Security seems to be playing hard-to-get in this world of at-will employment, outsourcing and economic upheaval. So, as layoffs in this recession have touched just about every occupation, guess which profession may offer a bit of stability?
You are correct – the teaching profession. Not only because there will always be children to teach, but also considering that teachers never have a time when there is not something else they can do. That is, they could work 14 hours a day, six days a week and still never get it all done. There is always a stack of papers to grade; there is always a lesson they can improve or enhance; there is always a student whose parent needs a note; there is always another book about behavior management or lesson planning or time management or whatever they can read.
In this, the “something else” they could do – yes, in this they have “job security.” There will always be something else to do.
On a more serious note, though, a teacher’s true security lies in the fact that he or she not only shows the right path for the student to follow but also prepares the human resource for the further development of the nation. Job security appears to be seen as assured for teachers – not only in terms of having a job for life but also being something that they can do for their whole working life, almost irrespective of where in the world they are.
Teaching, therefore, should be made the highest paying job to encourage the best brains to join the teaching profession. We give maximum value to our teachers by giving them higher pay. So after getting an education of higher level, a student should feel that his first choice should be to be a teacher, a nation builder because he or she will feel much more respected, will have a better pay scale, and a better life.
By THOMAS B. DACAWE
