TEACHERS TAKE HOME A RIGHT NOT AGIFT

By SAMWEL DOE

For those who know me well, those we have been together in great places and have affairs with, and all that you have seen in me was developed solidly in depth by character and learning through my teachers.

  
First difficulty of this story will be to say who a teacher is. For initially I know the society at large have taught me some lessons in life. Traditionally teaching used to be a call and people did it without expecting pay. Now as it is, many people have made its meaning change in sense slowly by slowly in time.Teachers have long history of kindness, from the ancient “rabbi” one who only taught to make people enlightened and wise with no or little pay as Jesus did, to now as we may see a trade unionist who when short-changed on remunerations and allowances packages sing of solidarity together. He is seen as one who can be punished for no any other reason than that of belonging to the teaching profession. He is only to be remembered when campaigning periods near.

Now to return to my subject or rather to begin, I believe nature seems to have taken all other men wickedness and planted it on the people at the treasury and Teachers service commission. Teachers have been notoriously famous for their yearly salary strikes. How the government have sustained to hoodwink them back to work whenever they strike is very uncertain and tricky for most of us. Since the late Adeya Adongo’s time back in 1997 education is distrupted year in year out because of this incremeant dispute.The government predicts strikes as it h been seen as the gravest step teachers can take, its success or failure is a gamble too hard for a prophecy. Yet for once the court gave a reprieve to the teacher’s salary dilemma.

 The government have openly come out declining to obey this particular court order.

Therefore when I am talking of inhumanity, I have not found any jargon required to put this treacherous act that the Cs finance Henry Rotich is doing to our teachers by stating that the treasury have no funds to honor teacher’s salary increments as was ruled out by the court. It is not a just end to an adventure the teachers have dared to endure so much. Before even celebrating the first hefty pact, the victories have been submerged with disillusionment as the Cs fails teacher’s hopes of ever getting the increments soon.

Finance Cs Rotich is dying to overstrain teachers, He is of the attempt to portray the government to have diminished its resources on the very traditional terms that the past governments had,-that of lack of funds-and with readiness to defend this they have vowed not to act on the salary increments pact that the supreme court ruled in favor of teachers .The government side is seen to simply dilly-dally with the hopes that soon teachers will forget and forced back to work if they go to strike.

Over the years the strengths of our teachers have been laid in simplicity and patience and more so in their capacity to sacrifice acceptance of being people subjected to a near social and economic slavery. In the very outset and first meeting with a teacher, most of them almost say similar thing that there is a mathematical bound limitations in the figure of the salaries that their employer Teachers Service Commission offers them  if compared with others in similar or different fields of profession possessing similar qualifications.

Teachers have remained beast of burden for many years; fortunately they have been uncomplaining soldiers. With responsibility of duty and engagement they struggle to lay the foundations of success for the children of this great nation. Their unpledged allegiances to their work have prepared them in their minds to be obedient servants of the nation. They manufacture the greatest People that run our nation. My warning will be if we continue subjecting these noble people to this slavery, a common element of poverty and low self esteem will be seen in the products  this people make.

The reason why I have absolute respect for teachers is that could it not be for them, I was the next to be placed among the regiment of fools. Many people have perished because of lack of knowledge. My memory of who taught me how to read and write. Being a slow learner ,I can only  imagine the bulk of work that Madam Teacher did to me. Before I started going about the vowels, alphabets and basic one up to ten it was a total sacrifice she made. I am always sympathetic and sorry whenever I get a chance to meet her. It has been troubling why my teacher had to retire to a very desperate life. It has been hard to answer why she is now reduced to a peasant farmer and posses nothing to show for the long service she rendered to the nation building. She now remain to posses just the name  “Mwalimu” and this reminds her of her call as for her nothing much she has to smile about apart from that title .