Star Q
iii. Poem : Choices
At the beginning when I was first posted twenty six
years ago, school started at 7.40, just as it does now. However, school was over at 1.30 in the
afternoon back then. There were very few meetings
and teachers then really concentrated on what they were supposed to do as
stated in their appointment letters; that is, to teach.
We still had co-curricular activities back then, but
all three were done on Saturdays. Funny
thing was, teachers and students never complained about having to come on
Saturdays to carry out co-curricular activities; and the attendance for both
were almost always full! I suppose this
is due largely to the fact that both teachers and students did not feel taxed
out from Monday to Friday. Leaving the
school at 1.30 every day also makes them miss their school all the more, which
in turn makes them long to return to school.
In fact, we were so happy to be in school that quite a
number of us who stayed nearby spent a lot of our free time in school after
school. Some came back in the afternoon
or weekend to build the landscape of the school, plant flowers and trees, which
were almost always never bought using the school money. Teachers were willing and resourceful enough
to establish small nurseries within the compounds of their own houses, planting
in polybags, flowers that can be used for landscaping. I remember having a small nursery of Golden
Doriantas which I later used to create a small garden between the school laboratory
and the library.
Teachers were willing to spend their money and time to
draw murals on walls of the school at strategic locations, like the ones I did
on the wall leading to the field and another wall leading to the office.
We were even willing to spend extra time after school
and during weekends to do up the special rooms like the school library; and
there were no positions for Media Teachers then! Aside from helping out with the three things
mentioned above, I even helped to mow the grass around the school compound
since there were no gardeners back then!
I guess with all the sacrifices that we made for our
school back then, which we did willingly from the goodness of our hearts, it is
not difficult to understand to see why you get teachers who are really
teachers. Teachers who help build the
school; maybe not so much physically but spiritually.
I feel teachers should love the school where they are
teaching and in order for them to love school, they should be given time to
express that love. Time can be given to
them by abolishing too many meetings, clerical work and unworldly
designations. Teachers will then do what
they love to do.
Just like the blossoming flowers that these teachers
plant in the school gardens, the students whom they teach will also blossom
into respected and respectable adults.
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