Suffering teachers

TEACHERS are important assets of a nation. They mold the new generation.
It is like sowing seeds for the next harvest.
Currently our teachers are the most-neglected workers in the public service.
Teachers are put off the payroll every April.
Teachers are not paid their leave fares every Christmas.
Teachers are not paid their boarding duty allowance.
Teachers don’t get their entitlements.
Teachers get an accommodation allowance of only K7 a fortnight.
New graduate teachers are put on the payroll after two years of teaching without pay.
Teachers do their jobs at home, at night, during weekends and public holidays.
Teachers carry school supplies and their own rations up and down rugged terrains with a willing heart.
Teachers serve in the remote, ignored, isolated and neglected parts of Papua New Guinea.
Teachers accomplish tasks both within and outside of their duty statements.
Teachers are denied their salaries, leave fares, entitlements, overdue pay rises and many other privileges and entitlements that are not mentioned here.
Why have we been ignored and neglected for so long?
Have we done anything wrong?
Are we serving a prison term?
Don’t we deserve something motivational?
Who is supposed to help us solve these chronic issues?
Who should help make us smile at least once in our dusty life?
Will anyone – TSC, NDOE, NEC or just any responsible government agency – inform us, the worn-out and overused teachers, why we are inflicted with pain in a country that is democratic and Christian?
If not, please just give your hardworking faithful teachers a four or five-digit surprise without too much fanfare and publicity.

Chalk dust for 24 years