Don’t exploit teachers, pre-school owners told

Fri, 17 Mar 2017 10:52:37 +0000

By MARY KACHEPA

OWNERS of pre-schools should not exploit their teachers because when they are not motivated their performance goes down and in the process take out their frustrations on pupils, says Wise Park School director Henry M’kandawire.

He said that when the teachers were not motivated, they became lazy because they had nothing to work hard for and might not bother to monitor the academic progression of the pupils.

And Little Lulu School director Kaluba Champo said that private school owners should not forget just how valuable their teachers’ contributions were to their businesses.

Ms Champo said that some school managements took teachers for granted when they were actually major stakeholders in their business because they were in direct contact with the learners.

“These children are in that school solely for the quality of education provided by the teachers and without the teachers you cannot run a school,” she said.

Meanwhile, Zambia Pre-School Association (ZPA) coordinator Ernest Choongo said school proprietors that were not motivating their teachers were killing their business because when the teacher was not motivated, her or his productivity would be reduced.

Mr Choongo said it was unfortunate that some pre-school teachers were lowly paid and some would go for months without getting paid.

He condemned the exploitation of teachers by some pre-school owners and has called for the formation of a union to address the challenges that pre-school teachers went through at the hands of their employers.

“What the school owners need to understand is that the school environment works on a chain reaction and so when a school is doing well, it is because of the teachers.

Therefore, it is important that the cake is distributed accordingly,” he said.

Mr Choongo said that in as much as teachers needed to be passionate about their jobs, they were human beings with needs, families and responsibilities.

“Pre-grades are very crucial in the development of children’s education because it is the foundation from which the basic and secondary teachers build on,” he said.