Star Q
iii. Ihya Ramadhan
People will never believe when teachers grumble about the work load that is dumped onto their backs as if their backs were huge cranes that carry tonnes of load. For one thing, cranes don't have feelings and you can load anything and everything onto them. However, in reality, even the crane will buckle and break when loaded with too much weight.
I only have pity for the teacher and her family who lost her daughter in a freak mishap last week. An almost similar situation happened to another teacher in 2011. It is known that the teacher who lost her daughter last week, was in a hurry to attend a school meeting. Right after the meeting she had to dash to her classes, totally forgetting that she had left someone she loved in the backseat of her car!
For this installment, I would like to focus on meetings or as my friend (not in the teaching profession, thank God!) said 'me-eating'! With due respect to those concerned, meetings can be very productive if done correctly and obviously, not too often.
Correctly here means that, firstly a meeting should be called for at least two days ahead. At least then the subordinates involved in the meeting can make preparations like cancelling appointments, informing caretakers of their children and putting 'less' important things on hold. When they are given prior notice about the meeting, at least then all these actions can alleviate any pressure that may arise due to the meetings. Superiors should then ensure that notices of meetings are not given that morning the very day it is to be held; or worse, verbally two or three hours before the meeting! Foretold is forewarned!
Secondly, notices for meetings should not merely be written on notice boards or informed through the PA system or even worse, through word of mouth! It should be given using a formal call letter to inform the recipient about the place, time and agenda of the meeting. All this to be given to the people involved in the meeting, once again, at least two days prior to the meeting.
Thirdly, meetings should not be carried out too often in the week or even in the month, plus they should not be too lengthy (not more than an hour!) This is because teachers not only would have drained their energy during teaching, they would have also drained their 'brains'! It is not surprising that you will see listless, lifeless teachers attending meetings but are unable to pay attention. And the superiors wonder why the teachers talk too much (or doze off!) during meetings!
Lest you forget, teachers are not like other occupations who handle clients on daily basis. Clerks at post-offices and banks handle clients too, but they handle one client at a time! Doctors and nurses handle clients too, but they too handle clients one at a time! But teachers handle at least forty clients at a time; and at least five times a day! So you tell me if a teacher does not feel drained and lifeless to attend another meeting only to hear the monotonous drone of a microphone-happy superior!
It is because of this you get the quick steps of door-opening teachers who leave the meetings when they feel they have had enough! Because indeed, enough is enough!
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