Kogarah High School’s longest serving teacher describes himself as “old school”, and that’s a pretty accurate description for an educator who still uses chalk.
Karim Hasanic is stepping out of the classroom for the last time, after 39 years of educating students at the same school.
He signs off from the school staff roll today, Monday, July 23.
It was 1979 when Mr Hasanic turned to teaching at the school where he was also a student in 1974-1975.
Originally an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, he ended up becoming a senior staff member who specialised in history.
His early mentors went on to become authors, head supervisors of HSC history, history advisers to former premiers and professors of ancient history at the University of Sydney.
The Arncliffe teacher says teaching is not what is used to be.
“In the early days, teachers were just there to teach, rather than do paperwork and have other responsibilities that detract from the teaching process,” he said.
“What I also miss the most is when I first started teaching, students were more willing to take on new experiences and not be self-conscious – some are too cool for that,” he said.
Many of his ex-students are now doctors, lawyers or have reached success in further education and training.
“The most enjoyable thing was helping students achieve something they didn’t initially believe in,” he said.
“I taught students who were deaf, blind, or students from refugee backgrounds,” he said.
“One of my students who was Indigenous had lots of family problems, but ended up scoring quite well in the HSC.”
Mr Hasanic looks forward to his retirement.
“I just turned 60 so it’s time to move on and do some other things,” he said.
“I want to get involved in volunteer work and have signed up to be a tour guide at the Maritime Museum, and I want to learn French.”