Let teachers shine in subjects they are good at

ONE of the best Teachers Day messages I received recently was: “The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book”.

I cannot agree more. These teachers know their stuff well, and at their fingertips too. Most importantly, they know how best to deliver. They are well loved and respected.

Among the subjects taught in schools, Physics and Additional Maths are the toughest to many. Few can teach the subjects well.

There are, however, teachers who are well-versed in handling the subjects.

In my hometown Taiping, the five big secondary schools are (in alphabetical order) Convent Secondary School, Hua Lian Secondary School, King Edward VII School, St George’s Institution and Treacher Methodist Girls’ School.

They are rival schools in the true sense of the word.

In the past, one teacher in one of the schools was noted as the best physics and additional maths teacher in town. He did teaching and gave no tuition.

Not his fault, of course, but that meant that many others could not benefit from his excellent teaching.

If there ever was a scheme whereby good teachers could teach in the five schools in a week, more would have benefited from him.

In Taiping, the famous five schools are near to each other.

If allowed, the teacher can teach in all the schools. He just has to concentrate on his strong subjects. No such arrangement is in place now.

Perhaps it’s time to give the suggestion a thought.

There should be a relook at how teachers can be deployed to give the maximum benefit to schools and communities.

Schools and universities are the nurseries of our future. The way we handle and deploy our human resources to extract the best from them is of crucial importance.

One of the reasons why some teachers left is that they were asked to teach subjects they were not wellversed in, coupled with tedious administrative and clerical work.

Let them shine in the subjects they are at home with. Then they will make the schools their home.