WORLD TEACHERS DAY: BEYOND THE FANFARE

the frustrated teachers outside the stadium

FILE PHOTO: Frustrated teachers.

the frustrated teachers outside the stadium
the frustrated teachers outside the stadium

Tayo Ogunbiyi

The 2015 World Teachers’ Day celebration has come and gone. Expectedly, across the country, the day was marked with long speeches, processions and fanfare. In almost every state in the country, teachers came with loads of demands bordering on improved working incentives. On their own part, federal and state governments used the occasion to eulogize teachers to high heavens as the builders of the nation. In some few instances, a small number of governors made modest policy statements aimed at soothing the ego of teachers.

Now that the razzmatazz and euphoria surrounding the World Teachers Day event are over, it is pertinent to properly address the plight of teachers as well as the falling standard of education in the country. It is no longer a secret that the teaching profession is fast losing its status as a dignified vocation in our dear nation. Paradoxically, for any nation to really attain lofty heights, it must pay a close attention to the teaching profession. A teacher could be likened to a miracle worker. Whenever the innate but largely hidden potential of a student comes in contact with the therapeutic skill of a teacher, a miracle occurs. It is, however, our failure as a nation to recognise and appreciate this that is partly accountable for the dismal state of education in the country. Sadly, today, being a teacher is almost akin to being an outcast in our country.

Ideally, teachers ought to hold the ace when it comes to nation building. They get children into school, keep them there and help them learn. Every day, they help to build the inclusive knowledge the society needs for tomorrow. Evidence shows that teachers, their professional knowledge and skills are the most important factor for quality education. This requires stronger training upfront and continual professional development and support, to enhance performance and learning outcomes. In Nigeria, we are aware of this, but still neglect teachers’ welfare far too often, teachers remain under-qualified and poorly paid, with low self esteem, and excluded from education policy matters and decisions that concern and affect them.

Teachers hold the key to the future since they help to mould future leaders. They don’t just teach, they are critical personalities who nurture the young folks to maturity, to understand the world and to understand themselves. The education of a child involves a total development of personality and this means that the human element of improvement is essential. This is something that can only be done by the teacher. In the words of famous rabbi and scholar of Judaism, Jonathan Sacks, “when teachers open our eyes to the world, they give us curiosity and confidence. They teach us to ask questions. They connect us to our past and future. They are the guardians of our social heritage…Life without a teacher is simply not a life”. In a world that is daily confronted with swift social changes, sometimes inexplicable crisis and bizarre natural occurrences, teachers remain a major and constant bastion of hope.

In line with the theme of this year’s World Teachers’ Day, “invest in the future, invest in a teacher”, every investment in teachers is one that is worthy of every penny spent. A society that refuses to empower teachers will only be promoting ignorance. And ignorance, in its nastiest manifestation, breeds all manner of social ills. Ultimately, the price that a nation might have to pay for encouraging ignorance almost often exceeds what it needs to do to uphold education. This is why every nation of the world must fully come to terms with the need to further enhance the competence of teachers at all levels. It is in doing this that the critical issue of nation building, especially in Third World countries, could be effectively tackled. In other words, building a nation without first building teachers would basically amount to chasing shadows.

Therefore, beyond the pomp and pageantry of this year’s World Teachers Day, all stakeholders in the education sector need to reflect on the state of teachers and education. This is the time to go beyond paying lip service to capacity building for teachers. Concerted efforts should be made by appropriate authorities to improve the working conditions of teachers. We need to do everything to restore the dignity of the teaching profession. The private schools, in particular, must stop the dehumanization of teachers. Some of them pay as little as N15, 000 as salary to graduate teachers. Some of the teachers even work without any clear cut terms of engagement with their employees.

A nation that toils with the well being of its teachers inadvertently puts her own future in serious jeopardy. Without putting in place the proper machinery to improve the working condition of teachers, all efforts to bring about the realization of the national mass literacy project would simply go down the drain. Consequently, the successful execution of the mass literacy project could only be made possible with the active participation of a well motivated, properly trained and competent teaching force. Appropriate governmental and non-governmental organizations, therefore, need to intensify efforts towards developing the competence of teachers across the country.

Perhaps, the most convincing approach to deal with the numerous of problems we face as a nation is to urgently attend to the waning fortunes of teachers. It is, however, important that teachers, particularly in our nation, continue to uphold the integrity and dignity of the teaching profession. A situation where teachers get involved in unimaginable acts capable of denting the image of the profession is, to say the least, despicable. The teaching profession, the world over, is a noble vocation. Ours must not be an exception. A nation could cope with half -baked engineers or lawyers. But, no nation, desirous of making meaningful progress, could survive with a mediocre teaching workforce.

Undoubtedly, the destiny of every nation is shaped, reinforced and actualized in the classrooms. The quality of lawyers, doctors, accountants, engineers, politicians, administrators and other professionals that a country has is determined by the worth of what transpires in the classroom. According to Confucius : “To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; To put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; To put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; And to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right”. Since a well nurtured teaching force lies at the heart of every society, to get our hearts right, we need to get our teachers right.
—Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

Load more