A teacher is also a learner
If you google Sathyanarayanan Mundayoor, the first thing you may see is that he won the Padma Shri in 2020. But today, we look beyond the title and into the world of teaching through his eyes, from classrooms and libraries to the hills of Arunachal Pradesh, where he has spent decades nurturing curiosity, sharing the joy of reading and becoming “Uncle Moosa” to generations of young learners.
Sathyanarayanan Mundayoor, known to generations of children in Arunachal Pradesh as "Uncle Moosa," was once a young boy with a simple reading habit. He would grab a copy of The Hindu and focus on the cricket page before even turning to other sections. This early interest in reading stayed with him, becoming a source of joy and discovery.
After working in Mumbai, Mundayoor moved to Arunachal Pradesh in 1979, initially drawn by an announcement for volunteers to help start schools for first-generation learners. With no formal education qualification, he believed learning should be "free and open-ended," allowing children to explore freely. Upon arrival, he aimed to contribute to education, but soon found that the children had much to teach him, including practical skills like caring for gardens and working with natural materials.
This experience shaped his view of teaching as a two-way process. Mundayoor's approach to education centers around community libraries, aiming to provide children with the freedom to choose what they want to read and learn. He believes schools often produce students who fit a system, rather than fostering genuine learning. To address this, he advocates for practical skills education, such as learning by doing, and emphasizes the importance of mother languages to preserve cultural knowledge.
Despite advancements in education, Mundayoor notes that accessibility does not guarantee equality, especially in remote areas where access to basic facilities and digital resources remains uneven. He stresses that true education should be open-ended, allowing children to explore and discover at their own pace.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
