‘If you don’t like the salary, quit’ – Manickchand
Teachers who are dissatisfied with their salaries and are not dedicated to educating the nation’s children should quit the job.
This stern warning was sent by Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, during a recent public consultation at New Amsterdam Secondary School, Berbice.
The consultation attended by Region Six head teachers, teachers and Education Officers sought to determine the future of the Ministry’s automatic promotion and corporal punishment policies.
During discussions on the automatic promotion of students, which was rejected by teachers, it was discovered that many teachers are not keen on giving remedial classes after regular school hours.
Remedial programme is integral to the success of the automatic promotion policy, since it aims to assist students in their slow areas.
According to a teacher, the salary teachers are paid is not sufficient to meet their needs, as such, they need to seek other earnings after school. This was met with widespread agreement from the gathering, who responded by applauds.
While accepting that teachers may have their own problems and needs, Manickchand declared that lackadaisical teachers have no place in the education system. She emphasized that those who are dissatisfied with the salary should leave the system.
Another reason posited by teachers why schools should not host remedial programmes in the afternoon is poverty. Most students who require remedial classes are from poor homes. As such, hunger, especially in the afternoons, those students cannot function properly.
In response to that claim, Manickchand pointed out that within each school, teachers should be aware of students who do not have meals regularly. Those students should be given a snack, she recommended.
Some believe that even before a student fails there are signs a dedicated teacher would observe. Early detection of students’ responsiveness in the classroom would also help to make the automatic promotion work and perhaps there will be no need for the automatic promotion.
Manickchand challenged the teachers to reposition their thinking of what they want to achieve and why they enter the profession. She asserted that teachers should be inspirational rather than staying in the system marking time.