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Samaan Lateef
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, September 21
A video of a tearful farewell to a schoolteacher in Kupwara went viral on social media on Friday, with netizens hailing her contribution towards education in the area.
Amid a shower of flowers, Nahida, 24, had to cross a long queue of tearful students and teachers on her last day at Government Middle School, Gulgam, Kupwara.
“It was the most difficult walk of my life,” Nahida told The Tribune about she walked through a two-line queue of boys and girls .
With tears in their eyes, students were seen showering petals on Nahida, while some of them had brought gifts for her.
Students, many of them orphans, had found a mother in Nahida, while for others, she was no less than a friend. “I broke down after seeing students crying and extending so much love. I don’t think anything will make me more emotional than the gesture of these small kids,” she said.
Reciprocating their love, Nahida can be seen shaking hands with and hugging her students in the video. “Do you want to say goodbye like this? I’ll come back soon,” she says while consoling the students before driving out of the school.
A science graduate from Government Women College, MA Road, Srinagar, Nahida was appointed teacher in 2015. She was posted at Government Middle School, Gulgam, in March 2017 and was teaching science and English.
Nahida says she treats students like the kids at her home. “I think the love and the friendly atmosphere we have created in the school made the students reciprocate in such a dignified and emotional gesture,” she said.
She says the mantra to encourage students to study is to adapt.
Nahida, who has been transferred to a nearby Government Kindergarten School, Hirri Payeen, hopes the video will influence other teachers to make the teacher-student relation an association of love instead of fear.
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