Work habits and diverse issues: The GNAT member

Teaching profession is an honourable profession pivotal to development of every nation. Manned by highly educated experts trained specially to impart knowledge. These group of trained personnel are responsible not only for impartation of knowledge but for moral and spiritual upbringing of their respective students. This is a herculean task but this selected few are doing their very best amidst serious depravation and lack of attention.

Teaching is more or less a social work with complicated responsibilities. With successive policy makers at easy and busily shoveling unstructured policies down the throat of implementers without their concern. But despite all these gloomy atmosphere, the teaching profession has created numerous job opportunities for thousands of people and has made many responsible and capable breadwinners not only to their nuclear families but to their society. Teaching profession has made many teachers employers and managers.

As much as many teachers are doing their best to improve the lot of children in the classroom many as well fall short of the standards required to be called a good teacher. This write up provides some key issues to be addressed by the employees of the profession.

1. Lateness to work and truancy

One of the challenges we face in this profession is how some teachers attend school. They go to school late and irregularly and close earlier than the closing time. They pay less attention to the importance of time in their work. I sincerely suggest that those found guilty should up their game.

2. Absenteeism As we talk of some attending school late, we cannot forget of those not going to school all together. Some teachers do not care about the job for which they are breadwinners. They go to school when they like. This is a bad work habit and those found involved should wake up to the call of this noble profession.

3. Drunkenness Many at times, some teachers are found drunk on duty. This behavior does not only put one’s job at risk but also ruins one’s credibility. Teaching is a kind of God made profession established on love, care and trust. State of drunkenness will never help provide the needed care to our students. Sadly, excessive drinking is sending some of our members to their early grave.

4. Attendance register/movement book/log book Many teachers are found culpable of the law not necessarily because they have violated the law. Sometimes it is because we refuse to practice due diligence in our act of teaching. I strongly advocate that, whenever we go to school the first thing is to sign the attendance register and the last thing is to sign out when we are done for the day. Our concern should not only be the attendance register but also the movement book and log book.

5. Sexual infractions It is unheard of in the days of old that a teacher will descend that low to have amorous relation with his/her student. But most often than not, many teachers are found guilty of that immoral and unprofessional act. Some to the extent of impregnating these very girls entrusted in their hands. Many teachers are behind bars serving varied degrees of sentences because of this act. Many are found guilty of rape as well. Those in it I advise we desist from that act now. And protect the image of this noble profession and our families.

6. Not making the necessary follow up on issues Some of us submit some key documents to GES and not make the necessary follow up. Upgrading, promotion and appointment letters delay unnecessarily because we do not make the needed follow up to secure our documents. Wait no longer, make the call to the assigned officer to follow up on your documents please.

7. Insubordination Some of us are rebellious to authority and hence think we are bigger than our supervisors. Please subordination is golden. Let us obey our superiors at work.

8. Abusing pupils or students All forms of corporal punishment is forbidden. And any form of psychological abuse is not allowed as well. Let treat these kids us our own.

Our Youth, Our Union, Our Future