Goa: National award winner headmistress turned bus into classroom for tribals during Covid

PANAJI: Nine years ago, Maria Murena Miranda was transferred as headmistress to the remote government high school in Morpirla, Quepem, with an enrolment of only tribal students. Her first visitor then was the sarpanch, who wanted to know how long Miranda would wait before seeking a transfer.
Today, Miranda has won the National Award for Teachers, as the villagers ask her not to leave until retirement.
It is a 20-km journey one-way each day for Miranda from her home in Assolna to Morpirla.
The challenges only worsened for her when the pandemic arrived on the scene and a lockdown was imposed in March 2020. “How do I reach the students during the lockdown, when most did not even have mobile phones. I began going to their house to take lessons and also introduced peer to peer learning where senior children would teach younger children. Art integrated learning was another strategy we used,” Miranda said.
But, most importantly, when the tribal students could not come to the classroom, Miranda turned the school bus provided by the government into a mobile classroom during the pandemic.
“I would take the bus along during the lockdown and I would teach them in the bus,” said Miranda, who has a master’s degree in physics and a bachelor’s degree in education.
“The children would come running seeing the bus. Though these children have poor financial background they are very disciplined and determined to learn.”
She has also turned her car into a mobile library and when the bus could not make it, she would take the library to the children’s homes.
The Government High School, Morpirla, has recorded 100% pass percentage at the Class X state board exams for seven of the nine years under Miranda. The school had one of the highest numbers of 54 students answering the Class X exams during the lockdown due to the pandemic, but Miranda’s effort saw that the school still registered 100% result.
“I don’t mind the distance to Morpirla, I drive down even during holidays to teach my students. I was very touched when I saw that the students come with shoes one day and the next day they are without shoes because the dog has damaged a shoe and the family cannot afford to buy another pair. I wanted to do something for them,” Miranda told TOI.
Even the bus provided by the state cannot access the difficult terrain and the students have to walk a distance down the hill to get to the bus.
“When I first joined it was very challenging. The resources were limited. The children are first generation learners and have no support at home. Their parents are all farmers. My teachers and I would stay back after school to take their lessons because if they went home they would throw their bags away and go into the fields to help their parents or go out to play,” said Miranda.
Miranda’s career began as an assistant teacher before being posted as teacher grade-I in physics at government higher secondary schools in Canacona, Panaji and Margao. But the most fulfilling chapter of her career began after her posting to Morpirla.
Today, the list of achievements of Government High School, Morpirla, is long. It is the only school from Goa to have a rank (11th) in the ‘Eat Right’ national programme. This year, seven of the ten students who qualified for a scholarship in the SC/ST category in the state talent search exam were students from the Government High School, Morpirla.
The high school has been awarded Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar twice at the district level for clean toilets. The school students are also state champions in kho-kho and kabaddi.
“We also have a tie-up with Manovikas English School in Margao, where students from the private school come to our government school to see how rural school functions and we take our students to Manovikas to provide them exposure,” she said.
Miranda said her national award is a tribute to her students, the hardworking teachers of her school and the parents ‘who have complete faith in me’.
“I never differentiate between the children. The minute a student comes in, all I think of is how I can mould him or her. You can teach any student to be bright. Only some students need more attention than others. There is no such thing as government schools and private schools, even government schools can bring out the best in students. A student can shine anywhere,” said Miranda, who has also guided two special children in the area to complete their Class X.