Rohan’s Surprise

How a Trouble Maker Became a Class Monitor

5 min readOct 20, 2023

Mr Jayamanne, the class master, greeted the students with a smile as they entered the classroom. He had taught them in grade six and was familiar with their faces and names. The classroom was in a small building with a tin roof detached from the main primary block by a land corridor. It was where the students would spend their grade seven year. Mr Jayamanne hoped they would like their new home, 7A.

Mr Jayamanne often heard complaints about noisy behaviour when a teacher was absent or late. He did not try to discipline the boys harshly but looked for a better solution.

He paused as he heard some noise from outside. He frowned and continued. “Now, sometimes you get restless when a teacher is absent or late. I’ve heard some complaints about your behaviour from other staff members. But I don’t want to punish you or scold you for that. I want to find a better way to deal with it.”

He walked to the blackboard and wrote something on it. He turned back to the class and said, “You see, I think you need a class monitor. Someone who can keep order and discipline in the class when I’m not here. Someone who can represent your interests and opinions to me and other teachers. Someone who can be a leader and a role model.”

The boys started to whisper among themselves, wondering who that would be. Some had their preferences, some had their rivals, and some had no idea.

Mr Jayamanne raised his voice and said, “I can see you’re curious about who the class monitor will be. Well, I have an idea. Why don’t you choose a class monitor yourselves? How does that sound?”

The boys stopped whispering and looked at him with surprise. Some of them nodded, some of them shrugged, and some of them shook their heads.

“Good, good. I’m glad you’re interested.” Mr Jayamanne said. “But I don’t want you to pick the class monitor publicly. That might cause some problems or hurt feelings in the class. We don’t want that, do we? No, we want to be fair and democratic. So, let’s have a secret vote. It’s the best way to do it. And we’ll do it tomorrow, so you have time to think about it.”

It was the first-ever secret ballot for the twelve-year-olds.

There were four candidates for the class monitor election. Rohan, who was very popular among his classmates, had many fans campaigning for him, but he did not campaign for himself. His main competitor was Priyantha, who relied on his supporters to do his bidding. The next day, Mr Jayamanne handed out a ballot paper to each student with his signature. They had to write the name of their chosen candidate and drop it in a cardboard ballot box.

Rohan decided not to vote for himself but for his friend, Denzil. He thought voting for himself was unethical because he believed in fair play and honesty. He did not want to win by his vote but by the votes of his classmates who trusted him. He also wanted to show his friendship and loyalty to Denzil, his best friend. Rohan was a confident and generous person who did not need to boost his ego by voting for himself.

When the voting was over, Mr Jayamanne counted the votes. Rohan got 23 votes, Priyantha got 14 votes, another student got four votes, and Denzil got one vote. Everyone assumed that Denzil voted for himself, but Rohan voted for him. Mr Jayamanne got up and gave Rohan the key to the class cupboards. He gave him a doubtful smile and winked at him over his glasses. He did not expect Rohan to be the class monitor because he thought Rohan was a troublemaker. His smile was sarcastic and meant, ‘Let’s see how long Rohan can do this job’. Mr Jayamanne respected the majority decision of his students, but he probably thought they made a mistake.

Rohan accepted the challenge. He wanted to prove his critics wrong. The boys who voted for Priyantha were feeling uneasy. But they soon got over it. Usually, the class monitor sits in the front row of the class. But Rohan, being who he was, continued to sit in the back row of the class. Mr Jayamanne did not try to move Rohan to the front row, maybe because he did not want to be unfair to an academic student who would have to sit in the back row. It was the first time a class monitor was invisible and in the back row.

Things started to change in the class quietly and quickly. Rohan made a list of who would clean the classroom. He also made sure the desks were neat. The students chipped in some money and bought a broom and a cloth for Mr Jayamanne’s desk. They also put some fake flowers on it to make it look nice. When a teacher was not there, a high school student would come and watch the class. The class was not noisy anymore, so no one had any complaints. Sometimes, Rohan had to calm down the class if a teacher was late. But no one was mad at him because he treated everyone fairly. He did not care if they were big or small, rich or poor, smart or dumb, or what colour they were. Rohan was fair to everyone.

“Let’s make this St. Joseph’s feast memorable for our class and Mr Jayamanne,” Rohan said to his classmates. They agreed and collected some money to buy decorations and snacks. Rohan went with two friends to Wattala Junction to buy cakes, biscuits, bananas and soft drinks. They came back and decorated the room with crape paper and balloons. The boys attended the mass honouring St. Joseph at the Lourdes grotto on the school campus. After the mass, they invited Mr Jayamanne and the school’s minor workers to join them for a mini-party in their classroom.

The boys enjoyed the food and drinks and thanked Mr Jayamanne for being their teacher. Mr Jayamanne gave a captivating talk about St. Joseph and his virtues. He praised the boys for their generosity and kindness. Then Denzil, the most gifted student in the class, gave a thanksgiving speech.

“Mr Jayamanne, you are not only our teacher but also our friend and mentor. You have taught us many things, not only in school subjects but also in life. You have inspired us to be better students. We are grateful for your guidance and support. On behalf of our class, I would like to present you with a small gift as a token of our appreciation,” Denzil said.

He handed a small parcel to Mr Jayamanne, who hesitated to accept it.

“Sir, please take our small gift,” the students shouted in one voice.

Denzil touched Mr Jayamanne’s hand and placed the parcel in his hand.

“Thank you, boys. You are very kind and thoughtful. I don’t deserve this,” Mr Jayamanne said.

He opened the parcel carefully and found a gold and black coloured Pilot pen inside.

“This is a beautiful pen. Thank you very much,” he said.

He put the pen in his shirt pocket and showed it to everyone.

The boys clapped and cheered.