Teachers, defend yourselves!

The plight of violated teachers

Moshupa incident has just made me realize the imbalances in our society! Teaching is no longer said with the alacrity that once characterized it. Schools are now safe havens for gangsters and criminals. Teachers are living in abject fear and lead their lives like birds not knowing if they will live long to see the dawn of the following day. And our revered government is doing nothing about it! Just how long will we sit back and watch in reverential fear while our brothers and sisters get harmed? Believe you me, teachers are fast losing hope and will soon decide to become martyrs. Soon teachers will resist dispossession from their livelihood because they continue to cry out for their right, they don’t want their women, children, brothers, sisters and colleagues to continue being subjected to torrential abuse.

Terrorism in schools is as old as the profession itself! These gangsters wreak havoc and every teacher country-wide knows their ignominious deeds. The government cannot do anything to protect the good law abiding teachers with the lame excuse that these gangsters are minors and cannot be brought to book and cannot be expelled because they must be denied the right to education. While these recalcitrant children enjoy the immunity accorded them, teachers are running helter-skelter in abject and stark fear!

History teaches us that international terrorism started this way. People recognize what superpowers did to third world as wrong. Did not students beat former Bosetu President? Did not students do the same to a Madiba teacher? Did not students do the same to Kgari Sechele teachers in 2015? Did not students threaten Goodhope Senior school teachers and wanted to sleep with them just recently? Did not students beat a St. Joseph’s College teacher some 5 years ago? Did not students beat Gaborone Secondary school teachers recently? Did not students beat Moshupa Secondary school teacher the other day ? The list is endless! Yet there were no tears for the poor teachers. And the reports about these abuses have been as suddenly taciturn as they have been loquacious about other abuses elsewhere!

One fateful day, which is so near, dawn will come to the teaching fraternity and teachers will come to their senses. And people will say we are rebellious. Rebellious because we’ll be resisting dispossession from our livelihood, because we continue to cry out for our right to be heard, because we do not want our children being starved, we do not want our children to be orphaned. We’ll be rebellious because no one will listen to our cries, and we must make them listen. We’ll be rebellious because we are desperate and have no other way to turn. When no one will listen, and act on our behalf, then we must do it for ourselves!

Teachers, you are being asked to carry the sword of truth for the many who are weak to stand up against oppression. You are their justice, their voice, their mighty arm of retribution. You will do for whom the world has forgotten and does care about. You are few and your enemies are many and strong, and backed by the system. But remember, size and might do not always go hand in hand, wisdom and might do!

Koko Alex Nkokonyane