MEMORY OF MY FATHER WHO WAS A GREAT EDUCATOR
When I was a child, my father would rock me on his knees,
Give me advice and tell me how much he cared and loved me.
I was a few months old but I retained his advice in my memory.
Although he passed away I still love my father dearly.
*
His talks with me were meaningful and educational.
He was an outstanding and devoted school principal.
I know he was God-fearing as he prayed with us each night.
He was always teaching his children to do what was right.
*
No wonder the Trinidad and Tobago Government saw it fit,
To send him to the United Kingdom on a Government
scholarship,
To pursue studies in the London University Institute of
Education.
He graduated with a 580-page thesis and was given a big
promotion.
*
As District Inspector of Schools, his performance was
outstanding.
Nothing for him in those primitive days was too demanding.
He attained a Doctorate in Education from Florida State
University.
Dr. Andrew M. Khan was one of the pioneers of Education in
his country.
*
He led by example and made outstanding contributions to the
church also.
He became the first Presiding Elder in the Presbyterian
Church in Trinidad
and Tobago.
Dr. Khan served in all courts of the church until his passing in
1975
prematurely.
The Presbyterian Teachers’ Association honoured him with
gold medals
posthumously.
*
His children excelled in their various careers and served the
nation.
One was a Judge, and another was Assistant Comptroller –
Customs and
Excise Division.
One owned a business, one was an Accountant, one a Public
Relations
Officer, and one a Spanish Professor.
One was a School Principal, another a Teacher, and one was
an Executive
Foreign Service Officer.
*
I was the eighth child in that family and became a Bank
Manager.
After my father’s death, I compiled and published his memoirs.
In the Foreword written by former Trinidad and Tobago Chief
Justice, Sir
Isaac Hyatali,
He remarked, “Dr. Khan was one of the greatest intellectuals in
this
society.”
Copyright@Brenda Mohammed
