Policies alone cannot improve the education system – Educator

May 04, 2015 News

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There is no denying that the education system has some very good policies in place. But according to Educator of many years, Ms. Paulette Ragobeer, having good policies in place alone will not change the way people operate.
Ragobeer made this point as she outlined that “it is the heart of a teacher that reaches the students.

So we can have big buildings, we can have all the furniture in place, we can have overhead projectors, we can have all of the hardware but if the heart of the teacher is not engaged in what he/she has to do then the students will be short-changed.”
Moreover, Ragobeer, who has taught at a number of local schools and currently lectures at the University of Guyana, observed that the teaching/learning process is dynamic.
In fact, she shared her opinion that a teacher is no longer viewed as “the ‘sage on the stage’ where we are the fount of all knowledge, but more and more our role is that of a facilitator.” And according to her too, “it is amazing how much you can learn from students once you create the right environment.”
In commenting on the state of the local education system, she pointed out that many good teachers are today migrating for one reason or another. Primary among this might very well be a wanting remuneration package.
“Nobody wants to be struggling for many years on end without seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
There must be hope and if hope does not arise in their hearts in Guyana then they go where they can embrace that hope and see what they are working for, or see that they are working towards progress,” asserted Ragobeer.
Need for incentive
But according to her, if deliberate efforts are made to retain teachers by offering them incentives that are reasonable and that are more than just a drop in the ocean, “then I think a lot of teachers would opt to remain in their homeland.”
Speaking from an informed standpoint, Ragobeer, who has taught at schools overseas, said “it is not easy to be living in another person’s country where you are considered a second or third class citizen. If they (teachers) can be given those incentives and there can be hope. If you say to teachers do this and then there will be this reward, they will stay and work.”
In fact, she is convinced that if the education system embraces the reward tactic, teachers will not only be happy to stay but they are more likely to take on the challenges here rather than travel abroad to take on challenges that are in another country.
Parental support
But according to the Educator, while the administrators of the education system have a role to play in helping teachers with the delivery of education, parents and/or guardians also have a crucial responsibility in this regard as well.
As a parent herself, Ragobeer said that this has always been a keen focus she has embraced. She pointed out that she has always had educational goals in place for her children but noted that she has been accused of doing this mainly because she is a teacher.
“Maybe this is so but I can still say that if parents can see down the road; if you can be the visionary for your child…now you are older than they are, you have passed this way before, you know if they go this way what can possibly be the result; if they go that way this could be the result.”
As such she remarked that parents/guardians should be the one to help to guide their children in the schooling process. “There are too many parents relinquishing that responsibility and they are putting it all at the doorstep of the teachers,” said a concerned Ragobeer.
She went on to point out that it is imperative that parents remember that their children live with them and not with their teachers.  “We can teach them and we can try to impact their lives; we can influence them for the time that they are with us but then they leave and they go home.
When they go home what are the parents doing? There are too many parents who are just leaving the children to just watch television, text or be on Facebook,” said Ragobeer as she pointed out that while she is not opposed to technological advances, these have time and place. “Many of the children today don’t know where the off button is for the television…so they sit there and the hours just roll by but those are hours that they should be devoting to their school work,” she firmly insisted.
It is therefore the parents/guardians’ role, she noted, to help ensure that children have things in proper perspective.
She however noted that the onus is also on students to ensure that they remain focused if they hope to achieve the desired results. According to Ragobeer, “If you are hoping to become a doctor, teacher, lawyer, politician or engineer, then you are going to have to put some amount of muscle into your preparation; it’s not just going to happen by osmosis!”

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