OWING to the commendable and successful agitation, over the last few decades by TTUTA, the legally recognised representative body for teachers, the salaries and other benefits of teachers are very competitive when compared with many other jobs, at that level, in both the public and private sectors.

In the good old days, the material benefits were not nearly so attractive and, therefore, teaching was regarded as a vocation which only those who had the natural disposition/inclination and dedication, supplemented by the appropriate training, would choose to dedicate their lives to the very onerous demands of such a noble profession.

Today, too many individuals in that profession simply regard it as just another ‘wuk’. They are skilled in preparing for and passing interviews for the job of teacher. Additionally, their supervisors at their schools are usually not very skilled in human resource management/industrial relations. Moreover, these supervisors are usually so immersed in administrative and other duties that the under-performance of these newcomers goes unnoticed, and soon enough they have served their probationary period and their disciplining and/or removal becomes a cumbersome nightmarish process, given the relevant industrial relations procedures.

In general, many of our dedicated teachers are extremely good at teaching academically gifted students. Many such students excel when they go aboard to complete their studies having obtained that initial solid foundation at home. That is not new and goes back to colonial times.

However, where we are sadly lacking is in the teaching of students who are not so gifted, and those students who are quite intelligent but learn differently. This requires different teaching styles and many teachers, although they may have had some limited exposure at training college/university to such other techniques, really require more advanced training in such techniques to really make a difference. Quite often such teachers are not able even to identify why their students are struggling, and those students are often disruptive because they learn differently and they are lost in space since the method of approach adopted by the teacher is not in keeping with their learning styles.

We need to address the issue of critical thinking. In the very old days, there was a subject known as reasoning ability. We need to have some modern equivalent of that subject at all levels of our education system. Too often, the emphasis by teachers and students is on examination techniques-predicting examination questions based on past papers and preparing rote answers for such anticipated questions. Lost in all of this is the ability to think and conceive of innovative solutions which is such an important asset in the world of work.

I note that in the modern era much more attention is paid, by the State, to the screening of students for such things as hearing and visual impairment which can seriously impact a student’s ability to learn. However, I understand that a lot more work needs to be done concerning this matter and, in the interim, teachers need to be on the alert to identify students who may be facing such challenges.

One major challenge that many teachers overlook is dyslexia. Many students facing this challenge are usually quite articulate and think critically, even more so than many academically gifted students. All of that mask the fact that they are dyslexic. Many teachers and parents are unable to identify the source of the low achievement and disruptive behaviour of such students without the benefit of the relevant expertise.

Much more emphasis needs to be placed on skills-based training, and modern agricultural techniques. There are so many highly lucrative jobs on offer for persons who are so trained. Indeed, the original idea, almost 60 years ago, was for the junior and senior secondary schools to place emphasis on such training. However, that noble objective got derailed when the government acquiesced to the wishes of short-sighted parents who grossly undervalued the benefits of such training, and wanted their children to be doctors, lawyers, and engineers.

The impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the future world of work must obviously be catered for in our modern education system. There are also some socio-economic issues that hinder the smooth functioning of the education system that need to be addressed. For instance, children from the upper echelons of society have a decided advantage.

I have identified only a few of the concerns regarding our education system. However, I am of the considered view that our education system needs a complete overhaul from pre-school to tertiary level. In this regard, what may be helpful in charting our future direction would be the convening of a symposium, by the Government, where stakeholder can discuss the deficiencies in the current system and identify creative solutions to address those concerns.

Louis W Williams St Augustine