Nurturing a nation’s children is no small task, but for Minister Norma Singh, seeing children grow and develop their capacity and learn over time, is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences as an educator.
at First Assembly of God Wortmanville
Minister Norma Singh has amassed more than 50 years of experience in molding the minds of children in Guyana, having served in the public and private school systems as well as in the church. She continues to make indelible imprints on the teaching profession, as she currently supervises the elementary department of the Green Acres School and leads the Sunday School Department at First Assembly of God Wortmnville (FAOGW) as Sunday School Superintendent. Over the years she has taught grades one to six, before attaining the office of Headmistress at the South Ruimveldt Primary in 1984. Minister Singh believes her success as an educator was orchestrated by God.
Beginning of the Journey
The teaching profession was not a planned venture or a chosen career path for Min. Singh but a pathway chartered through the wisdom of her godfather. Min. Norma Singh was born in the Wortmanville/Werk-en-rust community in Guyana but later resided with her godfather from the age of nine (9) in the Queenstown community. Upon completion of high school education, her godfather thought teaching was the safest and most appropriate profession for her at the time. Thus, she subsequently attained a teaching job at one of the schools attached to the Presbyterian church. This birthed her lifelong journey of teaching.
Given that her journey commenced at the age of seventeen (17), Min. Norma Sigh’s first assignment on the job was to a class with students just about five or six years her junior. This experience, she said, was something that she enjoyed and was very successful at, even though she did not choose the career path herself. She added, “One of my areas of strength from the initial stage was that I had very good class control. So applying myself to whatever task I was assigned became manageable and was not difficult.”
Recognising her passion for educating children, Min. Singh pursued training in 1968 at the then Guyana’s Teacher’s Training College and graduated as a trained teacher at the age of twenty (20). Her years in training, however, were not without their challenges. She explained, “I encountered a senior person in the profession at the first school I went to practise, who knew me since childhood days. But after observing my performance in the classroom, she concluded that I was pretensive because, according to her, I moved around very quietly. So she was surprised to know that I was able to have that kind of class control, and this hurt me a whole lot since I would have expected that a senior person in the profession would encourage me.” Min. Singh was not dissuaded by this put-down, but continued to excel at teaching and served over the years, laying a solid foundation in literacy at the elementary level.
Rewarding and Difficult Moments
As a teacher, there are numerous rewarding experiences, Min Singh noted, but the most fulfilling for her is observing the development of children. She shared the example of a child with an apparent learning disability with challenges writing across the page in the normal format. The child she said would instead write around the page as though he was drawing a picture frame. At that time Min. Singh’s colleagues encouraged her not to waste time with the child, but she believed that no child should be given up on and kept on working with the child. Eventually, the child became the best writer in the entire class at the end of the school term.
But there were also difficult moments in teaching, as she recalled her encounter with an autistic child, for which she had no prior training at the time. She explained that the child wanted to sit on the floor and not in the chair. “… I took a carpet from my home to school, and I allowed him to use the carpet and eventually, he began using the chair. He too had writing challenges, but I worked with him until he was able to write properly. However, when he wrote the grade four (4) exams, I observed that he wasn’t treated the way he should have been, so before he wrote the grade six (6) exams, I penned a letter to the Ministry of Education, with permission from my superiors, explaining his condition and pleading with them to accommodate his needs during the sitting of the upcoming exam”. She has always been an advocate for children who learn differently and for whom the education system does not necessarily cater.
Her Work in Christian Education
Min. Singh’s determination to empower the lives of children continued to be evident even as she ventured into teaching Christian Education shortly after accepting the Lord Jesus Christ in 1972. Since then, she has contributed tremendous work to the Sunday School Ministry (SSM) and Vacation Bible School (VBS) at First Assembly of God Wortmanville church, where she currently serves as Sunday School Superintendent. Before coming to FAOGW, Min. Singh was actively involved in both SSM and VBS in other churches and communities.
In 1977, she worked together with her husband in spearheading a Sunday School in the Charlestown Community, which grew to over five hundred (500) students. Children came from neighbouring communities such as Albouystown, East and West Ruimveldt among others. In years prior, she also held VBS at St. Stephen’s Church, St Thomas Presbyterian church in the Tiger Bay community, as well as other churches in the Cane Grove community. She recalled holding her first VBS with only one pew of children in attendance. Today, she is amazed at how God has moved her from impacting the lives of one pew of children to thousands.
“Numbers never influence how I teach whether in the secular or religious field of work. I always love working with children and regardless of numbers, I have learned to be comfortable and I never concentrated on position or title. I just worked. I always consider myself work-oriented and not position oriented.”
Her Belief
Reflecting on the unfolding of events in her professional and spiritual journey as an educator, Min. Singh expressed a firm belief that God’s hands were upon her life from the initial stage. “When I look back at my life, I believe that God was challenging me and guiding me from the inception even though I didn’t understand it then,” she remarked. She equates her life’s journey to that of Moses in the book of Exodus, who God caused to be educated in someone else’s home in preparation for the leadership role he would later undertake. Min. Singh believes that God was preparing her for the work she is involved in, causing her to leave her parents’ home to reside with her godfather, who provided the education she needed, equipping her for her current work.
Advice to Aspiring and Current Teachers
Min. Norma Singh’s encouragement to aspiring and current educators is to first acknowledge that the help of God is a priority and that one’s attitude and morality are both extremely important. She cautioned young people entering the profession to ensure that they seek to understand children and explore the pros and cons since children today are sensitive and curious, and should not be shut up but allowed to speak. She further advised that studying, staying relevant, doing research, and being connected to the family of the students are healthy practices to adopt, but warned that if one does not have a love for the profession and the children/students, their career could be short-lived.
Other Interest
Apart from teaching Min. Singh loves sports and formerly participated in the track and field 100-yard sprint, the hurdles, and the relay in her high school days. She now advocates for these sports in schools. She is also a mother of four (4) a grandmother of thirteen (13) and a great-grandmother of one (1). In addition, she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education Administration from the University of Guyana, a Bachelor’s Degree in Ministry and a Certificate of Biblical Studies from the International School of Ministry (ISOM). She also loves spending time with family and friends and describes God as an amazing Helper who guided her journey throughout the years.
