Need for quality teachers

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made the pertinent observation that quality teachers are needed in our schools to halt the practice of students seeking private tuition. Speaking at the opening of the Dandina Samarasinghe Memorial Shilpa Medura at the Gunaratana Madya Maha Vidyalaya in Matara on Friday the President said by taking steps to provide competent teachers to schools and unlimited subject knowledge to students they could easily put a stop to the tuition era.

He said, “we should not blame students for attending tuition classes. If competent teachers are provided and subjects like Mathematics, Science and English were properly taught in schools there won’t be a need for students to attend tuition classes”.

Implied in the President’s remark is fact that many of our schools particularly, in the underprivileged rural schools, teachers are wanting in quality and competence. It is also a fact that in a majority of these schools teachers are recruited on a ad-hoc basis not giving thought to their qualifications and ability. The estate schools stand out in this respect where teacher competence is below par resulting in children getting a raw deal. Besides even in the better schools the teachers are not as devoted or dedicated as they should be and their heart is not on the job.

Instead they bide their time until the school day ends and rush eagerly to engage in private tuition to enhance their earnings. Thus the teaching profession is today shorn off its true ideals and could no longer be described as a noble profession where it too has succumbed to the temptations of mammon like all other things in the market place.

True, our teachers are a poorly paid lot, their emoluments not commensurate with their standing in society or the toil and sacrifices made to attain their status. They are naturally frustrated and their minds are not on the job. So much so teachers today have taken the unprecedented step of staging protest demonstrations to draw the attention of the authorities to their plight.

The Government should therefore pay special attention to their grievances and remedy all anomalies affecting the teaching profession by granting them an attractive salary package.

Whether this alone will make teachers more devoted to their classroom work is a moot point given today’s high living costs and the natural desire to earn an extra income. But proper recognition no doubt would make a majority of the members of the teaching profession consider their role more seriously with a degree of circumspection that would redound to the benefit of the student population.

The comparative good results of last year’s GCE O-L examination may not be solely due to the good work of the classroom. Many parents would attribute this to the extra classes attended to by their offspring. Here too lies a problem. The tuition culture some would say has come to stay and even with dedicated teachers in the classroom parents would still be inclined to send their children for private tuition to obtain higher grades in this highly competitive rat race to excel and surpass the next man.

The tuition mudalalis too are aware of this tendency on the part of the parents and exploit it to the maximum. Like the President implied the best way to wean parents sending their children for private tuition is to break the stranglehold of the tuition mudalalis. This can only be done by producing devoted, dedicated quality teachers and through persuading parents of the futility of private tuition in such a context. Of course the parents will need convincing and that will be the task of the authorities.

To begin with as mentioned teachers have to well looked after and paid an adequate remuneration. This would remove their frustration and make them devote more attention to their classroom work. Schools should also be staffed with competent teachers obviating the need for private tuition. It should be the Government’s endeavour to produce an educated generation to be entrusted with the task of carrying forward the country’s development work. In this context the values of having the best teachers and instructors in our schools cannot be overemphasized.

Police must act

According to a news item in our weekend paper the Sunday Observer the Police have decided to come down hard on footboard travellers in buses and trains. This follows the increase in rate of accidents as a result of footboard travel. It was reported that a schoolboy from Panadura had fallen off a bus while travelling on footboard and badly injured.

The Police periodically issue warnings to SLCTB and private buses against permitting footboard travel. But after some time it is back to business. For, business it is which is at the core of allowing this dangerous practise. The more the ‘load’ you take the more the shekels in the kitty. Nothing short of tough legal action would put an end to this. Footboard travel should be banned and bus crew held accountable. The Police should also put a stop to overloading. Today most buses particularly at peak hours are packed like sardines, even the so-called luxury buses, against all rules and regulations. Heavy fines should be slapped for overloading.