Teachers are undervalued, uderappreciated
Dear Editor,
Teaching, indisputably, is a noble profession. It lays the foundation for other careers. Teachers impart knowledge to students, equip them with skills, transmit positive values, and very importantly, help to build the characters of those under their charge. Ostensibly, the impact of an educator’s work is not only for time but for eternity.
Unfortunately, this noble profession is undervalued and underappreciated.
In many countries of the world — Jamaica included teachers are not well remunerated. This leads to the loss of educators to other sectors of the economy. This negatively affects our already problem-laden educational system.
The greater negative effect of the societal underappreciation of the importance of the teaching profession is the fact that it demotivates our boys and young men from taking education seriously. If teachers’ standard of living is low, do we expect our young men to consider studying and tertiary education worthwhile? Rather, they will take to a life of scamming, robbery, contract killing, etc.
Therefore, I urge the Government to incentivise the teaching profession so as to not only attract the best minds but to redirect the minds of our young males on the right path.
Ugochukwu Wilson Durueke
Educator
udurueke@yahoo.com