SOME YEARS ago, I wrote an article, in verse form I think, about the monetary plight facing the teachers. It was never published and I can recall only a portion of it. It was composed a long time ago, when I was a boy, virtually. The idea came as I tried to board a good old Jamaican Omnibus 'Jolly Joseph' bus on South Camp Road. I can recall that it was a Number 51 bus. It was also a brand new month on a Monday morning. I wrote:

This teacher in front me stand

Let her bag fly to get the change in hand,

And what I saw I had to straighten my collar,

On show in her modest handbag, were - masking tape scissors, crayons and a half dollar!

It has always been a difficult proposition for the teacher financially. This single teacher living in a rented room in the Corporate Area and having to commute to school daily only had 50 cents in her hand bag on the first Monday morning of a new month. What did she eat? How did she manage to survive?

Stretching the meagre resources

These are pertinent questions, but if the truth be told, she might have had crackers and sky juice for lunch, while some of her students had patties and soft drinks or the occasional boxed food.

Now, what is also significant about this picture is the fact that even with her meagre resources, she managed to purchase materials for her class. Can you imagine greater dedication to duty and to educating the nation's children?

Now, this matter of resources may be a sore point in the education system. Many schools are lacking in this area, so the teachers have to use their salaries to try and make up for the shortfall. In other cases, some amount of resources is available but the teachers prefer to purchase their own because of the 'red tape' involved. A number of teachers complained to me that they have to report to this and that person for the resource materials. Then there is some delay, followed by being sent to another person to sign for the items. Then further delay, and when the material is finally delivered, the teaching period for that subject would have almost expired.

STALLED BY RECESSION

Some persons might argue that those days are over and the teacher is adequately paid in today's Jamaica. Not so fast! Over the past year, there has been some welcome movement in the salary of the teacher. However, a part of this movement which could be referred to as being significant, is stalled by the recession.

So, in this sense, the teacher on the 51 bus and others like her are still waiting for the realisation of a decent wage package. It is within their grasp, but yet so far.

This has to be the linchpin that undergirds any effort to truly understand the financial plight of the teacher. We are generally patient, patriotic persons. It is 'donkey's years' now that we have been longing and reaching out for a decent financial existence.

In this atmosphere and against this background, many may get anxious and agitated. This is understandable. However, the word is that teachers are not averse to dialogue, and the door is always open. In the meantime, we wait with bated breath for an amicable solution to the salary issue.

Elgin Taylor is a school principal and author of the book-Children of Lambat. He may be contacted at elgin1225@yahoo.co.uk.