Today, October 5 annually, is set aside by the United nations to celebrate men of valour and women of virtue in the noble profession of teaching. It is a special day to show solidarity, love and appreciation to the mother of all professions.
Teachers are people whose profession impact different strata of human and natural activities. The saying “show me a successful man in his craft or discipline and I will show you the teacher that taught him” is an acid test that all profession are cloaked under teaching.
Teachers have remained the engine house that generates the required output needful for societal changes. Teachers are the people who have refused to hide the secrets of their profession but make it open to learners irrespective of tribe, age or class. As other professions are governed by the concept of “hiding their competitive advantage”, teaching is the opposite as it exposes all for human, social and physical development.
Great men and women, captains of economic and political developments are products of one teacher or the other who have selflessly and diligently burnt the candle stick to ensure that an eloquent and sound education is given to them. Teachers have influenced the trajectory of the world from the known to the unknown. It is paradox to say that teachers are the only individuals that never die. Their physical bodies may sleep to death but their mental bodies live forever. No wonder till today, the mental lives of Chinua Achebe, Chike obi, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin and others still live even in generations to come.
It is a pitiable, however, that in our country and beyond, teachers have long suffered neglect. This colossal rejection have culminated to repulsive dissonance of teaching profession by the young. Our Colleges of Education, the primary breeding grounds for teachers are recording drastic reduction in the number of applicants seeking to pass through their walls. The call to better the welfare of teachers and increase funding for the education sector have not received favorable attention across all levels of governance. Budgetary allocations for the education sector remain at single digit percentile.
The ongoing strike action by the Academic Staff Union Of Universities, ASUU in Nigeria is an eloquent testimony that teachers are not prioritized. Across every social strata, whether religion, law, or business, teachers are given less attention. Even in political appointments, teachers are rarely considered to hold basic administrative and policy making positions.
Today in our country, only few teachers can boast of a plot of land or personal residential building after many years of moulding, nurturing and impacting society. Some die as a result of starvation from prolonged unpaid salaries and emoluments while others develop ill health that render them incapacitated for life because of paucity of their salaries which rarely take them home at the end of the month to even help avert ailments.
As we reverence politicians and approve “jumbo” salaries, allowances and retirement packages for them, we should, likewise, pay same attention to the gallant, dexterous, hardworking, golden and noble men and women in the teaching profession. There is need to have a “build a house for a teacher” initiative in our respective states. Today, make it a duty not to visit your home unless you first visit your teacher. Remember “if you can spell your name, then be thankful to your teacher “.
Written by COMRADE UGOCHUKWU NWAFOR
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