Testing time for teachers

Perth, WA

This is in response to the letter by Ashwin Deo who is a teacher in Australia.

I have been a former teacher and if we regard teaching just as a job where we have to quibble about starting a week early, we are in the wrong profession.

Teaching is not just another job. It is a noble profession where we are impacting the lives of so many children. I used to teach in the 70s before I migrated to the US. I have met many of my former students there who are forever grateful to me that I used to take Saturday classes, used to stay over after schools closed to ensure that the students had learned. I used to prepare my lessons in the holidays so that when I taught, I was providing extreme value. I never considered it a job, but a vocation that I should pursue with unfettered fervour and passion.

If we are looking at teaching as a mere job where if we worked extra

So if the ATS staff who are on strike decide to go back to work, what will happen to all their grievances? From what we have learnt through the dailies, the ATS workers have good reasons to go on strike. The fact that Government owns 51 per cent and staff owns 49 per cent of ATS makes it a Government versus Workers saga. Why is our PM not involved? He gets things sorted out and done within minutes when he waves his magic wand!

The Workers Union are planning a march in two weeks time through Nadi Town and we all hope that this strike will not drag on that long. Why is it so hard for the Government or ATS management to do the right thing. This is a Government vs Workers fight and workers represent the people who’s one vote decides which Government runs the nation. My vote will certainly not go in favour of our current Government leaders, if it does not do the right thing in keeping the ATS workers happy as per their original terms and conditions of partnership/ownership shares.