Teachers Industrial Action

 Last night a friend of mine sent me a video in which a girl was lambasting teachers’ industrial action seeking better pay.

These are my responses to it given in dot points.

·         I fully agree with her argument that this is not the right time to start something like that as the whole world is grappling with an epidemic situation,

·         Having said that, one has to agree that teachers are one of the poorest paid professions in the country,

·         However, this profession has now become a refuge for most incompetent people,

·         This profession needs much better pay scales to attract talented and competent talents and not the residual found in the society,

·         At the same time, introduction of a way to measure and assess their outputs periodically have to incorporate into the system,

·         Allow foreign talents into areas where the same can’t be found locally,

·         That would help to raise the bar high in the profession,

·         But, are we ready for such drastic changes?

·         No, purely because of fear of losing vote bases and networks,

·         At present, even the local universities do not have any foreign teaching staffs like in many other parts of the developed world,

·         Therefore, it is difficult to think of even of having such changes in the primary and secondary level education structures,

·         You do not have to have a manmade event like a protracted war or natural calamity to make any nation disappear from the face of the earth,

·         Poor health and education are just enough and that is what is happening in this country and many other poor countries around the world,

·         The haves and able will seek refuge elsewhere by voting with their feet and poor frogs in the well will perish sooner than they think,

·         Remember, there will be a different world beyond the range of mountains surrounded your village,

·         Muster enough courage first to climb the mountain and then only one would realize that the so-called “paradise” that they have been made to believe and living in for centuries is not really a paradise after all.

Written with malice towards none.