NOBODY'S COMING! The mentality that teachers in under-served public schools need to make a difference

The average public school teacher seems to have a million and one grudges against the government of the day and most of the times with very valid reasons. How can a public school teacher with a family of six not get paid for six months straight? and somehow he continues to find a way to go to work every morning even when all is not well back at home. How can the government sit back and watch the classroom infrastructures get so bad to the extent that teachers have to sit in a particular corner of the class to avoid the rain and sun considering the fact that the roof is in shreds, teachers sit on worm infested chairs and have to fake a smile to the children as they are made to go to the walls of the classroom when its about to rain because of the big hole right in the middle of the classroom through which the children can see the sky. How can you expect to have teachers buy instructional materials when they’ve not even gotten credit alerts for months and of course you don’t provide any free instructional materials and yet you expect teachers to steadily use instructional materials for the children on a daily basis and you’re yelling at them during inspections for not doing so- why wouldn’t they fake things, when inspectors are around they’ll find one instructional material and fake a class when you leave-life continues as normal.

I have been in classes with teachers who have been in this profession before I was born, at first I had very high expectations of them but most of the time, I get disappointed, you know why? They know a lot, but most of the things they know are not very relevant in modern day education, and to be honest, how can you put someone in a place for decades and you never for once, take them for very relevant trainings that will in truth reflect on the jobs they do-One thing about education and learning is that if it isn't improved upon from time to time it doesn’t even stay the same, it deteriorates! But after all said and done, are we going to just continue complaining about spilled milk and continue to see how badly we’ve been treated? No! And today, here and now, based on my little experience working in a public school I am going to suggest something that may sound a type of way to you but I think that that’s the way to move on with all these problems going on. The first thing to do is to tell yourself that nobody is coming to save you from that leaking classroom, nobody is coming to make instructional materials available, nobody is coming to make sure your learners are taught well, nobody is coming to help you get those trainings that you deserve to stay relevant. So right now you need to make the decision of whether or not you want to continue staying as an employee of the government, if the answer to this is yes then I’m sorry, you’ll need to take the bull by the horn if you really want your life to count for something whiles you do your job.

There are two types of public school teachers I have seen-the majority who complain and believe its not their concern and then the second set who believe they are in that space for a reason and that space is not the government space “it is my space” “I sit in this class every morning and so if there’s something wrong with this class and I report it and nothing is been done about it-then its my duty to find a way so that my everyday life and work is smooth”. We have to raise above the complain and start to take responsibility for the fact that you need training and you’re going to find a way to get it to better yourself. You have to take responsibility for the fact that your learners are not learning the way they should because at the end of the day, your inaction will cost them many years which they’ll have to use to make up for it.