By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
DepEd has recently announced that October 27-30 be a “wellness break” and suspends classes for public schools on the mentioned days. The break is meant not only for students but for teachers too following the recent events that have shook many lives in the country.
The narrative has been the same ever since I was in elementary school, teachers are overworked and underpaid. Teaching as a profession is for those who are truly passionate about it because you get paid little to none. Don’t pursue teaching if you pursue money. Teachers are always tired.
I was able to see this again when I walked past my elementary school recently. I saw how little the student population had become. The school uniforms had been the same since my days but the air of the environment has clearly changed. It became that of a small and quiet school, much different from the rowdy, and noisy environment we had back then, with every ring of the bell signaling the release of so many screaming children pouring outside from their classroom. They clearly had some sort of event taking place, but seeing the current feel of the place made me feel a melancholic grimace. It was strange to see a place that I have spent so much time with, a part of my life is basically within the school grounds, slowly changing from the memories that I can still vividly reminisce.
On the grounds I was able to see my former teacher in grade 6. I remember he always looked tired but this time around he looked sick, even. It would have been around ten years since the last time I saw him. As he walked slowly around his students, I noticed he still had the same gait he had as he walked around the grounds keeping us in check just 10 years before. There I saw a teacher who yearned for respite, his eyes never having the same light as it did before and though he still walked, he walked sluggishly as if he trekked on mud. He had been teaching, disciplining, and dealing with rowdy children for decades now.
This is a private school so I don’t know if they would still follow DepEd’s calls but I know my former teacher would more than deserve it.
I still walk past my old school every now and then. From the side I could get a good view of the school grounds, the same place where everyone laughed, shouted, slept, and cried at. Maybe it’s because I grew taller but everything seemed small, from the students to the size of the grounds, the impressive school I had perceived back then was gone. But what remained was that tall and imposing figure of my former teacher as he slowly walked with his hands behind his back.
To help these teachers who have had their backs bent as a result of decades of work, there needs to be more than just a week off.
Like an eroding statue is not to be simply admired and appreciated for its history and longevity, it also needs a lot of help to maintain its elegance painfully attained through decades of doing its duty and holding onto integrity. **
