Parents should be responsible

A LETTER from Hillary Likius of Rabaul accusing teachers of not doing enough to shape students’ future, resulting in them failing and ending up on the streets is correct.
Likius also mentioned that the learning environment today was very different to what it was before where teaching and learning took place in a conducive environment.
THis is also true.
Many of us are products of that era and can tell the degree of changes today.
Life has changed drastically due to foreign influences.
Some influences are positive while others aren’t.
Changed patterns in our children’s education are not any different to that of other changes we encounter in life today.
A child’s education and wellbeing must be a collective effort from stakeholders such as parents, teachers, institutions, board of governors, communities, the Government, churches and non-government organisations and other agencies.
A child comes from a family, hence, the first teachers are us, the parents.
We must teach them values and morals before the child enters the classroom.
Because the child has been taught values and morals at home, he/she has the self-esteem and discipline to learn well with respect and value the skills and knowledge.
The teacher in the classroom will spend 95 to 100 per cent of the time allocated for teaching and learning to teaching children and nothing else.
Today’s trend in the classroom is different.
Half of the teaching time is spent to rectify student’s ill-discipline.
This could be a contributing factor to failures.
Where do as parents stand?
Are we not responsible and blaming others for our children’s failures?
A conducive learning environment includes a lot of things such as infrastructures, teaching and learning materials, a steady curriculum instead of constant changes, teachers’ welfare and the Government’s insufficient funding.
Our children’s future does not depend on teachers but other stakeholders’ contributions too.
My appeal to teachers is to continue to impart knowledge to the children with diligence despite the criticisms and the lack of sufficient support for your work.
Parents should also own up their failures and stop pointing fingers.

Joseph Koggy,
NCD