It seems the strike in which teachers were threatening “to lay down the pieces of chalk” has been thwarted by the 3% increment. This means the anger and frustration of the majority of teachers has been appeased and numbed by the increment, which others see as a drop in the ocean. 

Those who are still grunted with the meagre increment feel betrayed by the bargaining power and are threatening to either resign from the teacher’s body or join another progressive one. 

Whatever the case might be, teachers are receiving a raw deal in almost the whole process of their conditions of service. Teachers were not taken seriously during the colonial period to such extent that there were different salary categories for men and women. 

The situation slightly changed in that salaries have been equalised, but many conditions of service remained intact. These include poor housing conditions, overcrowded classrooms, and long working hours, commuting over long distances everyday, abusive language from both learners and parents – to mention just few cases. 

Delays in appraisals and promotions, caused by bureaucratic corrupt practices, ultimately lead to lack of motivation among teaching staff members.  This is in a way worsened by teacher unions, which are affiliated to political parties, who have no common agenda about the plight of teachers in particular and education in general.

Mirroring the roles of teachers from a traditional and conservative perspective will reveal that indeed teachers rank highly on service provider scale because of the gargantuan and enormous tasks they perform almost on a daily basis.  Of course, with little input from parents and absent stakeholders, the child succeeds in learning and passes each grade.  In the final analysis of this successful drama, the teacher and his/her role in educating the child to such level is set aside and not taken seriously. In addition, it is not only one child who goes through the hands of the teacher, but many people from all professions all over the world had at one stage done so. Mention any profession, any type of job, any developmental project which need educated people, the teacher stands out and made all the preparations teaching the child. One wonders how would the world be without the involvement of teachers. 

But despite what teachers go through, when the national cake is divided, what the teacher gets is just a morsel, which accidentally falls from the mouths of the overfed and pot-bellied politicians. In the process, the teacher is told to tighten the belt to withstand the economic storm, while the politicians and their cronies loosen theirs to accommodate their bulging bellies. Besides being in class for their larger part of their profession, teachers have contributed greatly to the society. 

Teachers have been agents of change in the societies and in the process assisted the people to help themselves. Even during the struggle for independence in many countries, teachers were in the forefront. 

That is why there was ‘Mwalimu’, a word for teacher in Kiswahili, in Tanzania, who became the first president in that country. In Namibia, during the liberation war, many teachers crossed into the frontline countries to go and fight the racist regime, and sacrificed their lives in the process.  They equally assisted in recruiting learners at the same time, which led to some schools losing learners. Above that, they were usually caught between two forces of abiding by the racist oppressive policies of the South African regime and at the same time mobilising the masses for independence.  In such cases, the unfortunate ones lost their lives and have never been compensated for their roles. Yet, at the dawn of Uhuru, the lifestyles of teachers remain unchanged in many aspects and their salaries stagnant. Accommodation for teachers is still a serious challenge, despite getting a housing allowance – and this leads to some teachers either renting or squatting with other family members. 

Many teachers in parts of the country are still sleeping in temporary structures of mud and those that are grass-thatched – thirty-two years after independence.  Today, with such high cost of living, an ordinary teacher’s salary can hardly see him/her through up to the end of the month like other employees in different sectors. Buying a car is a luxury – but in some countries, it is a basic need, yet many Namibian teachers cannot afford that.  

One may argue that the failure of teachers buying cars is sheer carelessness from their part, but this can be viewed from different economic perspectives regarding affordability. Riddled with such challenges, the teacher’s performance falls below the acceptable level, and that goes with the learners too. 

This leads to an education system that fails to deliver – and ultimately, the country plunges into a state of underdevelopment. 

Most developed countries whose education systems are delivering improve the status of teachers. Japan is a good example, which ranks among the highest countries paying teachers decent salaries. Recently, Rwanda has equally demonstrated that if there is an educational vision, everything is possible. The country went on an educational warpath and imported English teachers and 600 000 computers. 

It is time Nantu and government to start researching to find a better formula for paying teachers and indeed improve their conditions of service.

  Surely, Namibian teachers have toiled under heavy burdens and, therefore, need better conditions of service.