By Msgr Christian Pereira, parish priest of St Benedict’s RC, La Romaine
This is Independence weekend, and usually this weekend is the last before you start your new school year.
It is a very different school year, and I am sure that many of you are apprehensive as you are starting this year from home. Home and school have been two different environments for all your life. As for now, home is the place where you live, play, and learn.
School is wherever you learn, and your teacher is the person from whom or through whom you learn. Your learning environment does not have to be a building with desks, classrooms, a library or various audio-visual rooms or laboratories. Your learning environment is where you are, the place where you live, the environment to which you are confined.
You create the place where you live and the environment to which you are confined, this is the real school. You need to allow yourself to be focused; nurturing your creative juices, allowing yourself to experience that deep self-fulfillment of Education. The real teacher must be as loving as a parent is expected to be, and the real parent must be as enabling as your teacher ought to be.
Parents, this is the time to discover your true ability.
Children, this is a time to be amazed about how great your parent is and how great you are.
Malala is a young Pakistani girl, and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. She is known for human rights advocacy, especially the education of women and children. She once reminded us “one child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world”
In this new era, my dear young people, I am asking you to embrace your commitment to education. There are a variety of options open to you and various institutions have different arrangements. Please understand what is available to you and do your best to make it work for your betterment. There is a long road ahead for you and to begin that journey you must resume your education NOW.
Let September be the opening of your mind and heart to the pursuit of your dreams. Do not be distracted by frustration within yourself or the confusion in the outer society. Please embrace your goals, embrace your future, and allow yourself to step up to the new challenge of becoming an educated person despite your challenges.