50 years of teaching
When Nicolas Johnpillai found himself staring down the barrel of a rifle during the height of the civil unrest in the early 70’s he was convinced he was a dead man.
He was just 22, a trainee at the Maharagama Teacher Training College. That day, despite many warnings he felt compelled to
Nicolas Johnpillai. Pic by Nilan Maligaspe
accompany a good friend and fellow badminton player, also a student at the Training College. “He was going to give a girl a basket of roses,” but it wasn’t long before both of them had a blood chilling reception from the police. Staring straight at the gun pointed their way he recognised it to be a bolt-action rifle, much like the one he owned but this one was loaded. Providentially he survived the ordeal.
A teacher even before he entered the Training College, Mr. Johnpillai has completed 50 years of service and tells his adventure stories from the home he shares with his mother, his wife Manel and their dog Cindy.
Owning much of his grasp of English to the forbidden cowboy comics he read in secret as a boy he laughs, “my mother wouldn’t allow those comics in the house!” Schooled at St. Benedict’s College, the influence of the school and his upbringing he feels, has been invaluable. “Being raised a Catholic” he shares, that fateful night when he lost many colleagues from the Training College found him pulling-out his rosary and reciting prayers.
Always a “bit of a do-gooder” as he puts it, Mr. Johnpillai’s love for the people around him is what later inspired him to work closely with the Lasallian Education Services.
A part of the “non-teacher” batch at the Training College, Nicolas Johnpillai has been giving tuition lessons since he was an A’ Level student in 1964. “I used to charge about 30 rupees a month.” Enrolled in the Pembroke Academy down Flower Road in the 60’s to prepare for his A’Levels, it was the money he earned giving tuition that supplemented his father’s contribution to the fees.
Growing up in the household of M.A. Johnpulle, Vice Principal of St. John’s Dematagoda afternoon school, teaching was something he watched his father do for as long as he could remember. “Music and teaching were a big part of my home,” he smiles. So he sat the entrance exam to the Training College which was held before the A’ Levels.
Two children of his own and the many he has mentored have brought him to believe that politeness and punctuality are what gain a teacher respect.
Having started out in the government service, and continuing until 1990 Mr. Johpillai has worked in private and international schools. The real test of character came in his first posting to a school in Mundel under the Chilaw region. After school one day he remembers being summoned to the field – a boy had been hit by a putt- shot and was lying semi-conscious on the ground. Rushing him to hospital, the principal and other teachers refused to sign the papers to permit an emergency surgery. Mr. Johnpillai remembers grabbing the papers and signing it, taking full responsibility for the boy. Seven months later, he remembers how the bright-eyed boy came to thank him after having made a slow recovery.
Teaching is not a mere profession according to Mr. Johnpillai. As much as lessons, values too must transcend from teacher to student. “Only recently” he shares, that a young man approached him and said “Sir! I remember you taught me to find lost things by casting-out in circles.” Feeling that a little explanation is due, he smiles, “I lost my wedding ring when I was teaching at St. Benedict’s.” He stopped a few students in their tracks and made them stand around the vicinity. “This boy too had been one of them, foregoing his interval. After walking around in circles from where he stood, Mr. Johnpillai found his ring and explained to the confused boys that it was the best method to find lost objects. “I learned it from the Indian tribes in those cowboy comics,” he smiles.
His energetic presence and optimistic drive has often seen him as Master- in -Charge for many sports activities, and he has the satisfaction of having introduced soft ball cricket to Gurkula College Kelaniya.
With 23 years of service as a teacher in the government service, he has taught in private schools like S. Thomas College, Colpetty and Mount Lavinia, and international schools such as the Bond International School. A little disappointed that teaching has been reduced to just a job he feels the newer teachers don’t necessarily understand their role. “You have to be firm, but kind; respect is a two-way thing.” Teachers must give respect to get it, which isn’t always the case nowadays.
Another of his pet peeves is when teachers are not open with their students. “I particularly don’t like the way teachers address questions students have about certain topics-like sex for instance,” he exclaims. Instead of brushing it under the carpet, “it’s about time teachers come up with age-appropriate responses,” he asserts.
Advocating responsible citizenry (he is a JP All Island) to his students, he also works closely with the Wattala Police Civil Vigilance Committee as Area Leader. Spending time in his rather colourful garden, his love for the outdoors is second only to his love for his family.