A government that disrespects teachers loses itself; for a nation’s progress is largely the making of a teacher. In fact, a nation whose citizens absorb false doctrines about life, failed theories about money, fake assumptions about society, frivolous formulas about science, and fictitious formulations about learning will remain a Peter Pan of development.
The above has not been, is not, and will never be, the case thanks to teachers who have, since time immemorial, dutifully imparted and perfectly guided knowledge in all areas of life to the beautiful molding of responsible citizens that are friends and family strolling our nation every day today. To cut the chase, teachers deserve better because they represent a resource in themselves, train a nation’s workforce, and re-socialize citizens in line with national goals.
Whatever every single one of us is—from the common man in the farthest village to the powerful man in the highest villa—is, partly or entirely, a direct and/or indirect result of the services of a teacher.
It goes without saying that teachers represent a large and important human resource of this, and of course, any nation. The education system is the playfield for teachers. The government sets the curriculum, teachers implement it. Therefore, the education system has teachers as the workforce; without them there is no it. So, day in day out, they organize and re-organize themselves in ways that help government achieve the national goals as envisaged in the curriculum and in the national development agendas.
Paradoxically, teachers are the producers of the produce that torments them, that is, the nation’s workforce. It be will of help to note that a government is as good as its workforce. It follows, from simple logic yes, that the workforce should be as good as its trainers. Therefore, teachers are as worth of a decent treatment—good and timely salaries, decent housing, fair labor practices—as are the products of its loins—the Rashids and the Rashidas sauntering the corridors of power as president, ministers, principal secretaries, directors, or as managers.
But most importantly, teachers have the task of imparting morally relevant and developmentally sound knowledge to our young. They transform the thinking mentality of children of different social, cultural, and economic backgrounds to be in line with the needs and aspirations of the nation. On this very important task, teachers are the natural second parents for children.
Unlike their parents, teachers are almost always active. They take their role of effective educators to whole new levels; they correct a child when wrong, rewards honesty and excellence, and guide them in their career choices. Again, parents may take only less time to interact with their children but teachers have a larger part of the day with the children unlearning them of bad behaviors and prescribing to them the best alternatives in the name of education.
Is being a resource in the education sector bad? Is training a nation’s workforce evil? Is re-socializing children to become better and responsible citizens a curse? May be yes! Because if it were otherwise, surely, salary delays, indecent housing and all that jazz would not be a persistent problem to teachers.
To say the fact, salary delays for teachers is an issue that has been there for some time now and appears will be there for good given the indifference of the leadership to the profession. Truth be told here, the October salary delay for teachers would not be news worth the salt were it not for the fact that the issue added a voice to the cacophony of many things going sour for young Mutharika; falling Kwacha, rising commodity prices, salary hike demands.
So, whatever the mechanisms for determining salaries, and whatever the causes of the salary delays for teachers, the above should understandably move the responsible persons into doing something to spare teachers the shame associated with the scorn of being paid peanuts and untimely.
If the foregoing cannot move those responsible into throwing spanners for a dignified treatment of teachers, maybe the human in the powers that be will demand that they do the needful as a “Thank you” to teachers for a job well done over the years, today, and the years to come.
