Thanks to my aunt Nellie Ahmed Tanweer, Managing Trustee of Maria’s Public School, an elite pre-K to 12th grade educational institution in Guwahati, Assam I was invited to spend a few days at the school interacting with students, alumni and administrators. My first visit to the school was in 1999 and so I was keen to see the school’s progress.
Following the chief guest and other esteemed educators, I was asked to give brief remarks during the 12th graduation ceremony, where I spoke about the importance of sport and community service. Thereafter, I visited the school again where I spent a morning facilitating questions and answers in 9th and 10th grade classes, touring the new campus and brainstorming with teachers and coaches.
Despite the differences in infrastructure with Concord Academy in terms of relatively ill-equipped classrooms, lack of playing fields and limited information technology, there was no shortage of curiosity and enthusiasm on the part of the teachers and students at Maria’s Public School. Perhaps in the future, more student or teacher exchanges between the two schools would make for an enriching educational experience for both school communities.