Inventor teacher a role model for her students

The Star

Although S. Gomathy teaches in a rural Tamil school in Johor, her innovations has earned her more than 200 accolades both locally and internationally.  To date, the 51-year-old science teacher with over 27 years of teaching experience has innovated some 60 different inventions.   She has been featured in international magazines and newsletters and  has even travelled abroad to receive prizes for her creations.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00Teacher S. Gomathi may be from a rural Tamil school in Johor, but her innovations has earned

00:08her more than 200 accolades both locally and internationally.

00:13To date, this 51-year-old science teacher, with over 27 years teaching experience from

00:18SJKT Kankarpulai, has innovated some 60 different inventions.

00:23She has even been featured in international magazines and newsletters, and has even travelled

00:28abroad to receive prizes for her inventions.

00:32Her keen passion as an inventor started when her students, during a field trip to an Orang

00:37Asli village in Kota Tinggi in 2008, questioned her as to what they could invent to help the

00:43locals there get clean water from a nearby river.

00:46Actually, there is one school, SK Kampung Layaw.

00:50We bring our children, we go there, and together with the Kampung Layaw students, we do an

00:56investigation about the water quality.

00:58So, after that, Roni, when your students questioned you, you decided to prove to them that you

01:03should do an investigation?

01:04Yes, yes, yes.

01:05Before that, I think our teacher's job is teach the children, teach the children, teach

01:09the children.

01:10But when I ask the children, what can you do for them, what can you do for them, then

01:15the children ask me, teacher, what can you do for them?

01:18Then only, oh, I think, oh, I should be a very good role model to my kids.

01:24Gomathi decided to take the lead, and this paved way for her first invention, which was

01:28an aqua bicycle and aqua water filter system to clean the dirty water.

01:33When my innovation started is by the aqua bicycle.

01:37When the students are asking, what teacher will do, what teacher will do?

01:42So that is my starting point.

01:44Normally, my children come and ask me, teacher, what innovation I can do, what innovation

01:48I can do?

01:49I say, no, don't ask me what innovation I want to do.

01:52If you got problem, that's your innovation.

01:55You got problem or not?

01:56Yes, teacher, I got problem.

01:57Ah, so what is the solution for your problem?

02:00That is your innovation.

02:01Try to do innovate something, then I will guide them.

02:05A science teacher for 16 years, Gomathi has instilled the love of the subject in more

02:10than 1,000 students in her school.

02:13She also hopes to become a lecturer at the teacher's training college to help train

02:17more science teachers.

02:19If they offer, I will definitely go because if the IPG or any institute teaching department

02:29offer me, definitely I will go because one of my ambition is sharing knowledge.

02:37I got a lot of ideas, I got a lot of experience.

02:41So when I train the teachers, the one teacher can train more than 100 students.

02:47So if I train 10 students, maybe the 10 students only get my knowledge.

02:54If I train 10 teachers, the 10 teachers can train more than 1,000 students.

03:00Among her top inventions include hair oil using herbs to help promote hair growth, herbal

03:05soap, herbal serum, organic fertilizer, organic pesticides, bioherbal candles, homemade roselle

03:13soap and bio gong coffee and soap.

03:16Gomathi said her next project is to educate her students on how to recycle plastic and

03:22also the dangers of microplastics to the environment.

03:26Maybe my innovation more towards to plastic.

03:29Because in this year, our main project is to combat plastic, we are going to combat

03:34with plastic.

03:35There's a lot of changes we are doing because we do a lot of policy, we do around six or

03:40seven policy.

03:41And then every people in every warga of SJK Tikang Kapalai must follow the policy.

03:48So one of the policies, Wednesday, cannot bring the single-use plastic to school.

03:52And then a lot of program we are doing for the plastic, especially I'm trying to give

03:57the importance of the microplastic.

04:00Gomathi has also won many international awards from countries including Canada, Hong Kong,

04:06Iran, India, Korea and Sri Lanka.

04:11Actually Sri Lanka award they give for me because I innovate a lot of innovation.

04:16They recognize me as a women entrepreneur.

04:21She adds most of her projects are also self-funded.

04:24Most of the most my innovation is I'm using my own money.

04:28I'm own money.

04:29Sometimes I go to the competition, if I won, I got the money, then I use the money to recycle

04:35it for the other competition.

04:38Besides crediting her family and supportive husband for her success, Gomathi also thanked

04:43her school headmaster S. Maya Chandran and their Parents Teachers Association, along

04:48with fellow teachers and students for all their support.

04:51They all give a very good support to me.

04:55Without the school support also I can't go.

04:57For example, if I want to bring the children out from our school, so I need the support

05:03from the administration.

05:05So normally they are giving a very good support to me.

05:08How about parents?

05:09Parents is good.

05:10Parents is good.

05:11Parents is good.

05:13They are my backbone.

05:15Gomathi stressed that she was not an entrepreneur, as all her products were not for commercial purposes.

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