The resilience, tenacity of teaching troops

Tshwarelo Hosia | Monday October 19, 2026 06:00

Like mount Zion teachers should stand firm, remain unshakeable and endure forever( psalm 125:1.

The teaching profession is under siege, plagued and infested by overwhelming and debilitating circumstances. The profession cannot breathe properly as things stand.

Nonetheless, for the sake of innocent souls in the classrooms and much more importantly the need to preserve the integrity and reputation of the profession, the business of good teaching should continue to gather momentum.

Everything rests on the ingenuity , innovative prowess and survival instincts of the human capital charged with responsibility of dispensing education.

Teachers should be more proud of their trade because not even artificial intelligence (AI) can replace them. The much revered AI cannot feed a hungry student or hug a distressed learner.

Teachers are indispensable in this regard. This should challenge the teachers to strive to survive and save their profession from total collapse.

If, under the weight of the heavy burden imposed on them by numerous challenges, the teachers’ identity were to be eroded and wiped off , then the country’s education system would drift further and deeper into the abyss.

Instead of cracking under the weight of the notorious challenges afflicting the teaching profession, teachers should derive solace and comfort from the very fact that this crucible would give birth to more effective, razor sharp and refined teachers.

An effective teacher is a product and creation of his or her own circumstances. In the colleges of education , certificates are issued giving teachers a licence to seek employment in the teaching profession but teachers are manufactured and processed in the crucible of rigorous practice in the field .

Here Martin Luther king writing in 1963 in his book ‘The strength of love’, offers something very instructive and inspiring. He said “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

In the same token the ultimate measure of a teacher is where he stands in the face of challenges threatening the survival and integrity of the teaching profession. In the formative days of our independence, shortage of critical teaching and learning inputs was the norm rather than the exception.

The endurance of the then generation of teachers carried the nation through the difficult valleys and terrain. And so a rock solid foundation was laid.

There is a need for a new generation of teachers who would rise to the occasion and place the interests of their students in the forefront. Teachers who prioritise the teaching and learning of students never go wrong. Now the opulence of yesterday which the country was known for has momentarily evaporated, getting us back to the days of scarcity and austerity measures.

Belts we must tighten while also relentlessly seeking to explore and invent new strategies that would upgrade and sustain a culture of effective teaching and learning. One thing that distinguishes teachers from the crowd is their capacity to love.

And teachers, no matter how hard pressed they may be on the economic front, cannot afford the luxury of ceasing to love. Their ability to gather the pieces together, to clothe a student who comes to school wearing rags, feed a hungry student and give a shoulder to lean on for learner coming from a distressed and shattered family is unparralleled.

They make the welfare of a student a personal concern. They cannot afford to remain indifferent to suffering. To cook a good meal, meaning pedagogy, teachers are known for a notorious distinction of gathering waste and discarded materials to make teaching aids.

This spirit should continue and gather momentum. Self reliance is important in the midst of challenges.

Teachers who are currently pedagogically sophisticated should generously share best practices with their counterparts through WhatsApp and other technology driven platforms.

Exchange of best teaching practices should not wait for funding or formal settings.

It can be done in less formal and exacting learning environments. Teachers should never cease learning. Learning should be derived from anticipated and unexpected outcomes.

The teachers should never stop reading and searching for teaching methods relevant to the modern day challenges.

There are lessons offered on line which should be exploited for the betterment of the profession. The community should lend it’s support to the teachers. The teachers are our heroes.

If there is anyone having doubts about where heroes can be found , may be they are looking in the wrong places.

Those of us working closely with teachers are privileged to meet and see unasumimg and self effacing heroes and heroines every day.