Monday, 10 October 2016

Teachers and National Development


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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