The 22nd edition of World Teachers Day was
celebrated on Wednesday 5 October, under the theme: “Valuing Teachers:
Improving their status”. This year’s theme was an uncharacteristic admission of
failure of government policy on teachers’ welfare and could not have been more
apt, coming as it were on the day put aside by UNESCO to celebrate what it means
to be a teacher. However genuine government’s concern for teachers’ plight may
be, what the government does to address the years of neglect of this vital
sector in the nation’s development is crucial.
Teachers’ situation in Cameroon appears
worse, as government has so far paid inadequate attention to the affairs of
teachers. The system undoubtedly is near collapse. It is imperative for
government to discard the usual talk-shop approach and articulate a new agenda
to reverse the declining fortunes of the teaching profession by restoring their
sense of duty and professionalism. Obviously, the government could do better
for teachers’ welfare; to ensure that teachers perform with a sense of pride
and accomplishment, while strengthening the foundation for pupils and boost
students’ performances.
By
wide consensus, any educational system is only as good as the quality of
teachers. At a time the country is contending with a sharp decline in stock of
men of excellent disposition, teachers remain the hallmark of integrity in
service. In yesteryears, teaching was referred to as the “noble profession.”
But today, a majority of the thousands of applicants into teacher training
colleges are more interested in having a public service matricule number than
any genuine desire to impart knowledge on young Cameroonians with honor and
dignity. Worse even, some teachers who are posted to remote enclave areas
refuse to go; or once they collect their lump sum payments from the treasury
(gros lot), they migrate abroad.
Even
those who eventually graduate as teachers, teach only for a few years before
seeking sanctuary in other more productive sectors of the public service. Not surprising, ENS graduates
are holding all kinds of positions in the public service – from Divisional Delegates
of Small and Medium Size Enterprises to Research Officers in the Prime
Minister's Office and Technical Advisers at the Presidency.
In
the meantime, our classrooms are empty. This indeed is unfortunate. What in the
world, can a Biology or Physics teacher be doing as Divisional Delegate of
Commerce and Industry when the country badly needs science teachers? This
obnoxious policy of appointing teachers away from the classroom should be
halted immediately for the interest of our children!
Effective
implementation has almost always been the bane of many good ideas. The
government should strive for progress by concretizing plans to re-energize the
ailing teaching sector, and there is no better time than now to overhaul the
tottering system to avoid collapse. The teaching profession should be made more
honorable and lucrative. Teachers’ welfare should not be the least in the
priorities of government as presently obtains. Their long-suffering reflects in
the quality of their products and says much about the quality of leadership of
the country, guilty of neglecting the system on all fronts.
The
public decimation of the teaching profession by natural inclination has reduced
teachers to beggars.
Not
surprisingly, the stock of professional teachers diminishes by the day as
students run away from the profession on account of its baseline status. This
lack of recognition opens the way for non-professionals to fill the gaps. The
multiplier effect in poor treatment of teachers in public schools manifests in
the mushrooming of private schools with even poorer conditions of service for
teachers.
It
is common place to hear derogatory statements in beer parlors like “teachers’
round” to signify misery and tightfistedness of teachers.
This
apparent wretchedness has attracted very unorthodox practices involving some
bad eggs, who, after being compromised, issue marks to students who didn’t earn
the grades! Examination
malpractice in all its ramifications, has become hydra-headed and entrenched as
part of the endemic corruption in the country.The problem is as bad as that,
obviously linked to the erosion of values and moral ideals in our society.
The
moral degeneracy is such that some teachers, especially in rural areas openly
cohabit with their students. The situation is even worse in universities with
STM – Sexually Transmitted Marks -in which lecturers exchange marks for sexual
favors.
Against
the background of the 2012 UNESCO report, which listed Cameroon among countries
with severe gaps between the number of required and available teachers, it
should be worrisome that Cameroon is classified with the likes of Burkina Faso,
Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Senegal, Niger and Rwanda, all of
which are less endowed in human and material resources.
Deep
concerns by teachers’ syndicates over poor treatment and working conditions
must be addressed as a matter of urgency. The country needs qualified and
motivated teachers to engage students constructively; not uncommitted seekers
of matriculation numbers and pay slips who teach part-time and devote more time
to petty survival occupations.
Teachers
should be accorded their dues to make them role models for students; reverse
the negative public perception of teachers as wretched and tap their
contributions fully to nation-building. A motivated workforce will always be a country’s asset.
It
is regrettable that the government has always made promises to teachers which
it never respects. This is not ideal in a society where undeserving politicians
serve themselves jumbo salaries and allowances, and can afford to send their
children to schools abroad.
The
quality of our educational institutions and their products must continue to
disturb the minds of all those concerned citizens who are worried about the
future. The President and
education policy makers have a duty to salvage the wrecks in the teaching
sector before it is too late.
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