Tiaran Profile - Renu

Passionate, enthusiastic, dedicated, energetic, friendly, imaginative, resourceful, caring – these and more, describe Renugathevi d/o Velayutham. The younger of two daughters of Mr. Velayutham, a teacher, and mother Veny, Renu, as she is known by, received her early education at the Tarcisian Convent, Ipoh, and later, the Raja Perempuan School, Ipoh, though she was born in Sungai Petani, Kedah.

It was after her Form 6 education, whilst waiting for her results, that her neighbour, a retired headmistress of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, Ipoh, asked whether she would be interested to teach at the kindergarten she operated as a temp. Renu obliged, since it would be a few months before the start of her Law studies.

During the semester breaks, she returned to teach at the kindergarten. Though she enjoyed working with children, she was positive her future lay in being a lawyer. Never for one moment did the thought cross her mind that she would be a teacher. But in her final year in Law, to her surprise, she found that she enjoyed being with the little ones, so much so, she was willing to give up reading Law and be a full time kindergarten teacher. It was like she suddenly discovered her calling.

But how would she break the news to her parents? Taking the bull by the horns,she informed her father one day that she was eternally grateful to him for having expended so much money on her Law studies...but she felt her calling was not Law but teaching, a decision which caught him by surprise, shock, even.

That was 13 years ago, and she has not looked back ."I find that I still enjoy teaching children very much. I am even contemplating owning a kindergarten one day," she enthused. "That would be the next stage in my life."

Renu believes that a sound pre-school education is vital towards ensuring children excel academically and socially. And that it was important that as much fun as possible should be infused in all activities for the little ones. She believes that they learn more when they enjoy what they are doing, and her views were expressed in the February 2003 issue of Her World, a woman's magazine published in Malaysia.

Describing herself as a workaholic, the friendly, vivacious and pleasant Head of Centre at the EDUCARE Child Development Centre, a stone's throw from Tiara, at 42, Jalan 16/6, keeps upgrading herself on all matters dealing with children. She obtained a diploma from the Motherwell College, Scotland, another in Early Childcare and Education (which is the Montessori Method of Education), Malaysia, a third in Basic Childcare from the Social and Welfare Department of Malaysia and certificates from the Teachers Training in Perth;a Reading Adventures course from Heinemann Educational,UK; First Aid and CPR from the Malaysian Red Crescent Society; The Child Act 2001, from the Law Faculty of the University of Malaya; Classroom Dynamics, from the CFBT Education Services,Malaysia; Learning Through Play, from Ruth Liew/MBF, Phonics for Pre-Schoolers, from Pelangi Publishers, Malaysia; National Pre-School Curriculum 2003, from the Oxford University Press, Malaysia.

Being trained to look after, care for and educate young children is very different from putting a child under the care of a maid or a babysitter. Even Women,Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil stated that the current burgeoning industry comprising mostly unlicensed and untrained child-minders at Day Care Centres was highly unsatisfactory. Of the thousands of childcare centres operating in Malaysia, only a mere 1800 have permits, a statistic released by the Social Welfare Department.

EDUCARE, which is licenced, has been in operation for over 20 years, since l984. Its holistic approach combines both the Montessori and Educare methods, providing planned programmes in early childcare and education from nursery, kindergarten to pre-school levels.

Renu stated that the children are placed in small groups with a low teacher to child ratio to ensure personal attention to every child. Topics taught are varied and wide, from teaching English, Bahasa, Mathematics and Early Science to introduction to computers, environmental studies, cultural studies, human and social studies, moral and health issues, music and movement, drama and theatrical activities, creativity, and even cookery.

EDUCARE also takes the children for excursions, holiday fun camps, charity drives, festive gatherings as well as exposes them to various campaigns (e.g recycling), newspaper in education, concerts and annual sports. An annual Mothers and Fathers Day are also held, as well as a Parents' Day, besides the Graduation Ceremony for the children

Not many people are aware that the first 18 months of a child's life are a critical period for the child, and parents and child carers need to provide optimum experiences that would enhance and encourage learning, as stated by Dr. Chiam Heng Keng, President of the Association of Professional Early Childhood Educators and author of several books on children. She added that in the West, governments even poured the bulk of the Education Budget into childcare and pre-school.

Renu agrees. To this end, she continues to upgrade herself, aware that there is today a growing awareness of the importance of skills and knowledge for childcare providers. This has resulted in many institutions set up to cater to the growing number of people wanting to earn certificates to enable them to better understand childcare and child-minding training and build a career in this discipline.

Parents today understand that providing a good start is essential to their children's future. Noting that one of such institutions stated that "70% of a child's development takes place before the age of 4," childcare providers are seen as shouldering a huge responsibility.

"For childcare does not mean just feeding a child and putting it to sleep.Children have to be nurtured properly when they are very young.This requires proper skills, a caring personality and the right ethics", said Renu, who is extremely passionate about her work and her wards.

It is hence vital that childminders who are surrounded by boisterous, over active and demanding young children several hours a day have to possess the kind of personality that understands the young ones: oodles of tolerance, patience,energy,dedication,a good temper, calmness, friendliness and endurance! All of which Renu has in ample supply.

Renu is also a member of the Childcare Association of Malaysia, a member of OMEP (Worldwide Education for Children), a panellist on assisting writers of children's books, the chief organizer for various children's events such as concerts, sports, summer camps and charity shows, currently working on articles on children for a magazine on parenting, has directed several musicals (Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, The Tin Soldier, Romeo and Juliet) and has also run drama classes for children aged 2 - 12.

Besides hobbies like writing, drama, singing, baking, travelling, football, nature, Renu is also a social worker, offering free kindergarten classes on Sundays to children in Old Klang Road after the Kampung Medan incident. She is also involved in spiritual work by helping to organise annual events (like Gita Jayanti and The Celebration of the Bhagavad Gita) for the Pure Life Society, and has been its Honorary Secretary for the last 4 years.

Renu is planning to write books, but they will all be related to children. She started collecting data some years back, and is already thinking of collaborating with an artist friend for the pictures which dominate all children's books.

She enjoys living in Tiara, where she moved in three years ago. "I love the serenity here, and often have friends and relatives over to lepak. "But the workaholic admits that she must learn to relax and not think about work every minute of the day.

EDUCARE has openings for a rewarding teaching career for anyone interested in working with young children. Besides full time hours, there are also part time flexi hours. For more job information, Renu can be contacted at 012-3737349.