I have been preoccupied for some time now about the importance of teachers in the world and the lack of appreciation and respect given to them. Teachers provide the training for all professions, yet they are underappreciated, poorly rewarded and often abused by parents, students and school administrators. My respect goes out to all teachers around the world.
Recently, the Elmore Stoutt High School implemented a rule to lock the gates at 9 a.m. in order to encourage students to get to school on time and parents to make sure that their children are in school in a timely manner. This rule was met with opposition from some parents and community leaders. A talk show host suggested that locking the gates would encourage the locked-out students to get into trouble.
Shortly after in Virgin Gorda, parents refused to adhere to the schools’ uniform guidelines and that same talk show host suggested that they should. We need to be careful as leaders in our society not to send out mixed messages to our future professionals and leaders.
Low salaries
There are states in the United States that remunerate their sanitation workers more than their teachers. There are teachers in the Caribbean who cannot afford the basic necessities in life such as health care, housing and transportation. There is something wrong with that.
Teachers are often threatened and abused both verbally and physically by students and parents. During my school days, whenever my mother had to visit the school on my behalf in connection to any wrongdoing, she would punish me in front of the class. We need to return to the values of the past in order to save our youths of today and create a better tomorrow.
Parents are just as important as teachers, if not more so, in the educating and training of our future leaders. Parents need to make sure that their children do their homework, get a good night’s rest and are fed nutritious meals. These steps will help them focus on their work and enable teachers to do their work. It is not the schools’ responsibility to supply meals and school supplies for students.
Financial aid
For those families who cannot afford school necessities for their children, there are organisations that donate resources to help. Taxpayers’ dollars should not be used on such expenses. The government’s job is to build and maintain schools, hospitals, airports, docks and roads and to remunerate civil servants. Unlike our sister islands in the United States Virgin Islands, we cannot afford lifelong public assistance which often results in generation after generation living in public housing with generations of high school dropouts. Welfare was intended as an emergency aid, not to produce generations of lazy citizens.
Parents need to be responsible and help build society by making sure their children are prepared for school, do their homework and follow the school’s regulations.
My respect and gratitude go out to all the teachers in the VI whom I have had the privilege to be taught by, including the late Mackfield Malone and Veronica Lake, as well as teachers Mackeel Charleswell, Louis Walters, Charles Wheatley, Rose Carrot, Pearl Smith, Verna Penn Moll and Colbert Wheatley. They guided me from kindergarten through to my last school year in Parham Town. Thanks to you all and to all the teachers in the VI and around the world.