Lesson for education sector
The stunning disclosure
that between 70 per cent and 90 per cent of all teachers in the
country are not properly qualified should awaken the authorities
to take drastic action.
The Central Province is the worst affected with as much as 90
per cent of the teachers not competent to hold their posts. In
the Western Province which has all the facilities this figure is
67 per cent.
The phenomenon has been attributed to political influence in
the appointment of teachers. If this is indeed the case an
unpardonable crime has been committed by those who should know
better against the country’s younger generation, virtually
playing with their future.
In today’s context no greater premium could be attached
towards education on which rests the future of our youth as well
as the country’s destiny. That politicians have thought it fit
to tamper even with such a vital aspect shows the depths to
which politics has made inroads into all facets of life.
Even such a sacrosanct area such as education has not gone
unscathed by the overarching genie of politics. No wonder today
private tutories are having a boom time with more and more
parents opting to send their offspring to these sweat shops due
to poor results in school exams.
Talking of poor results wasn’t it this year that we had the
worse results at the GCE (O/L’s) with the even leading city
schools coming a cropper. Could this latest discovery be the
reason ? The Ministry of Education should lose no time in
tackling the issue head on to smoke out all the all the
imposters if the country’s education system is to be saved from
collapse.
Only suitable and qualified personnel should be given
appointments. Schools should not be turned into seats of
employment for political hangers on. Immediate instructions
should be issued to all politicians to leave out schools from
the equation. There is no knowing the extent of the damage
already inflicted.
What plans are the Ministry going to put in motion to redress
the situation ? How is it going to recruit competent and
qualified teachers and what criteria will be adopted? Are we
going to see another calamitous results sheet this time around
too at the school exams ?
This is a matter that should engage the attention of all.
This state of affairs is bound to see the next generation of
school products coming out as misfits unequal to the challenges
in the new employment markets and ending up as liabilities to
the State. A complete review should be undertaken of teacher
recruitment schemes and only the competent granted postings.
Certainly the latest bombshell reflects the fate of the school
system as a whole.
Today the education sector have assumed the dubious
reputation of being number one on the scale of bribery and
corruption. Many principals of even the well known schools have
been caught in the bribery net. This is because the school
system too has been caught up in the hurly burly life of
commercialisation and is no different to business enterprises.
A sad departure from the past when schools were considered
the fountains of discipline and principals and teachers revered
and respected. That was a time when the title “Iskoley Mahattaya”
carried much weight and dignity. Alas progress and development
instead of bringing enlightenment has only succeeded in the
decline in standards in the education sector even with teachers
resorting to Trade Union action to win demands.
The Ministry of education should restore schools and the
education sector to their once pristine position for the sake of
the future generation. Teachers should not be allowed to gamble
with the future of students through such actions as strikes,
absconding from paper marking and supervising examinations etc.
As a popular teacher recruitment campaign in the UK put it,
‘Those who can, teach’.
That shows that not everyone can become a teacher. It is a
specialised vocation which needs qualified personnel to guide
the students in the proper direction so that they could become
good citizens. That, even more than book subjects, is important
in the whole exercise of education and the authorities must make
sure that only those with qualifications and enthusiasm become
teachers. |