The Teachers: Still The Unsung Heroes

Education is the basic function of the state. There is also the often repeated saying “it takes a village to educate as child.” This only punctuates the fact that the home, community, school, people and institutions exert their imprint within their respective level of influence on the learner.

At the core of this educational endeavor, we find the teacher coping with the demands of this great task. After all these learners/students today will be the leaders of tomorrow. Through their dedicated instructions they shape their minds and hearts and develop the core values that make for responsible citizenship and enables them to meet the challenges of life.

The magnitude of the teachers’ sacrifices can hardly be ignored considering the realities of crossing topographic conditions, culture and other factors brought to bear on the learning process. And so we find them braving mountains, traffic in cities, crossing rivers and streams, climbing hills and mountains, riding bancas, horses, and what have you, to reach their respective assignments. This resilience and dedication could be the greatest test as they face the challenges of Covid 19 pandemic. Pressed to prepare for an entirely new array of teaching strategies, learning under time pressure, to use technological gadgets and learning approaches and balancing all the efforts to protect themselves and their families from the deadly virus, they find themselves threading grounds entirely foreign to them. And yet, here they are ready to serve, ready to learn and willing to face what is to come.

And yet, the greatest tragedy of our time is why teachers receive compensation less than what they deserve and less recognition and appreciation that is due them.

So please let these heroes be unsung no more! Let us all say thank you to them.

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:

“LIFE AND DEATH ARE ONE EVEN AS THE RIVER AND THE SEA ARE ONE.” KAHLIL GIBRAN

FOR OUR WORD OF LIFE:

“LISTEN MY FAITHFUL CHILDREN: OPEN UP YOUR PETALS, LIKE ROSES PLANTED NEAR RUNNING WATERS.” SIRACH 39:13