School issues resolved by power

THE EDITOR: The article “Education Perspective” by Ms Rawatee Maharaj-Sharma, was right on target. The article exhibits an understanding of the issues facing teachers that is possible only from a practitioner, or at the very least, someone recently employed in the Teaching Service. Her comment “In reality, most schools are places where conflicts are resolved by power and authority,” is likely to resound within the minds of the large majority of teachers.

The few administrators who subscribe to the view that school is a democratic institution are soon disabused of any such notion by their peers who make it clear that “directives are from the top.” The hierarchical nature of the Teaching Service rivals the rigidity of any military organisation, with the exception that the military brooks no outside interference. Uniformed organisations ensure that all their business is dealt with in-house. Ms Maharaj-Sharma suggests that teachers should challenge the system but offers no recommendations as to how this should be done, given the constraints of the system and its emphasis on obedience to directives above all else. Those teachers who have summoned up the courage to challenge the system would willingly share with all and sundry their frustrations and failures in this enterprise.

And that really is the crux of the matter. In a system as resistant to change as the Teaching Service, what avenue is there to encourage and support initiatives that would challenge the hierarchy. Some teachers cannot be bothered, others give up in frustration, yet others try to achieve peaceful co-existence, while the rest accept it as a way of life in the Teaching Service. These are the conditions under which teachers are expected to develop the future citizens of the country into truly empowered individuals.

KARAN MAHABIRSINGH
Carapichaima