ONE TIME there was this challenge that circulated on Facebook where you had to post the names of all your class advisers from Grade 1 to 6. It was just a simple test if you could possibly recall the names of these great teachers to whom you were entrusted by your parents during the first six years of your education journey. Many accepted this challenge and went as far as writing the names of their high school advisers, including some of their unforgettable teachers in college. For most of those who heeded this challenge, the simple post progressed naturally into an exchange of comments and reactions from other batch mates who couldn’t help but share an anecdote or two about how one adviser or teacher impacted their lives in more unimaginable ways than one.
This may sound as a cliché but I honestly believe that while good teachers enable the students to learn, understand and master the lessons they teach inside the classrooms, the great ones are able to inspire, challenge and empower their students to bring and apply these many learnings in their lives. Ergo, it does not come as a surprise that when we try to remember the teachers who had the greatest influence in our lives, we do not remember them solely for a specific topic or lesson in that particular subject area they taught us. More often than not, we remember them beyond what was written in the text book or what was indicated in the course syllabus or curriculum guide. They have taught us life itself, as culled from their own struggles, failures and triumphs.
This is the reason why next to motherhood, teaching is the noblest of all professions. All other professions have been taught, mentored and guided by a teacher. Suffice it to say that all professions have been born because of teachers who have unselfishly and wholeheartedly shared a part of themselves so that their students will be complete.
Looking back at my elementary years at the Macabebe Central School, I feel truly blessed to have been under the tutelage of some of the most dedicated public school teachers. They come from an era when both students and their parents had nothing but utmost respect for them; that even the occasional disciplinary action imposed on their students never elicited a complaint or merited a space on the leading newspapers or some news program or show on national television. There was no social media; neither was there a “hard-hitting,” sensational vlogger who would jump at every opportunity to castigate and humiliate a teacher in his chosen platform. It was a time when parents gave the teachers their blessing to instill discipline on their children.
This week we celebrate World Teachers’ Day and as it has been the practice in all public and private schools all over the country, students find time to honor their teachers, shower them with the kindest of words and give tokens and gifts as their sincere way of thanking them for their selfless dedication in their chosen mission. The Department of Education has partnered with the country’s leading establishments to provide various freebies to the country’s hope bearers, including a series of concert at the Malacañan Palace grounds in Manila.
While teachers remain thankful for these DepEd initiatives that serve as a well-deserved breather from their regular schedules, the more pressing question really is, what more can and should the government do? Surely, teachers deserve more than lip service. At a time when the education department is saddled with corruption issues ranging from overpriced laptops, undelivered and rotting textbooks in warehouses, substandard school buildings and most recently, P125M confidential funds spent in a span of 11 days only, one cannot help but wonder if our nation’s public and private school teachers are getting both the compensation and appreciation they so richly and unequivocally deserve from their countrymen especially the lawmakers and the education chief. And as we await our government to craft and implement concrete and long-term solutions to the education sector’s multi-faceted woes including the plight of our nation’s teachers, make everyday a teachers’ day. Be a responsible and good student and make it a habit to appreciate, honor and thank your teachers.
