The child walked into the room and quickly sat. The man looked at him, called him by name and asked him if someone offered him a seat. The child responds in the negative. “You wait until you are offered a seat before you take a seat,” he told the child gently.
That was the first meeting between a prospective student of Morgan’s Learning Centre (MLC) and Orin Morgan, the man behind the new private school in Georgetown, who has been teaching his entire life. Thus began an interview, which included questions such as the child’s aspirations in life.
Sir Morgan, as he has been fondly called from the time he started teaching at the Richard Ishmael Secondary School many years ago, is not one to adapt to the norm. He does things differently since for him when children leave his school they must not only excel academically. He takes the role of second parent seriously and wants to ensure certain values are instilled.
In fact, along with a team, he interviews every child who enters his school. The child not only fills up his/her own application but is also required to write an entry test. The examination is not about weeding out those who may not do so well as during the interview if the child is able to convince the team that he/she deserves a chance, then that child is admitted. Instead, the examination gives the school an idea as to where the child is academically, and if the child is admitted, there is always the option of lessons at the John Street location.
Morgan has come a long way from his John Street lessons being referred to as the “ghetto lessons” (he believes in giving children second chances) to his institution now being the most sought after by many parents. John Street, which offers lessons from forms one to six is referred to as the MLC’s number one location while the D’Urban Street location is known as ‘the Edifice’.
The stringent rules he now employs along with the vetting may have been driven by the fact that a fight between two of his students many years ago outside of his John Street location resulted in one dying. Years later, Morgan still finds it hard to talk about that incident, but he said he wants to ensure there is never a repeat and therefore the vetting became a must. He noted that many of the children who attended the lessons were from single-parent homes where the challenges are many. He always attempts to work with people who “are hungry for something”, and therefore wants to speak to and hear from students.
“I am a stickler for discipline… I would never compromise on discipline. Don’t get me wrong, you can’t be hard all the time but there are times when you must..,” he told Stabroek Weekend in a recent interview. The father of three has been a father figure to many children who others may have given up on. He gave them a chance and they did not disappoint him. He is emotional as he speaks about some of his past students, like the student who refused to attend his CXC examination because he felt he would not have been successful. Morgan said he went to the home of the child, who many did not want in their classes, and urged him to leave a car wash location and get ready for school. In the car the child burst into tears as he related that no one had ever showed interest in him.
“I remember that. I remember that vividly, it moved me to tears…,” he said as he recounted the story the boy who pointedly asked him if he did not have space or just did not want to accept him into his lessons.
He went against the wishes of some of his teachers and accepted the young man who was successful and went on to the University of Guyana. There was a story of a serving member of the Guyana Police Force who had to be snatched from the jaws of gangs and forced into the classroom.
There are many other stories as it is not just young students who are given an opportunity but also young adults, who are accepted into fifth form to write the CXC examination. The fees for one young man was waived in the final three months after his then place of employment gave him the ultimatum of choosing between furthering his studies and his job. He is also now a student at the University of Guyana.
Many might say there are similar stories at other institutions but what appears to have given Morgan and his team an edge is that way they have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. The MLC became one of the first schools to have its own e-learning platform; it did not rely on the popular Zoom or Google classroom. The platform was established even before COVID but had to be upgraded, Morgan said, and the school paid to have this done. It not only allows video sessions but caters for assignments; the grades of students are also uploaded and can be accessed at any time. The student is given a unique sign-in name and password and the teachers are always aware when they are in the virtual classroom. If they are absent, the parent would immediately be contacted. The school has also developed online rules for children and parents, which include children being attired in their uniforms.
“I have always had a passion for it. It was never about the money, you know, you find that niche, you find something you love…,” Morgan, who teaches Principles of Business, Principles of Accounts, Office Administration and Social Studies, related.
Maybe it was that love that saw him receiving a typed letter from one of his teachers. Initially he believed it was a letter of resignation, but it was to commend him for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. The teacher signalled that Morgan’s leadership as well as that of the Board of Directors and staff of MLC ensured that over the last five months, their “professional and personal affairs [remained] unscathed by the unprecedented challenges brought on by COVID-19.
“I applaud the determination, innovation and proactive attitude of the leaders of this institution, and I consider myself tremendously blessed to be a part of this team, especially knowing that there are others facing very harsh realities,” the letter said.
Morgan has not asked his teachers to take a pay cut and while he understands that parents are facing difficulties as well, he was unable to lower the fees paid for the more than 600 children at his two locations. He noted that MLC has had to pay for the online platform and has ensured that there has been minimal disruption in the children’s education.
Nomadic
Chronicling his journey to where he is today, Morgan recalled that as soon as he entered the teaching profession he recognised there was a need for children to have extra lessons and always ensuring that things are done properly he sent a formal letter to the parents of the children who had expressed an interest.
He started out with five students and for some time after he said, the classes were “nomadic” as they had no fixed place and moved often. He started out in the school’s compound but had to discontinue after the Ministry of Education barred all private lessons from schools’ environs. “We moved from bottom house to bottom house,” he said, listing names such as Ann Pickett, Latisha Lake and Colwyn King all of whom played instrumental roles in helping him to find locations.
He even recalled an embarrassing incident when he was thrown out of one location in the middle of classes. He had sublet from someone and the owner wanted them out. He still sadly remembers the tears that streamed down his students’ faces at the time.
The John Street location became a reality through the assistance of a former head of Central High School, Pamela Bridgewater Loncke, who accepted him with “open arms” after he informed her of what he was doing. “The rest is history, I have never looked back,” was how described the journey from then, ten years ago, to today.
He told Stabroek Weekend that he is a dreamer and over the years he has never stopped dreaming, which has today resulted in him having his own school.
“I used to tell my students that imagine one day you would have a school where you could swipe cards to gain entry and they would say ‘Sir, stop dreaming’,” he said adding that while at that time he had no idea how it could be accomplished he still dreamt.
Today it is a reality as at the D’Urban Street location, which opened its doors in 2018, the child swipes into to gain entrance. Parents from the comfort of their homes can know the time the child clocks in and the time the child clocks out. This also means that the teachers do not have to mark the register as this information is electronically stored and more time is available to teach.
The teacher said he recognised that there was a void as many children who lacked discipline were going through the educational system and for him they are “good children” who needed someone to believe in them, have a determination to go after them and stand up to them. He wanted to be that person.
“You recognise that not everybody is gifted, and I thought to myself if everybody gravitates to teaching the high-flyers who is going to help those. I have seen I have changed many lives. I have seen students move from nothing to something. They went off to the University of Guyana… and today they are doing great things,” he said.
There are some 350 students at the D’Urban Street location from forms one to six and Morgan said he recognised there is need for expansion. MLC offers some 22 subjects at both locations. The science lab at the school is equipped with collapsible tables and stools and they have the cupboards that store the needed items. The school is not yet equipped with a Home Economics Department, Sir Morgan said this is on stream. There is no space for Physical Education (PE), but the children are taken by bus to the National Cultural Centre tarmac or D’Urban Park. PE is seen as an important part of a child’s development and it is also offered as a subject at the school.
Over the years the CXC results for MLC, more specifically at the lessons, have been excellent and Morgan said that they had even allowed form one students to write CXC subjects, which initially had been condemned. But he pointed out that some children may not be able to write a number of subjects at one time. He also encourages students to write different stream subjects just in case they want to change their line of studies after they leave school.
“I have a drive and passion… failure is not an option for me,” Morgan said, adding that he grew up in the Lodge community and is well aware of the effects of poverty and for him the only way to beat it is through education.
It has been seven years since he left the public teaching profession and he has no regrets.
In the words of Frank Sinatra, Morgan said “I did it my way”.
