WHY I WILL NOT HANG MYSELF

WHY I WILL NOT HANG MYSELF..

Hello, thank you for taking time to look at this.

I am a teacher, for those of you who do not know and have probably been wondering. I have mostly been reluctant to mention it- that am a teacher, and here’s why;

You see I never wanted to become a teacher. It was my parents’ idea..trust me, being me, I obviously resisted by all means. But then these are my parents we’re talking about, so I could only resist that much. The reason I never wanted to become a teacher was because I wanted to e something else. I had even been offered a very good job by the time I decided to go back to college and do education. According to me, I was “doing it for my father”. Dumb, huh? I thought so too. Years later, I can now proudly say I didn’t make the wrong choice, or rather they didn’t make the wrong decision for me.

At first I was this person who’d just drag my feet in a tiresome shuffle to work, shuffle between classes and shuffle again back home at the end of the day. But then when I realized I had a job to do and my attitude would only make life harder, I decided to take on the challenge head on. I started to go to work early, become more interactive with students and joke with colleagues at work. Things changed, I started to appreciate my work, and at the same time I started to see results, the fruits of my labor – don’t get ideas, I am not talking money here. You know how the situation for most teachers the world over is, moneywise. We were brought up believing that teachers are paid only 800 shillings!

The other day I read in the newspapers that a teacher took his life because apparently his school had performed poorly in the national exam. Teachers in Kenya are looked down upon, not only by our employer, but by our students and the parents. Unlike him, here’s why I will not commit suicide---- We mostly have lessons at seven o’clock all week days. We have special tuition for weak students every evening from seven to eight. Every Saturday, we have remedial classes up to four. All this is besides the normal class time within the week up to four. I am not trying to say that we make our students pass. What am saying is that we DO OUR BEST, sometimes at the cost of spending time with our own children. We normally want your child to pass, to do well. We talk with them, we counsel them..we do all we can. I personally will not hang myself like that teacher who did, because I have seen young boys change because I took time and listened to them I took time and counseled them.

I have witnessed a boy turn from drug taking to responsible, hard working humble boy, whose parents are proud of, because I took TIME. It’s not academic performance that bothers me most, but what kind of adults we’re brooding. I have seen a girl become a pharmacist, and coming back to thank me for changing her attitude towards sciences. That, makes me feel good, feel happy, it adds days to my life, something no amount of money can do. No one can be able to quantify financially the sacrifices a teacher makes to bring up young people. Some have been rejected at home by their own parents and we are here to comfort them. The other day a mother broke down in tears, telling me how the husband would have nothing to do with their son because the kid is ‘not doing well academically’. Of course she didn’t go home with the boy to give him hope. I will keep following him up, encouraging him and playing that role of the mother. God give me the strength and grace.

The reason I have decided to write this is especially because I have seen people crack jokes, even on twitter about Kenyan teachers. Even #Kenyanteacher is trending on twitter. One of the people I respect and follow on twitter even posted that he started to learn when he left school. How many things have you learned in school?

Before you start baying for a teacher’s blood because of poor performance of your kid in an exam, ask yourself whether as a parent you have done your part of the deal (I will discuss parental role in a different post). My students are delightful, most of the parents understand and have taken up their role well. I get satisfaction fro doing what I do, and that’s why I WILL NOT HANG MYSELF!