People often ask me whether teaching in an elementary school is better than teaching in a specialised school for children who fail their primary school leaving examination. I always brush off this question lightly, saying that I can’t compare apples with oranges.

Here is my honest attempt to answer this question since the urge to write strikes me and words are swimming into paragraphs in my mind.

Just two months ago, when I was still immersed in my primary school stint, I unceremoniously initiated at least 4 Zoom sessions lasting from 2.30 to 3.30pm over a month for my 4 Unity. “We have a hot date today!” I would bark at them. “Everyone must attend!” So, usually 2/3 of the class would show up and I would grill selected students about which organs of the digestive system are involved in digestion and whether the metal cup will cool down faster than the plastic cup and whatnot. I didn’t have to do this, but given that some of them don’t have the luxury of tuition, I was the only hope they had. I had to make sure they internalised some of these basic facts so that they wouldn’t be too much of a burden to their upper primary Science teacher.

Now, not even a whole week has passed at the specialised school but I found myself spending this afternoon doing a home visit and trying to cajole my absentee student - who was lying foetus-style on his mattress - to at least sit up straight and look at me in the eye. My persuasive efforts were in vain because he never sat up at all. But I did take away the pillow he was using to hide his face and get him to nod or shake his head. His movements were faint, barely perceptible but there was someone deeply concealed inside the cocoon he had spun for himself - and he was responding. Apparently, his primary school teacher had tried to get him to attend school last year but failed miserably. Now it was my turn to strike blows at his walls.

Beneath these glaring differences lie some striking similarities. I don’t get to go home straight after school. I am a people person and don’t mind spending time with students outside the classroom, be it virtually or at the student’s “territory”. I feel connected to something bigger than myself. I am either continuing the hard work laid down by some student’s ex-teacher or entrusting future teachers to pour blood, sweat and tears to salvage my students’ uninspiring Science literacy. At the core of it, I like being a public school teacher.