assyifa Noor Mohd Irman, 11, nominated Mohd Huzaire for his creativity in teaching the students when the school was closed during the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
Putri Rania Assyifa said the Music and Arts teacher, had organised online contests including a solo singing competition in conjunction with Teacher’s Day and a poster drawing competition on COVID-19 threats.
She said the contests had motivated students to learn despite being forced to stay at home at all times.
“At least we forgot the boredom of staying at home. The activities helped us to cope with the longing to go to school and meeting our teachers and friends,” said the girl who dreams of becoming a teacher like Mohd Huzaire.
The story of Mohd Huzaire had gained the attention of a private television station to inspire students and teachers nationwide to continue to be enthusiastic in learning and teaching, despite not being able to see each other at school.
INSPIRATION, MOTIVATION FOR STUDENTS
A teacher at SMK Tanjung Bunga, Penang, Mohamad Huszaimi Husin was nominated by his PwD student with special needs, Jeffrey Soon Yew Zhi, who was inspired by ‘Cikgu Mie’s diligence.
The empathetic nature of the Information Technology subject teacher had also motivated Jeffrey to progress in his school lesson, despite facing difficulties and requires a long time to learn something.
“Even though I take a longer time to complete an assignment, Cikgu Mie never pushed me or other students with a similar condition to speed up the process.
“In fact, Cikgu Mie encourages me to complete the assignment. He always sacrifices his time to teach the subject personally, step by step,” he said.
Besides that, Jeffrey said his teacher had always encouraged his students to participate in competitions at various levels and provide suggestions or guidance so that his students would stand out in the competition.
According to Jeffrey, Cikgu Mie’s guidance had helped him to win the state-level 2020 Creative Video Competition organised by the Penang Education Department.
