Minister Nancy Shukri says longtime convent headmistress Ramlah Mohamed reminds her of the teachers who moulded her into the person she has become.
PETALING JAYA: Nancy Shukri has lauded retired convent headmistress and principal Ramlah Mohamed for her outstanding services to the teaching profession.
“She is a credit to the teaching profession as a whole, and a pioneer woman teacher of exemplary quality and dedication,” the women, family and community development minister said.
Nancy was reacting after Ramlah, 93, was featured in an article on FMT in conjunction with Teachers’ Day, today.
Ramlah, who hails from Johor, studied at Muar Convent before moving at the insistence of Catholic priest Fr Renee Ashness to the Malacca Convent which offered student boarding facilities. Encouraged by the convent nuns, she would go on to train as a teacher in Kirkby, England.
In 1955, Ramlah was appointed headmistress of the Batu Pahat Convent, where she served for 28 years, before retiring as principal of Johor Bahru Convent in 1986.
Nancy told FMT she was not surprised by the positive influence the mission schools had on Muslim women of Ramlah’s and her generations.
“I spent Lower Six at Sunny Hill School in Kuching, Sarawak, which is run by the Seventh-day Adventist Mission of Sarawak. Most of us went on to become quite successful,” she said.
Nancy, who hopes to meet up with Ramlah soon, said the nonagenarian reminded her of her own schoolteachers.
“They were hardworking, passionate and dedicated to imparting their knowledge and life experiences to us, their students. My teachers, like Mrs Rose Kee moulded me into who I am today.
“I salute Ramlah and many more like her who have dedicated their lives’ work in the field of education in this country,” said Nancy.
