Scrutinise graduates before teaching

THIS is a call to the Teaching Service Commission to scrutinise what seems to be a knee-jerk solution by offering teaching positions to university graduates to teach in schools of excellence and other secondary schools throughout the country.
It seems that the idea behind this move is to give students the opportunity to receive firsthand content-based knowledge from these graduates who may have a background in the subjects they will be teaching; either in the sciences, business or the humanities and social science.
It appears that they are trying to address the issue of the unemployed graduates hanging around in cities and towns looking for jobs.
The commission should realise that not everyone is capable of being a teacher.
In order to become a teacher, one should go through various sacrifices with little in return.
That is why teaching is called a noble profession.
Are these graduates prepared to go through sleepless nights grading marks, preparing lesson plans, tests, assignments, and becoming second parents all at the same time?
One may have the required knowledge but to impart this knowledge to others is truly a skill in itself.
That is because everybody’s learning capabilities vary from person to person.
The Teaching Service Commission should reconsider the move to allow schools to accept university graduates because from observations, these graduates are just looking for a pay packet until a better offer comes along and they’re gone.
Graduates should be sent first to the University of Goroka for the one-year post-graduate diploma in teaching certificate and then apply for teaching positions.
If the commission intends to handpick graduates straight out of school without the above requirement, then the mandatory grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 should be pushed up to 3.5 so our children are offered only the best from our graduates.
This would distinguish the real hardworking graduates whose desires are to teach from those mediocre graduates who cannot find job placement due to poor work ethic in school and are only using the teaching opportunity for their own good without putting in the effort for our children in the growth of our nation.

Educationist,
NCD