ID :
406540
Fri, 05/13/2016 - 04:37
Auther :

The Undying Love Of Teachers For Special Children

By Aishah Mohmad Afandi GEORGE TOWN (Penang, Malaysia), May 13 (Bernama) -- Being a teacher is never easy and teaching special children makes it tougher, but with passion and love, everything is possible. Some 157 special children at Malaysia's Cerebral Palsy (Spastic) Children's Association which operates based on donations are lucky to have 43 dedicated teachers who never give up on them, even from the beginning. Its administrator, Mazah K. Ismail said the centre had taught students from as young as one year old until 21 years-old. "Many came to us after losing hope of a normal life for their children. for us, every improvement made by each one of them is a huge accomplishment." Azlina Mohd Yusoff, 55, who haS served as a teacher here for 27 years said that she had never thought of quitting her career. Specialising in special education, Azlina who is the longest serving teacher in the school, said her heart overflows with joy when her former students came back and thanked her for everything. "Every single one of them is special to me and I have never regretted taking this path. "The job is very challenging and might not be so rewarding, but to me the progress made by them, even if it is slow, it makes me happy," she said. Another teacher, Norjan Osman, 45, who teaches pre-school children from five to eight-years-old echoed what Azlina said and to her, the biggest challenge in her 23-year experience was crying students and uncooperative parents. "Many parents could not accept that their children are different at an early stage, but after some time, they can change." She said children at the centre are also very optimistic and have a strong spirit to learn, with the guidance and support from their parents. Elaine Tan, 40, the mother of Koay Jia Jun, 6, who was born special said she and Koay come all the way from Sungai Petani (in Malaysia's northern state Kedah) three times a week. "Since his arival here, Jia Jun has improved a lot and I hope one day, he can be independent. "I thank the teachers here for all the hard work they have done for his future," she said. With Teacher's Day just around the corner, take some time to visit your old school and thank your teachers because without them, we would not be who we are today. --BERNAMA

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