Tamara Robinson - Elgin Taylor photo

The statement has often been made that it takes a special person to be engaged in the profession of teaching, and an extra special one to do so effectively.

The mettle and character of such a person is even more pronounced when dealing with very young children. Tamara Robinson, an infant-class teacher at Planters Hall All Age and Infant School in St Catherine could be described as one such rare individual of the teaching profession.

In a recent interview with The Star, it was observed how well she related to the students as she moved deftly around the classroom to attend to their needs.

Her attitude demonstrated her love and tenderness for the students under her care. Their quiet, keen attention to her instructions demonstrated the close bond and respect which has been forged between teacher and students in that classroom.

However, her sense of duty to her thirty-two students goes well beyond the norm. When pressed on the matter of resources, she reluctantly revealed to The Star that, for the past two years, she used her own salary to purchase the additional resource materials needed by her class. She said that the need should be less in the next school year (2009/2010) as a month ago, the Ministry of Education made available four boxes of materials for her class.

dedication

But even while she displays dedication and much devotion to the ideals of her chosen profession, Robinson feels disheartened when it comes to getting a separate building to house the infants. "I would really like to get a separate building for the infants," she stated. "They have to share the same facilities as the rest of the school and this doesn't seem right."

The sharing to which she alluded centred around the fact that all the students (including her own) have to use the same pit latrines at the school. She is in constant fear of a dreadful accident happening to one of her charges. She noted that the principal had written to several agencies seeking help in this area, but no positive response has yet been received. She said she is holding on to the hope that, very soon, her prayers would be answered.

Robinson, who was born in St Andrew, attended the Queen's (High) School (1994-2000) and St Joseph's Teachers' College, also in the parish.

She attended St Joseph's between September 2003 and June 2009 where she did part-time studies in early childhood education, gaining a diploma and a bachelor's degree in the process. She said that part of her motivation comes from the fact that she hails from a family of teachers, which include her mother, Ilean McGreggor, and a brother and sister.