by Santosh Mahadeo
26 August 2008
Port Louis — There is a new dispensation regarding secondary school life, which has taken effect as from Monday 11th August.
The ministry is simply applying the new recommendation to the letter of the Pay Research Bureau (PRB) provision. Teachers will start work at 8 am and leave at 3 pm. They will forgo the almost institutionalised practice of leaving school for any reason and coming back to class after having settled personal business in town. Teachers have been found shopping, buying vegetables from weekly open markets, giving private tuition during long absences only to complete their day's work back at school for the last two periods.
Though the PRB recommendation relates to a mandatory workload of 30 periods and attendance at work till 3 pm for the new pay packet, the ministry has grabbed the occasion to clean the stables soiled by abuse embedded into the system by years of indifference and laxity. Though the new code of conduct hurts, it was high time schools fostered a work ethic compatible with expectations of the modern world of work. Teaching has been the refuge of "soft" workers desiring casual leave, paid sick leave, vacation leave and almost four months of school holidays seasoned with all the public holidays that make the pride of our work calendar.
Traditional timetable was constraining
The timetable with five days of eight periods has been constraining because it has favoured a syllabus-based, examination-oriented education. The school is not the place where you cultivate hobbies, learn entrepreneurship, develop a sense of community service, develop commu- nication skills, think creatively and, above all, forge a character and a respectable personality. The school timetable has been responsible for a business like attitude to education. Run a workshop that goes beyond half past three and you will find teachers leaving surreptitiously because they cannot give a single more minute to the school than the prescribed 1120 minutes per week. Students will pack off bag and baggage in utter despite for the resource person and with consummated contempt they will horde out of the hall with the typical irreverence of spoilt brats.
All this happens because the school timetable does not convey the need for more than sheer business. The very students are ready to help during working time. But do not ask for more. Teachers are reluctant to attend induction courses or in-service training during holidays because the school sets the tone for one's attitude to work. Viewers must have been surprised to hear students, who have benefited from placement in factories or workplaces during school holidays, state that they were shocked by the discipline needed at work. At school they could come late and go unpunished; they could afford not to do their homework and get away scot-free. The school has gone down in their minds as a place where every form of behaviour - reprehensible or not - is allowed. Our schools have no character.
The new dispensation
It is in this context that the new arrangement for teachers is salutary. We need discipline in our schools, not only from pupils but also from teachers. Teachers have felt that they exist only if they are given a class and that their life has no meaning without a class. Isn't the teacher a person who reflects on his practice? When is the time for reflective analysis of his teaching, of pupils' performance? Isn't the teacher an intellectual who needs to brainstorm over pedagogical issues, behaviour problems of growing adolescents? Where is the platform for such an exercise? The place of work moulds the conscience of the worker. If the real work of the teacher is done in private tuition, the school becomes an empty surrogate. If a person is not happy in his home, he seeks a point of fulfilment outside. We have equated the teacher with the act of teaching and have not paid attention to the professional. That is why the ministry's new dispensation is a new start.
Agenda for extended time
What can be done during the additional time? Here the rector is the most crucial person responsible for the organisation of professionalising activities for teachers. 11th August has been a false start. Teachers have spent their additional time cringing, weaving litanies of protest. In some schools, leaders have joined the chorus of complaints and have given a false and failed inaugural twist to an otherwise healthy proposal. Some activities are:
Departmental meetings to discuss learners' difficulties, teachers' problems within a subject area.
Staff meetings on focused issues - one at a time.
A few rectors could make a list of observations about what happened during the day and raise their issues to solicit a corporate vision.
Parents could meet teachers about problems of their wards during this time. These meetings must be scheduled by the rector.
A school may open clubs, which meet in the afternoon. Teachers who act as mentors will attend meetings held by interested members of the club.
Within the context of a performance management system, rectors and teachers will have to get many written reports and documents ready. This is the time to get ready for review or monitoring sessions.
Even if students leave early, weak students can receive remedial care according to a timetable.
The rector could invite resource persons to give professional training to teachers. I would have invited a specialist in counselling and equipped my staff with such skills through relevant exposure.
Every following day or week needs planning. The rector could meet his senior management team once per week and plan for the coming week.
Certain curricular activities could be held during this time.
Once per week, a teacher is made to prepare a 30 minute PowerPoint presentation for the staff on a topical issue to give an intellectual character to the teaching profession.
Mismanagement of change
It is important to be patient with the teaching community that all of a sudden finds itself in a straight jacket. Many do not know what to do during the additional time and unjustly feel punished for having chosen to be teachers. It is unfortunate that we do not believe in preparing the grounds before management decisions are taken. Show me the usefulness of your new rules and I'll do it. No one has really bothered to open a dialogue with teachers.
Even if the proposal of the ministry is withdrawn under the pressure of unions' protests, it is worthwhile considering the implementation of this change at some more appropriate time after proper dialogue has been properly established as a management enabler.
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