A trip to Dubai, a car and laptop to become a good teacher
15th September 2013
Given
the tough environment under which most teachers operate in the country,
a private secondary school owner has awarded his 25 teachers a tour to
Dubai where they would also engage in a shopping spree.
While in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates
(U.A.E) each of them would be awarded a car worth Sh16 million plus a
laptop. This means that a total of Sh400 would be spent for car purchase
only. The teachers who are departing today on an Emirates flight would
spend one week in the Gulf. The major objective of taking the teachers
to Dubai is to give them an opportunity to widen their experience with
their counterparts in the U.A. E.
Thadei Mutembei, the director of St Mark
Secondary School , told the 10th graduation ceremony at the school
recently that he decided to take the teachers to Dubai as part of a
study tour, something that would boost their working morale.
About 193 Form Four students graduated
during the ceremony. “ I want to boost the morale of my teachers so that
they can improve the performance in my schools,” the director
underlined.
He said he had no plan to give priority in
employing teachers from foreign countries since those from Tanzania
were also capable of delivering quality service in his schools.
The noted entrepreneur owns four secondary schools located in Dar es Salaam, namely St Mark, St Mathew, St Victory and Ujenzi.
In an ongoing campaign of tracking illegal
immigrants, his schools were not spared as government officials stormed
in, taking away one teacher for questioning, an incident about which
the director apologised at the graduation ceremony.
On her part St Mark’s Headmistress Leticia
Joseph said in the past five years the performance of the school had
improved tremendously, reaching a pass rate of 97.4 per cent, enabling
many students to join A-level studies and technical institutions. The
headmistress raised concern on the increase in the number of text books,
saying the situation has been confusing students.
Dar es Salaam regional education officer
Bernadetha Thomas, who was chief guest at the ceremony, said the
government had learnt a lesson following the massive failures of form
four students in national examinations last year, promising that such
situations would not recur.
The director was yesterday flagging off
his employees for their captivating trip to the Gulf, at St Victory
Secondary School. At the graduation ceremony, he urged other employers
to take up the idea of motivating their employees.
Observers said this might be the first
time a local employer moves to motivate employees in that manner. A
number of experts have a feeling that teachers, especially those in
public schools need to be motivated considering that they face hardships
in their conditions of work.
SOURCE:
GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
