I agree with the famous statement of William Ross Wallace who says “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world”. There is a woman who lives at Rikhen village of Eastern West Khasi Hills District, a new born district of Meghalaya which was inaugurated on November 10, 2021. Her name is (Kong) Hulmity Thabah. She is about 50 years old and has seven children and six grandchildren. At home she was called Mei-ieit (Grandmother). She completed her Matriculation Exams in 1993 from her local school named Mawkynsah Secondary School in Third Division. Because of poverty, she could no longer pursue her studies in higher classes. If she wants to continue, it means she has to leave her village and take a rented house either in Mairang or Shillong.
In order to help her parents’ job, she decided to give up her study and drop her schooling and joined her parents in ploughing, cultivation and taking care of their agricultural land. Until 2001 when another Private Lower Primary School was set up in her village, she joined the school as a teacher, teaching the small kids the three Rs (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic) and she did it very well. She was loved and respected by the students as well as her colleagues which are three in number teaching for eight classes. How they manage to impart education in spite of the noisy atmosphere and restlessness of the kids is beyond our imagination.
Teaching infants is not an easy task especially to make them understand the identification of the alphabets (Capital and Small letters). In Khasi Alphabets created by Thomas Jones, we do have – A B K D E G NG H I Ï J L M N Ñ O P R S T U W Y (Capital letters) and a b k d e g ng h i ï j l m n ñ o p r s t u w y (Small letters).
These Khasi alphabets were taught only in Pre-Primary classes known as Class A (rit), Class A (heh) and Class ‘B’. Then when they reached Class I, besides Khasi vernacular, students were taught lessons in English. Also kids have to read and write the English alphabets in addition to Khasi alphabets where they get mixed up with the new English alphabets viz A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. It is a difficult task indeed but Kong Hulmity with a kind heart, gentle hand, humility and commitment to serve the poor and needy did it with a charming success.
For years she serve the village children as a teacher but suddenly the Government of Meghalaya after implementing the RTE Act, passed the order that every Lower Primary School teacher must have passed Class XII with 45 per cent as a minimum qualification otherwise the government will not allow them to continue their service as the Lower Primary School teacher. This is a big problem she faced as she is not qualified to remain in the job. Who will feed her children as with her little amount of salary she gets which also supports her children’s schooling? To give up the job is something that she felt embarrassed about.
The government in 2019 opened a chance to those teachers who have not secured the 45 per cent in Class XII to do their Improvement Exams. Since the notification was published at a late moment, many teachers were left out without awareness of the chance opened for them. So the government once again opened another chance for those left out to appear for their Improvement Exams. Here, Kong Hulmity got a chance to approach the authority especially the Sub-Divisional School Education Officer (SDSEO) to allow her to appear for the Improvement Exams even though she has not completed her Class XII taking into consideration her experience in teaching. But she was not allowed to do so as per rule.
Kong Hulmity has an optimistic mind and is also a dynamic teacher. She was restless by that time and could not decide what to do, whether to give up a job or to go ahead to attain the 45 per cent. Therefore, she made up her mind to continue her schooling by approaching any institution who will allow her to attend class on a non-regular basis for she has to complete her teaching work first and then join her studies at a later hour.
She went to Khadsawphra Higher Secondary School in Mairang whose one of the objectives is to bring back the dropped out students and put them on the right track. She met the Principal for consultation. The Principal, after hearing her grievances and commitment, allowed her to join Class XI in 2020. The head of the institution who himself is motivational inspired her and told her not to worry. He also guided her how to attain that 45 per cent mark in Class XII which she needed most. “The word ‘Impossible’ should not be found in your dictionary. Age has no bar in education. Whether old or young, the goal is the same. Education is waiting for everyone and nothing can stop you to get it when you reach the destination,” the Principal said to her. She felt more relieved when she met the teachers at the secondary school who possessed the ideal characteristics of helping her in all the subjects that she took.
Kong Hulmity was allowed to attend classes in her “Jainsem” (Khasi traditional Saree) except in Physical Education period where she has to wear the PE Tracksuit, which makes her comfortable during the practical classes. She did her Promotion Exams very well and was promoted to Class XII. While she was doing her Class XII, her youngest daughter also passed her SSLC Exam and joined Class XI in the same school. Here Kong Hulmity has to perform the double role i.e. as a student to herself and as a mother to her daughter. She has to take the lead to inspire her child how to press towards the goal. To the community members of this school it is a lovely sight to behold when they sometimes proudly walked together to school. It is a rare case to see that a mother and daughter are studying in the same school at the same time.
Kong Hulmity was a hard working student. She obeyed all the work her teachers wanted her to do. She has strong determination to complete the race in spite of the many hardships she faced. Keeping in mind that she should overcome the difficulties in order to score that target of 45 per cent, she appeared for the HSSLC Examination and had to write the exams in another school which is the examination centre for the schools in Mairang. The examination result was declared on June 10, 2022 by Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE) and her roll number figured in the list of first division securing 65 per cent marks. Imagine, what a joyful moment to her and her daughter. Bravo to the legend. She was praised by all the teachers and her Principal who have guided her in her studies. All the students lauded and congratulated her on her success when she came to meet them. She also delivered a short inspirational speech to her juniors on how to overcome the challenges in their life.
Members of the press (both print and electronic media) as soon as they heard the news that she is the oldest candidate in the HSSLC Examination 2022 rushed to meet her. They interviewed her on how she prepared for the exams and how she passed out in first division in spite of being the oldest among all candidates and also since she had already discontinued her schooling for nearly 30 years. She gently replied that education is a lifelong process and never ends. She encouraged everybody to take the challenge for only those who strive will survive.
During the interview, Kong Hulmity wisely told the reporter that she has decided to continue her study till she completes her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in the same college where she did her Class XII. She is truly a wise woman just as King Solomon says, “A wise woman builds her house but the foolish pulls it down with her hands” – Proverb 14:1.
When people saw her in the news they commented that she has become a role model of education that everyone should follow and appreciate. Yes, they are very right with such comments. Moreover, we should not forget that Kong Hulmity was an ideal teacher in the school she taught, an ideal mother, an ideal grandmother towards her children and grandchildren at home and a hard working woman as a student. She is no doubt the source of inspiration for she did not surrender but instead she climbed, she struggled and finally she conquered.
