Some teachers only teach for the $$ – Youth Forum hears
Among the many things they spoke about was the alleged lack of dedication to the job by some teachers.
“Some teachers teach for the money, some teachers don’t teach for the enjoyment and I think that sometimes that can have an effect on our academic work,” said one of the bold youths who took to the microphone to represent others who were apparently a bit shy to speak at the Youth Forum held at The Moorings on September 25, 2013.
The youth made it clear that her statement was not directed to all teachers but stressed that, “Some teachers just don’t work they come for the pay cheque and that’s it.”
The forum had allowed a number of issues on education to be ventilated including the role of parents, the child, teachers, the Education Department, government and the community as a family unit.
According to the youth, parents also have to absorb a great percentage of responsibility for their child or children’s education and likewise the child. “Parents too cannot allow teachers to grow their children up. Yes sometimes some parents might not be financially able and they cannot provide for their child but the child also has to know what they want for themselves,” said the youth.
While she challenged her fellow youths to look for their “individual light in their darkness”, she stressed the underlying responsibilities that are often neglected by some teachers and the education system.
Another youth, who was also very vocal, was able to point direct fingers to instances where teachers had allegedly discriminated against students and neglected their responsibility. This she said had led to wrong grades being handed down to many students.
She said at the time she was down to the final year in high school and that her English class had a problem that was told to the principal. Rather than investigating the issue, it was alleged that the head took sides and discriminated against the children who made the complaints.
“We were told how you only complaining because you hear this and that about the teacher. I didn’t know the teacher but she insisted it was because you hear this about the teacher,” she said.
The youth alleged that for an entire year they were ignored until they had moved on and resulted in the entire class having to do supplementary. They filed yet another complaint and when their grades were reviewed it was allegedly discovered that they should not have been required to do a supplementary.
“That’s just to show they are not studying you, they are just taking the teachers word for it. They are not studying us,” said the youth in a very emotional tone.
Among the members on the panel who made invaluable contributions to the Youth Forum but also lent keen ears were Paul ‘Gadiethz’ Peart who stressed the importance of paying attention to the issues affecting youths.
“Like Whitney Huston said I believe the children are the future, we must teach them well and let them lead the way,” said Mr Peart. He further impressed on everyone to work together as a community to save youths from going the wrong path.
“We don’t need to wait until they reach in front the judge or arrested by the police or they end up in the prison then to say we could have.”
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