Media Release

Mangaluru, Sep 5: With more than 50 years' experience as a teacher, 84-year-old Clemencia D’Couto says she has loved every moment with children and will not consider retiring.

What started as a passion now is an integral part of Clemencia D’Couto’s life.

D’Couto has been instrumental in framing the early foundational years of more than 3000 children in the Mangaluru region. She has been teaching pre-kindergarten, LKG and UKG classes for more than five decades.

Clemencia has worked for many institutions in Mangaluru and currently teaches at Early Learning Centre, kindergarten. Besides, she actively takes part in training teachers. Apart from working with children and teachers, she loves gardening, creating things out of waste, designing and stitching clothes.

“ELC is my second home,” she gushes when asked how she feels teaching everyday. “The management has been very understanding of me, the children, teachers, parents and support staff love me and I love them too. It is wonderful to be part of the ELC family.”

Clemencia believes that a warm hug from children every morning and evening is what keeps her healthy and going strong. Talking about her initial days in teaching, she says that she first began teaching out of passion and love for kids. Slowly she got trained in it. She fondly remembers, her first salary being Rs 60 way back in 1969. Going back in time, she recollects that though Montessori material was available earlier, nobody knew how to use it, but today things have changed and she is happy that it has changed for good.

Clemencia is an inspiration to all. She proves that age is not a number and that dedication to a worthy cause can help us all reach beyond our set boundaries. Teaching being her passion, she is a role model to everyone of excellence, hard work and persistence. It is the joyfulness of little ones and the community of loving caregivers that she cherishes at the end of the day.