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“Why are parents so upset and concerned about school work during that period?! They do not want to admit it, but they have had enough of their own angels!
“And you know if there was school and no Covid-19, I bet you almost all of these same parents would not have done any revision work with their kids anyhow and left the burden on the teachers’ shoulders…”
The following Letter to the Editor was submitted by an anonymous teacher and claims to represent the view of teachers, as the Ministry of Education attempts to adjust its method of teaching during the Covid-19 crisis:
On the 13th March after 3pm, teachers were informed via the media that schools were closed. How on earth were we to plan for a closure we didn’t know was going to happen?!
From the 16th to the 20th March was supposed to be revision week, from the 23rd to the 27th March was supposed to be testing week, from the 31st March to the 3rd April was reporting, SEA preparation and SEA Examination, which meant the general population of a primary school would have been absent anyway!
Why are parents so upset and concerned about school work during that period?! They do not want to admit it, but they have had enough of their own angels! And you know if there was school and no Covid-19, I bet you almost all of these same parents would not have done any revision work with their kids anyhow and left the burden on the teachers’ shoulders!
Plain talk… They can’t handle them for 24 hours, even in this emergency!
Now from the 6th April to the 20th April, teachers are officially on Easter vacation—I don’t want to hear anything about school and teaching!
We will discuss this on the 20th April. Furthermore the Ministry is the one being combative, as it didn’t provide its employees with resources in the first place during this period and are asking us to be accountable and to use our own personal resources to teach in a virtual world.
He hasn’t provided us with any, so why hold us accountable? There are teachers who do not own a personal computer or have internet service. What? All yuh so naive to think that the government gives teachers free resources?!
For years, we have been asking for a resource allowance and have been refused. Teaching is the only profession in which employees use their own money/salary to buy/provide resources for kids. But neither a parent nor the minister recognises this!
Parents and the Ministry are being too unfair in demanding this from us in this time! During this time, it is the Ministry of Education’s responsibility to provide services to the nation’s children.
So parents, hold them accountable—not us teachers!
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Ha Ha, another irresponsible response from a so-called teacher. A true teacher recognizes the tasks at hand as the social role of service especially to the underserved. A fire burning in the gut, a heart that recognizes the nurturing responsibility towards the children of this nation. No other arm of socialization is better poised to transform this nation. What we have here is a teacher with a wuck; not a job which has with it responsibilities. The response is similar to what was reportedly said by a TTUTA representative when the former UNC government had Canadian (I believe from Ontario) educators discuss proposed changes to local instructional methods. “How much you paying we to do dat?” was the retort. We need teachers who recognize that their role is not limited to teaching children in classrooms, it also includes working to uplift communities. The task involves viewing parents not as adversaries but instead as partners in nation-building.
Disgusting attitude. People losing their jobs all around and this person is thinking about vacation after weeks of enforced pandemic leave. The children evidently don’t factor in. Disgusting.
And this right here is why the Education system is in a mess. Mr. Lok Loy, teachers do not have the luxury of taking vacation when they are tired. This is a heartfelt cry for understanding and compassion. Covid-19 has thrown a bright spotlight on everything that is wrong in this country, but people still refuse to look. ???
Tracy, Which EMPLOYEES have the luxury of taking vacation when they are tired?
Teachers, employees for the most part, get 13 of the 52 weeks in the calendar year as vacation, minus a few days of enforced preparation for the restart of school.
And they have the “luxury” of taking sick or casual leave when they are tired
Some contract employees get an annual total of what, a month? Twenty working days?
Please, gimme a break! I’m with Keith on this.