The Chairman, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Ughelli North Local Government Area, Comrade Emmanuel Efekemorae has celebrated teachers for their efforts towards shaping the minds of our children.
Speaking to make this year’s Teachers Day Celebrations, Efekemorae stated that a good teacher is like a candle, it consumes itself to light the way for others.
“There is no contention about the positive contributions of teachers to human capital development in nation building.
“Teachers nuture engineers, politicians, filmmakers, writers, astronauts, architects, lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs and many more. It means without teachers, our country would not have great leaders and heroes who make our nation a better place for all.
“It is quite pathetic today that teachers are not respected for their sacrificial role of burning like a candle while impacting knowledge on others to attain success.
“If we consider what they go through on a daily basis in the local communities, one will but be touched to decry the contempt the teaching profession is subjected to.
“Recent discovery has shown that over 60 per cent of teachers do not have job satisfaction and are psychologically discouraged due to low pay, deprived welfare packages and disregards for their salient contributions to nation building.
“There is a saying that – ‘Teachers Rewards Are in Heaven,’ a common submission in some Nigerian Societies that gives credence to the fact that teachers are inconsequential, which is totally wrong.”
He further charged government at all levels and the general public to ensure that teachers at all level enjoy the labour of their hands while alive.
The Chairman in a quote by John Dewey, an American Philosopher, said “Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself.”
