Celebrating teachers’ accomplishments

Tshwarelo Hosia | Thursday June 12, 2025 12:31

Members of the teaching fraternity are gathering in the vibrant Palapye town to mark and celebrate their day, highlighting accomplishments made over the years while reflecting on challenges and road blocks that could be inhibiting provision of quality and relevant education and training. It is an opportunity for all actors concerned including communities to engage in a serious soul searching process, considering the fact that much as teachers are striving to bring their best selves to the classrooms, the student learning outcomes continue to be a source of national concern.

This situation needs quick solutions. It demands unrelenting focus on enactment of education reform process as spelt out in the Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP) and as defined by emerging circumstances going forward. The education reform movement is not an option but a necessity, a matter of life and death process, which should begin now and gather momentum in every corner of our blessed country. If our purpose as a country is to secure a thriving, diversified and sustainable future through a robust and skill based education system then reforms should be pursued with a renewed sense of urgency and vigour.

Excuses of yesteryears can no longer hold water in the light of the advent of a new political dispensation. To its credit, the new administration seems to be not only very amenable to novel ideas but also to radical and unchartered environments that could pave the way for the beginning of a new dawn. Where there is a political will there should be a way. The prevailing positive climate should embolden and sufficiently motivate the members of the noble profession to dream big dreams about their profession and generate more ideas on how best the profession can transform and serve students adequately. There can no longer be any justification for procrastination or delays in ushering in of the education reform agenda.

The debate is no longer whether reforms are needed but how best educators, government and other significant actors could navigate the reform agenda. The desirability and significance of change should not only be spoken about but should be accompanied by a visible movement on the ground towards the desired direction. The reform process should necessarily begin with reforming the school administration. The school principals together with regional oversight bodies need air.

Tight control from the central ministry is suffocating schools while suppressing innovation. The central office should let go, share the air and allow the school principals to enjoy some degree of autonomy. Why is it so difficult to let go? There is no known school reform agenda that ever succeeded without strong school leaders. School leaders are the backbone of any school system. The appointment of school principals cannot be left to chance. The system should set up a school leadership advisory body responsible for scouting great leaders and managing deployments as well as capacity building. Inappropriate deployment of school leaders is a big issue, which plays a critical role in the destruction of a good school culture.

The appointment of school principals should not be handled by ordinary human resource practitioners rather it should be a preserve of people schooled on pedagogy, instructional leadership and school governance in general. School leaders, even those working in successful schools, should never rest on their laurels. Complacency can ruin the culture of an achieving school. The desire to improve learning outcomes should motivate them to keep updating their instructional leadership skills. While it is the responsibility of the government to grow and raise great and charismatic school leaders, it is critically important for the teachers harbouring ambitions of assuming school leadership positions in future to embark on a process of self professional development. It should be borne in mind that leaders are not necessarily born; they are trained and developed in a leadership laboratory.

The trade unions too should also take a keen interest in the project of developing a pipeline of leaders amongst their members. Schools that are better led stand a good chance of taking good care of the well being of staff and students while placing priority on strong instructional practices. Improvement in classroom delivery should be enhanced though promotion of a culture of collaboration within and between schools. It is sad to find two schools, located a few kilometres apart, offering varying sets of standards to students leading to one school doing well while the other school is doing so badly.

To strengthen oversight in schools, the regions should employ and deploy especially in chronically low performing schools master teachers who are not only pedagogically grounded but have proven their leadership prowess in the classroom and in other endeavours. Master teachers are a rare breed of teachers, carefully selected and incentivised to lead their peers on classroom instructional leadership and governance. These are real game changers, who are ready to go extra miles and navigate difficult school learning terrains to deliver improved learning outcomes. Students can only do better when there is so much motivation and engagement in the classroom. Master teachers who are primarily subject specialists should be sought and found to assist in the revival of teaching and learning.

One major change that could be explored is reduction of the population size of some senior secondary schools.

The senior secondary school sub sector is managing a critical final examination intended to open education and training opportunities to tertiary education and training. However, it is clearly evident, judging by student learning outcomes over the years, that senior secondary education is the weakest link.

As the gateway to universities, the senior secondary school sub sector requires serious and urgent help. It may be helpful once again, without necessarily compromising quality at the lower schools to consider deploying the best principals to senior secondary schools. This would boost school governance and improve the prospect of sending more students to universities than is currently the case.

The worrying trend is that there are too many students who don’t get it right at the first attempt at BGCSE and only do better after second or third trials. The many trials that students embark on come with huge costs, which further makes life more difficult for many economically struggling families. Not getting it right at first trial delays students’ entry to universities. A better-managed senior secondary school would be a good starting point in the process of reshaping the education system towards fulfilment of its purpose. A quick solution to the challenge of shortage of critical teaching and learning inputs should be sought and found. Schools cannot thrive and prosper without basic tools and certainly not navigate the terrain without great leaders.