Salute our teachers

May is a month abundant with many commemorative days to remember people who have offered dedicated service to society. One of it is May 16 – a day remembered and celebrated as Teacher’s Day. It is a day dedicated to recollect and pay tribute for the sacrifices and dedicated commitment of our educators in moulding our young ones. 

While we commemorate this special day, perhaps we need to ponder matters that could enhance the well-being of teachers and their profession. As an educator, allow me to put some views across for contemplation and reflection among all concerned parties. 

We all admit that the role of teachers has changed over the years. It is now very challenging to be a teacher, compared to yesteryears. Pupils are not the same like the ones before. Due to technological advances and communication in this global era, a student seems to know a lot of things. Some of them know much stuff which their teachers themselves are not aware of. How are we to cope up with these challenges?

 As teachers we need to cope with the technological advances occurring in the world especially in ICT. By using more ICT in the classroom, we can enhance teaching and learning in the classroom and thus make teaching interesting and innovative. We cannot just stick the ancient old method of chalk and talk now. 

Besides teaching, now teachers also have carry out other tasks like clerical job, facilitating extra-curricular activities and other operation tasks. Perhaps, as promised by the government repeatedly, we hope the burden of the doing other tasks other than teaching should be removed, or at least reduced so that teachers can focus on their core-business, that is, teaching and learning in the classroom.  

Perhaps many learning problems faced by students can be alleviated if teachers are just doing the core-business alone, as it was done many years ago. Recently, our deputy premier and Education Minister have promised to alleviate the workload of teachers.

I believe this current ways of remembering teachers need to be revisited. Most of the Teacher’s day celebrations consist of talks by dignitaries, reading of messages from the Education Minister and others, presenting awards to a few excellent teachers and so on. Do we think all these are sufficient enough to enable the students, parents, and society at large to salute and express their gratitude to our educators? Perhaps, some mind shift is necessary. 

On recruitment of new teachers, the teaching posts in the country should be offered to persons who have the passion for teaching and those who are willing to walk an extra mile. This is to ensure that this noble profession is always respected and saluted by all – students, parents and society at large. 

Let us all, teachers and educators, on this year’s Teacher’s Day pledge to ourselves to make teaching a prestigious profession and play our crucial role in nation building, in particular raising valuable human capital as stressed in the Teacher’s Day theme – Teachers, Catalysts for National Educational Transformation. Let us also acquire new pedagogical methods to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom.

At this juncture, I would like salute my teachers and mentors for what they have done to me. Today, I myself am a teacher and educator because of all of you. Thank you teachers! We will always cherish all of you, whether living or passed on to the next world.