Teachers and role models

HELEN Caldecott noted that “teachers, I believe, are the most responsible and important members of society because their professional efforts affect the fate of the Earth”.
There are two sides to the coin.
If teachers are committed to their obligations as stated in section 25 of the Teaching Service Act 1988, and abide by the teachers’ association code of ethics then we will see responsible people in society.
If teachers are wishy-washy and carry out their duties without due care and responsibility, then we will see people with lots of anti-social behaviour.
This leads me to the point that if teachers are good managers of their personal finance then their products – the students – will be better financial managers.
However, teachers have not been teaching their students how to manage their finances well and as a result we have in society people with lots of financial problems.
We spend money foolishly, and that why we borrow too much money and because we are always broke we easily become victims of money scams.
We need teachers to learn to manage their money well so they can become good role models and mentors.

Pawa Kenny Ambiasi
Port Moresby