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Despite persistent challenges, a teacher persevered in her handling of a child-at-risk. Be inspired by her story of dedication and commitment!
Mrs Lim scanned the room hopefully. Yes, Jing Yi was absent again. Every Thursday during the first term, the frail, ever-hungry girl would be absent from her supplementary lessons.
Jing Yi’s Plight
Jing Yi was a rather quiet girl in class, but contributed confidently during lessons most of the time. In fact, Mrs Lim felt that Jing Yi was intelligent enough to do well in the PSLE if she was more hardworking. After much probing, she soon found out that Jing Yi could not attend the Thursday Supplementary class because her father found it inconvenient to come back to school at 4pm to take her home. She suggested that Jing Yi walk home on her own – being 12 years old and living less than 2km away. That idea was put to sleep when Mr Tan demanded to know if the school would be responsible if anything untoward happened to Jing Yi.
Mrs Lim then arranged for Mr Tan to speak to the principal and vice-principal. He did not deem it important that his daughter gets a proper education and unreservedly stated this. Jing Yi often tearfully related her father’s stand: she would not be able to continue her education if she failed in her exams. Mrs Lim, however, saw the potential in the girl to do well in the PSLE and advised her to prove her father wrong.
More Challenges to Overcome
Just when Mrs Lim thought that she had gotten Jing Yi’s education back on track, another challenge cropped up. Jing Yi became frequently absent from school. This happened whenever her father could or would not take her to school. And whenever Jing Yi’s younger brother was sick, Jing Yi would be absent from school too, even though she was not ill.
Making it compulsory that Jing Yi covered her absence with a letter from her parents or a medical certificate did not help either. Instead, it provoked Mr Tan to complain that the teacher was making life difficult for him as he did not understand English. Mrs Lim relented by agreeing that he could submit his letter in Chinese. Very soon, Jing Yi’s attendance picked up.
As time wore on, Jing Yi failed to hand in her homework. When questioned, she would sometimes lie that she had forgotten to bring her work to school. Eventually, she confessed that the work was not done, the reason being that she had chores and babysitting duties. She painted a picture that she was an overworked Cinderella – except that unlike Cinderalla -- she had a real mother.
Mrs Lim called Jing Yi’s mother and arranged to meet Mrs Tan at the coffee shop where she worked one evening. Mrs Tan promised that Jing Yi will do her homework promptly and regularly. True to her word, Jing Yi began to come to school more regularly and hand her assignments in promptly.
The day before the school’s mid-year Oral Examination, Jing Yi informed Mrs Lim that she could not come for the oral examinations the next day because her father was “not free” to take her to school. Despite being told how important the oral examination was and that there would not be a retest for absentees without good reasons, Mr Tan did not take his daughter to school for the oral examinations.
Persistence Paid Off
By now, Mrs Lim had given up expecting co-operation from Jing Yi’s father. She vowed to be the girl’s helper and mentor. Treading lightly so as not to alienate the girl from her father, Mrs Lim carefully persuaded Jing Yi to improve herself, be more diligent and to always do her best in school.
Jing Yi proved the determined girl she was to be. She grew from one lacking in self-confidence and motivation and became the third top scorer in her class for PSLE. Jing Yi truly was a child-at-risk but she made it, and is now in a Secondary school.
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