Teachers are our other parents. They transform our lives. They impart knowledge into us. Imagine yourself as a child. You know nothing, not even counting. You desire to go to school. On trial, you prove your worth.
It reaches a time when one is easily irritable by school. Waking up and doing assignments just choke. Punishments for failure to do the same is also awaiting.
In secondary school, you get surprised at the questions without any multiple choices. One must cram before they learn how to master. Oh boy, quadratic equations are awaiting you in form two. As if that is not enough, mole concept is determined to frustrate you in form three. You then wonder why you must do gas laws in physics and chemistry. In your entire secondary school, you have been intimidated by huge formulae in physics. Your surprise is why you had to buy frustrations in the name of school fee.
One is stressed if they realize they may not make it for a direct entry to a university (which is likely to be redundant).
I don’t want to get to the frustrations of being a student at a university. Woe unto you if you if you take a science oriented course.
All these years, there are people who encourage you all along. The teachers and your parents. Your parents might have missed the education that you are now enjoying. What rewards do we have for them? Some are not worth rewarding because we lack the necessary amount of rewards to give.
Since 1997, teachers have demanded for an increase in salaries. Some of them earn lower than twenty thousand. What they need to upkeep their families is more than what they receive. They were promised an increase in salaries. They are waiting, impatiently.
They have been on strike for several years. Last year, they had a five-week strike demanding for their salary increase. We still expect them to be good teachers to us and our children.
To add in salt to an already salted injury, they got into a pact with the government. It was in Mombasa, somewhere in Nyali. This is the reason why I hate luxurious meetings. It sways people easily. After being taken to the leafy suburbs of Mombasa, they signed an agreement, maybe blindly. They may not be on strike. They got to several working formulae as well. Their hands are tied.
With the system of administration which appears dictatorial, they can be sure of disappointments. They will fantasize and dream for increase in salaries. No increase should be expected. The labor court had ruled in their favor and deserved a fifty percent increase in salary. Though this looked like an overambitious move, they never got even a ten percent increase. And let them not expect it soon.