The Ministry of Education adoption of a zero tolerance of smoking in schools is indeed a most welcome one and perhaps is long overdue because of its obvious ill effects on health and the bad example being set by teachers to their students.
The minister is urging teachers to be good ambassadors and strive to promote healthy lifestyle, positive attitudes, values and behaviours, in and out of their classrooms.
He said too that concerted attempts will be made to get the private schools on board the campaign to stop smoking in their immediate school environment.
He lauded the partnership between his Ministry and the Ministry of Health to tackle this issue as well as several other health related concerns.
In addition, Baksh underlined the importance of Health and Family Life Education in the schools’ curriculum and disclosed that the programme will be piloted in 30 schools from September.
Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who also addressed the gathering of mostly teachers, said tobacco is the worst kind of serial killer ever known to mankind.
According to Education Minister Shaik Baksh strong disciplinary action will be taken by teachers who flout this zero tolerance on smoking in schools and one would hope that the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) which is the bargaining agent for teachers will give its unconditional support for this progressive move, rather than scream it is a violation of the rights of teachers.
As has been observed by one of our letter writers, Reggie Chee-a-tow, a veteran teacher, teachers have to be always exemplary in their conduct because they are seen as role models by children.
He wrote: “The smoking of cigarettes continues to be the number one killer among people of developing countries, and when teachers smoke for their students to see, they are sending the wrong message to students, because, teachers teach not only by what they say in the class room but also what they do outside the class room.”
This is precisely the point, because indeed teachers have a most crucial role in moulding the character of children and many could testify that their teachers helped to make or break them as adults. And that is why the job of a teacher will never be an easy one as he/she actually to a large extent has the future of children in his/her hands.
According to Darcia Narvaez and Daniel K. Lapsley from the Centre for Ethical Education University of Notre Dame:  “Debating whether or not teachers should teach values is the wrong question.
Education is a values-infused enterprise. The larger question is how to train teachers for positive character formation. Two teacher education strategies are presented. A “minimalist” strategy requires teacher educators to make explicit the hidden moral education curriculum and reveal the inextricable linkage between best practice instruction and moral outcomes. The “maximalist” approach requires pre-service teachers to learn a tool kit of pedagogical strategies that target moral character directly as a curricular goal.
To this end the Integrative Ethical Education model outlines five steps for moral character development: supportive climate, ethical skills, apprenticeship instruction, self-regulation, and adopting a developmental system approach.”
From the above it is clear that the task ahead for teachers is not a simple and straightforward one but one with utmost responsibility. Therefore, only those who have a genuine love for the profession should be in it because if one is only in it for the sake of a job then he/she could end being more harmful to the education system rather than boosting it.
In our current education system one would want to believe that there are many in the education system that belong to the latter category and every effort should be made to have them replaced by those who are truly committed to the values of education.
The school system is the cradle of national development and therefore it must provide the enabling environment for both academic and moral development.