NATIONAL Parent Teachers Associations (NPTA) Coordinator, Ms. Carol Benn, has chided teachers for speaking on their mobile phones during classroom sessions.
A press release from the Education Ministry said she admonished them about the practice while addressing scores of parents at Leguan Secondary School.
Lecturing them on several issues, Benn said the habitual conversing or texting by some teachers in the classroom during classes is unacceptable, as it, openly, sets a bad example to students.
She exhorted teachers to embrace their profession with passion, be present at all their classes on time and make a concerted effort to transform slow learners.
The release said Benn challenged teachers to stop engaging in group conversation at the expense of their students, pointing out that it is a major cause of breakdown in effective supervision at schools.
The NPTA Coordinator also encouraged parents to take a hands-on approach to their children’s education and implored them to set the right example and be positive role models.
She said parents should make spot checks on their children both before they go to school and while there,  to ensure that they take their education seriously and are living up to expectations.
Benn emphasised that parents have to take control of their children and make every effort to get them to perform well at school and be meaningful contributors to society.

CURRENT CULTURE

She said this level of discipline has to be instilled in the children while they are in school and parents must, vigorously, guard against their offspring becoming victims of the current culture of “fine bottom pants, multi-colour boots and tattoos.”
Benn said headteachers and other staff must also take a tough stand against students on such matters and make an earnest attempt to explain, to them, the negative influences concommitant with the new emerging culture.
She said, at the end of the day, the schools should be environments which are conducive to learning and where learning is taking place. Schools should not only produce students who are successful academically but are responsible, intelligent and capable of making prudent decisions in life.
In her talk, Benn said that parents cannot be disconnected from this process and fathers must be more involved in their children’s upbringing and pay special attention to their education.
She said parents and members of the community must be on the lookout for children who are not attending school and report them to the Schools Welfare Officers in their respective regions.
Benn exhorted headteachers to guide and support their staff and parents to be supportive of teachers, pointing out that a closer parent/school/community relationship is needed to ensure that schools function more effectively and teachers work in the best interest of students.

NOBLE TASK

Education Minister Shaik Baksh, who also addressed the gathering, tasked teachers to be dedicated and committed to their noble task of educating the nation’s children and parents to get more involved in their children’s education.
He said students who perform well are closely monitored by their parents and underlined that, if all parents played a greater role in their children’s education, the latter would perform better at examinations and most of the problems of indiscipline in schools  would be non-existent.
Baksh said the Ministry of Education will be conducting random checks on students at the various schools, in keeping with its objective of making learning environments safe and conducive.
He said the parent of every child found with a weapon(s) will be summoned by the child’s headteacher and briefed about the behaviour and his/her expectations as students.
Those who are  serious threats to their peers and teachers would be expelled from the school system, as the ministry has zero tolerance to violence, drugs, smoking and sex in school, the release said Baksh told the forum.