Blame the Teachers... again!

SIR, GO TO WORK
Education Ministry to woo delinquent teachers with incentive awards
Phoolo Danny-Maharaj South Bureau
Wednesday, June 22nd 2005

THE Ministry of Education plans to use incentive awards as one of the ways of dealing with teacher absenteeism.

Citing human resources management, the Ministry will implement an Incentive Awards Programme from September.

It will also be accompanied by an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).

These are among a number of initiatives under discussion by an inter-disciplinary team comprising ministry officials, Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers' Association (TTUTA) and the National Parent/Teacher Association.

Over the years teacher absenteeism has been blamed for the rising indiscipline at schools. The problem has cost the Government more than $50 million a year, according to Education Ministry officials. As a result, the Ministry is also insisting on greater accountability from principals and school supervisors who are to implement the policies - including adherence to regulations - required for effective teacher management.

In the Ministry's view, teacher absenteeism remains a significant obstacle to school efficiency and effectiveness and contributes to indiscipline, underperformance, low staff morale, an under performing school culture as well as diminished parental support.

The relevant data on school absenteeism is in the process of being updated. But Clyde Permell, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association, said he was not sure about the way the ministry was handling this issue given that teachers are about to go on two months vacation. He said he was not on the inter-ministerial committee, but he understood that it had only two meetings and the basic discussions centered only on absenteeism and punctuality.

"TTUTA wants a more overall approach to the issues," he said.

He said if the Ministry was planning to give incentives to teachers it must also find out what lay behind absenteeism and therefore should speak with the teachers. With school about to close for two months he could not see how the Ministry could investigate the problem and come with any incentive programme by September - unless it intended to take a one-sided approach.

"If we are not satisfied with the manner in which it's being done, we will just pull out of it," Permell said.

Among the other Ministry initiatives for improving teacher attendance, punctuality, and delivery of quality education are:

*Training workshops for principals and school supervisors with some 700 principals and supervisors having participated in workshops dealing with employee relations, performance management, appraisal, student support services, finance and accounts. Principals have also been guided as to leadership roles and human resource management.

*Introduction of an Employee Assistance Programme that focuses on compassionate care to improve teacher retention and effective counseling to reduce depression and turnover.

*The Ministry will offer Quality Incentive Awards to Teachers for "Quality in Education".

* Reinforcement of the Code of Conduct which provides a proper framework for the management of teacher regularity and punctuality.

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The above article appeared in today's edition of the Daily Express. The headline caught my attention and I had a quick read. Much to my chagrin, the Ministry and the national PTA again seemed to be mounting their horses to point fingers at the Teachers for the state of gross indiscipline in schools.

Granted, from personal experience in the schools I have been to, there have been teachers who abuse the privileges they are given, and the unattended classes suffer as a consequence. Despite that fact however, it seems extremely unfair that the entire profession seems to get this branding from the powers that be.

While the delinquent teachers may number a substantial amount [ and we await the Ministry's findings from their impending research ], it must also be noted that there are those dedicated teachers who DO indeed perform their duties, and they are also the ones in some cases who have to take up the slack for the delinquent officers. By making an across-the-board branding of teachers, doesn't the Ministry or the PTA think that there MAY be some injustice in that approach?

Maybe the Ministry should stop their attempt to find scapegoats for their own inefficiencies, and concentrate instead on creating worthwhile policies that could reform the education system for the betterment of the children, and the nation. Wasn't it the same Ministry that implemented "Universal Education"? [Under a different political regime, but nonetheless, the same Ministry]. Whilst I am totally supportive of Universal Education, the Ministry and all their ever-so-wise advisors should have known that steps should have been put in place for the transition into that "Education for all" stage. What initially seemed a good idea, has instead, turned out to be one of the major downfalls in the education system. Not every student leaving the primary school system is academically inclined, yet, after that Common Entrance [now SEA Exam],ALL students are being placed in a secondary school. So much for our system that was based on Meritocracy! What should have been done, was instead of building new schools en masse everywhere, some of those secondary schools should have been made into technical and vocational schools, to attend to the needs and skills of the students who are not academically inclined.

Furthermore, rather than blame teachers for indiscipline in schools, put some of that blame where it is due...at the parents of these children. Make the parents accountable for what happens to their offsprings. The teachers cannot by any means be expected to replace the parents and perform a total parenting role. The Ministry AND the National PTA in particular [who in my opinion, think they are qualified to denounce the profession in question] should be working on some means of getting more parents involved in the schooling aspect of their children's life.

Another thing that ought to be looked at is the fact that students are automatically promoted at the end of each academic year regardless of whether or not they deserve such promotion. As a result, there are students at the Form 5 level, ready to sit the CXC Exam, and they are barely able to read, write or construct a proper sentence!

These are just a few of the problems that the Ministry should tackle. It seems however that they are satisfied with just pointing fingers and blaming teachers for the downfalls of the education system and the gross indiscipline that is rampant in the country's schools. For the holier-than-thou members of the National PTA, maybe they should spend some time in the classrooms and show the teachers how teaching is supposed to be done. And while they're at it, they could invite Mrs. Manning to give lessons in pronunciation.

~ R.S.