Reminiscences of my Work at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia
(1963 -1980) – by G. Thambithurai
Source:Thomiana Newsletter
It was a Friday, the third week in March in 1963. I was walking back after having completed my Interview with Warden Davidson and the Departmental Heads. The Sub Warden, the late Mr. S. J. Anandanayagam, came behind me and asked me whether I could start work as a teacher on the following Monday. This left me speechless. Now I was both scared and excited. On Monday morning I was in the staff room when the peon came and handed me my appointment letter and the timetable. Soon teachers trooped in and introduced themselves. The former Warden, the late Mr. Neville de Alwis, also joined the staff on the same date. There was one teacher, who had noticed that I was very nervous, and came and sat beside me and told me that he was also in the same plight just two years ago. He said, “Just get hold of the one who was making the noise, and just humiliate him and everything will fall into place.”
The second Period, I walked into Form 5 Tamil medium, where I was supposed to teach science. There was pandemonium— boys were singing and banging on the desks. One boy had the audacity to tell me that they were preparing the Royal Thomian Combo. The Teacher’s advice came in handy, and the class soon settled down. Suddenly there was pindrop silence and when I looked up, I noticed the Warden was passing by my classroom doing his rounds. I still do not know whether the warden was checking on me or the boys were trying to protect me.
I must say I was intimidated, not because they would run all over me but because I was now responsible for their learning. Until that moment I had not realized how big a job I had taken on. Two weeks went by and I was quietly settling down when I got a note from the Warden. He wanted me to take charge of Copleston/Claughton as House Master, to be Master in charge of basketball, and to help Mr. Wilson Muttiah as Assistant Scout Master. I had been really pushed into the deep end and I did not know how to swim. It was quite a challenge. The new horizon
has widened, I had no option but to venture into it. During the sixties and seventies, ‘Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child’ was very much in play. On Report Forms, caning was practiced very sparingly. The challenges these students faced in their personal and academic lives were a sharp contrast to my personal experiences. I was fortunate to work with some incredible teachers who were truly committed and enjoyed what they set out to do. I taught General science for both English and Tamil medium in the Middle School, and Biology and Chemistry for the Tamil medium in the upper School. On completion of my Post Graduate Diploma in the Teaching of English Language, I was asked to teach Upper 6 English. The most challenging aspects of my job involved students – their passion and indifference, their ego, their very best and very worst. I did not spend much time on the intelligent ones but paid special
attention to those unheard. I wanted to give these students a wider voice and a platform. One
of the most memorable events was at one of the Year End parties (I think it was the Middle 6 Class), where a student gave me an envelope. Inside it was a poem. It read: The Most Wanted Man – To SIR with Love. I really wanted to have a very significant and lifelong impact on all my students. The impact is not only on my teaching ability but fostering of student’s self-esteem. Reinforcing self-esteem in the classroom will increase their motivation to learn better. I felt that I had met the challenge. THOMIANA January 2022, Volume 25 – Issue 1 28 I took charge of Copleston/Claughton in May 1963 from Mr. Senaratne, who had decided to retire. I was fortunate to have had as my Head Prefect the Late Mr. Premalal Gunasekera, a wonderful individual who put my mind at ease when he told me that he would take care of the discipline. In the Hostel, of the 17 years I spent at College, the first 6 years were the best years of my life. My favourite memory was when my boarders started to see me more as a person than as a Teacher. It was also a lesson in the power of respecting students and expecting them to rise to challenges. Watching these boys moving from Winchester and taking a lot of little steps towards maturity is one of the intangibles of being a Boarder. Seeing them play in little groups, watching them trooping into Chapel after Dinner gave me so much joy and happiness. Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims – they were all on their knees praying. I can proudly say that at STC, religion was never used as a crutch to deny any students their promotion. These students learned to get along with others, learned to be responsible for their actions. This type of activity lays a solid foundation for their adult life. The Inter-House Competitions, The Hall Days, Taking the Boarders for the Royal Thomian Cricket matches were all events well etched in my memory. As Assistant Scout Master, I was at the bottom of the learning curve, but I was fortunate to have some solid Queen Scouts. They did most of the training of the younger scouts and cubs. Every year I took the Scouts to Pedro for the Scout Camp. Father Baldwin Daniel usually accompanied us. It was so nice to see these boys enjoying themselves. Campfires were such fun, and you could see these boys just having a great time. As Master in charge of basketball, I was able to get some outside Coaches. We took part in Inter-School Tournaments and travelled to Jaffna and Batticaloa. For two years I served as the Secretary of the Ceylon Schools Basketball Association and took a Combined Schools Team to India.
When I sit back and reflect on a journey I started 60 years ago, I must say that I was fortunate to work with people who had the vision and the humility to run that “School by the Sea”. There were the Gauders, the Burders, the Morrels, the Administrative Staff, and the Minor Employees who by their tireless contributions made the College stronger. I must also say that during my time it was the Boarders who dominated every sphere of school activity.
Now, in my retirement, those students have become my friends, and they are my friends for life. Seeing everyone’s emails floating around…It certainly builds a network of friends who know you and care about you. I am always grateful for the memories we have given each other, and that has certainly made me richer.
If you were to ask me whether I would do it again, well—Your guess is as good as mine. Esto Perpetua
G. Thambithurai (was in the teaching staff from 1963-1980 and now resides in Canada)
