Tony Zakaria, 21st February 2009 @ 09:38, Total Comments: 0, Hits: 2994
For many years, teachers were highly respected members of the Tanzanian society. Whether it is still the case today may be an issue parents, religious and political leaders may have avoided until events in Bukoba forced the issue.
Many modern day teachers may have come up short in being role models. Take the female unmarried pregnant teacher or with own children. Single parenthood may be the trend in urban Tanzania, but single mom teacher is setting the example that it is OK to disobey the commandments of the Holy Bible, Quran or other beliefs of one’s community.
This may explain why girls in primary and secondary schools do not seem scared of pregnancies like their mothers or grandmothers were in their girlhood. Male teachers also become palsy-palsy with female students. Some social extremists would say such teachers are like guard dogs becoming wolves by metamorphosis and devouring lambs they were meant to protect. Teacher likes student, student likes teacher, they dance the tango.
The teacher can end up in jail for 30 years for unlawful carnal knowledge if the girl is below 18. Thou shall not commit agriculture with a minor. That ridiculous law has not created any sex saints yet. Teachers who are late or absent from class set a terrible example for students, that it is OK to be late for work; it is OK to disobey rules.
Students wonder why head teachers would allow or accept lateness and absenteeism in teachers and yet punish students for the same behaviour. Many late comers to the workplace in Tanzania can blame their teachers at home or in school. Some parents have earned Division One in late reportingThose esteemed teachers of supposedly impeccable work ethic organised a nationwide strike starting from October 2008.
When the government failed to halt the strike by its moral or civil authority it won a High Court order restraining the teachers from their action. That High Court decision enraged teachers so much they damaged property at the esteemed Diamond Jubilee hall in Dar and almost lynched their union boss. He had to be whisked away to safety by armed and battle-ready field force police.
The teachers also adopted a go-slow strike where they attended school but did not teach. The teachers’ union appealed to a higher court and won permission to stop teaching at a time when students all over the country were just about to sit for national exams. Result? The pass rate of Form II and IV for 2008 was lower than 2007.
What impression came from that strike to children, the future leaders of Tanzania? Follow the money, not the job. If teachers can do it, then secretaries, clerks, cashiers, nurses and other government employees can go slow on their jobs. Teaching by practical example is by far the best way to learn. And teachers seem to have provided the commando unit in the war against present and future work performance.
I tell you solemnly that a teacher who marries a student temporarily and makes her pregnant should be flogged and made to repent in public, not thrown in jail for letting his loins eclipse his brain.It is no use deducting the salaries of teachers who are late for work or is absent. They probably will do more tuition, which generates more money than the fixed salary. Our children are being shamed at national exams. Teachers should be shamed too.
Just because ministers and their lieutenants show up late for workshops and meetings or frequently keep the public waiting at official or private functions does not mean teachers can keep their students waiting for education.Students need to be taught now, not kesho or next month. Two wrongs do not make a right.
Leaders should be punctual at functions. The tardiness of Tanzanians in general and leaders in particular is so famous it features in briefing of diplomats and foreign nationals intending to work in Bongoland. When elected leaders fail to attend promptly to the needs of the people, they are canned at the ballot box.
How should the government punish non-performing teachers, doctors, engineers and holders of PhDs from recognised or 'click-here-for-your-degree' internet schools? The people expect their appointed leaders to discipline public workers on their behalf. This is where the now-famous but previously unheard of DC comes in.
Managers and board directors who take their appointments seriously should act on behalf of the people in a decisive and no-nonsense manner to stop the widespread low-performance in government institutions.Why are private secondary schools top performers in national exams? Not because they are run by experts of Tanzanians of foreign origin. Those schools have discipline and work ethic.
Why do private companies excel while many parastatals end up in financial doldrums despite massive government vaccinations with cash serum? Compare ATCL and Precision Air; private companies have a strict work ethic. Punctuality, laid down outputs per month and punitive measure for non-performance in accordance with expectations are the norm.
Parents say public schools are full of 'uswahili'. The general public knows staff of public institutions treats customers, like beggars of service, service which the public deserves. Many public institutions may be failing to produce goods and services commensurate with the staff available. The ‘uswahili’ style of work and management will sink this country into deeper public poverty.
It is time to crack the whip literally. Workers of every level in government and private sector get paid to perform a minimum set of tasks and achieve a given set of outputs. Leaders at district and regional level should be given targets in education, health, agriculture, etc. Now is the time for drastic action because so far, nothing happens to non-performers. As they say, spare the rod and spoil the child.
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