Let’s pay attention to our teachers

All over the world, it has been recognised that nations who have developed, paid attention to education and continue to do so.  If we pay lip service to the development of our educational system, we might as well forget about our development in the foreseeable future. 

In order for effective teaching and learning to happen, the teacher who is the centre of it all, must be well motivated.  Every person working in an office, every parliamentarian, every minister or deputy minister, all the way up to the first gentleman of the land, owes his or her status to a teacher. 

Unfortunately, for some strange reason, our leaders who are the decision makers, do not seem to care very much about the welfare of teachers.  The leadership of the various teacher unions, also appear not to be doing their job as is expected of them, leaving the teacher who had worked for over a year without being paid, frustrated.

The lack of seriousness that is attached to teachers’ issues is very worrying. My parents were teachers so I am very passionate about teachers’ issues.   Gone are the days that we used to say that teachers will get their reward in Heaven. 

Now those in the teaching profession are mostly youthful and they have a different mindset from that of our parents. They do not want their reward in Heaven, they want it here on this very earth. 

A teacher sees his colleague who he was academically better than in school, from the same background socially, becomes a Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), an Member of Parliament (MP) or a Government Appointee and overnight, this guy becomes wealthy and you say he the teacher, should wait for his reward in Heaven? 

His going there is not guaranteed anyway, so if he or she does not make it to Heaven, then what?  Promises of government after government to teachers, remain unfulfilled and so they become disillusioned and demotivated to ensure effective teaching and learning.

I read a story of a lady, who as a child was suffering from Dyslexia but her teacher gave her the needed attention to help her and this even led her teacher to run into problems with the school authorities, resulting in the loss of her job. This lady grew up and became a famous actress and won an Oscar. 

She then gave the prize money attached to the award, which was three million dollars, to her teacher who put her career on the line to help her out of her dyslexia challenge as a child. 

There are many such teachers in our educational system because teaching is a calling, like medicine, like nursing etc. and therefore teachers who are the first point of call before we can climb the ladder to become the engineers, the lawyers, accountants and the rest, deserve special attention. 

What is even important is the crucial role they play in shaping the moral character of future leaders which is invaluable.

Let us all, especially our leaders, place a high premium on the teacher who is at the centre of our educational system and who can make or unmake our future as a nation.  How do you ask a teacher to go to a place, far removed from his or her parents and for a year and above not pay any salary to him or her?

 How is the teacher to survive?  If the same thing was done to any of our leaders, especially the leaders of the various teacher unions, will they be happy? How do they expect the teachers to survive and also be motivated to deliver quality teaching?  Funds must be found to immediately resolve their unpaid salaries do they can be in the right frame of mind to do their very precious job. The teaching profession, in my view, is number one, when ranking professions because as an advert displays “If you can read this, thank a teacher”. Let us give our teachers their due. God bless.

By Laud Kissi-Mensah

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