Teachers, and others, waste man hours on their cellphones

AN INTERESTING discussion I had with some friends who are teachers jolted some thoughts that could influence the way we view employment in general.

Quite often teachers are seen to be busy communicating on their mobile phones during lessons. Whatever the reason, it was pointed out by a teacher that this is a distraction and often leads to poor concentration in terms of lesson delivery.

While I would assume that the use of mobile devices, other than in imparting subject material, is strictly prohibited in schools, I am aware that such rules are never enforced.

Given that technology has become part and parcel of life, productivity in many ways has been affected, not only in the field of education but in all industries.

As an exercise, it would be interesting to test how many teachers are engaging in online communication during the course of the school day. I have done so with my friends and chided them in this respect, much to their chagrin. In the days of yore when no such technology was in use, teachers maximised their teaching hours for the specific duty of educating the child.

While there counter-arguments may in be this regard, the fact remains that many hours are lost, and if we extrapolate this in terms of productivity countrywide it would be, to say the least, staggering.

I have used education as an example, but this would apply to all facets of employment in every field.

Any communication during working hours (with a potential girlfriend or a disgruntled spouse) should wait until the appropriate time and should not be allowed to interfere in paid and, presumably, productive vocational matters. Durban North