From the age of 3, Tameshwor Mohabir’s life was turned upside down when the patriarch of his family suddenly died. Though heartbroken, his father’s passing left his mother with no choice but the step up the proverbial plate and make ends meet for their only child. Though it was a herculean task, with the help of other family members, she managed to not only raise a kind man but one who would grow to make headlines for his academic prowess.
Now, 30 years old- Tameshwor Mohabir has graduated from the University of Guyana Tain Campus with high honors. Mohabir, who is a teacher by profession, has successfully read for his Bachelor’s of Education Degree (Mathematics Concentration Programme) and with a GPA of 4.0, it came as no surprise that he is the best graduating student of the UG Berbice Campus.
For this feat, on Monday, Mohabir made headlines when he was presented with the President’s Medal from the Head of State- Irfaan Ali, for his performance. In an interview with Nightly News on Tuesday, he said “This is a monumental and prestigious achievement. To receive an award from His Excellency the president is a truly amazing honor and it is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. “
The father of a toddler shared with this newscast that his journey came with its fair share of challenges. “The main challenge was the major shift from face-to-face classes to online classes because of the covid 19 pandemic. It took me a while to adjust to the new normal and this wasn’t made any easier with the poor internet service we get in the Berbice area.” In addition, finding the balance between his career as a teacher, his studies, and his family duties was harder than he had imagined. Now, that it was over, the Goed Bananen, Land East Canje man let out a sigh of relief. He said, “It so happened that the hard work paid dividends and here we are today!”
Mohabir credited largely his colleagues and lecturers for his success. He advised UG students to try to develop a similar bond to make their time at the institution easier.
Nightly News posed the question to the Tain Valedictorian- “What more do you think can be done from those in authority for tertiary level students?” In response, Mohabir shared that “Over the last few weeks I have been reading the stories posted by many UG graduants on their social media pages and one thing I see very common in many of these stories is the challenge to work and attend UG simultaneously. So, it would be very good if the folks in authority can correlate with the relevant stakeholders to formulate a system which allows persons to work and attend UG at the same time without the many hiccups that are present right now.” He added “I have seen many persons gravitating to other areas of study because UG doesn’t offer the area of study they wanted to do. So, I would like to urge the administration of UG to work on expanding the range of programs they offer.”
By Amel Griffith.
