Teachers Should Put The Children First

MONDAY, 03 SEPTEMBER 2012 00:10 BY STAR EDITOR

Today marks the beginning of a crucial term for Standard Eight and Form Four students. It is the final term which will determine whether the children in these classes move ahead and continue with school or abruptly bring an end to their dreams. For many of these children, the certificate they hope to get at the end of the exams, which they are due to write in the next two months, will determine their future.

The children have conscientiously attended class and been attentive to their teachers who have nurtured them through the last eight years (for those in primary) and four years (for the secondary school students). It is absurd that when they are so close to the finishing line, their teachers call a strike. It goes against the grain that the teachers — who are first to take credit when their students excel— are now the same ones jeopardizing their students' performance.

While the teachers demands may be legitimate, the timing of their strike has lost them the support and sympathy of the public. They have lost any credibility and respect of the communities where they serve. We urge our teachers to put the interests of the children first and call off the strike.

Quote of the day: “People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get," American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman and future abolitionist escaped from slavery in September 3, 1838.