Teachers should stick to teaching

I refer to the article, “Teachers allowed to be in politics” (The star, 23 January). I am shocked at this sudden announcement as I have not heard of any attempt by any group lobbying for this in mainstream or social media. Such a group would surely be ridiculed.

We have often heard of teachers being overburdened with overcrowded classrooms, administrative duties, courses to attend and co-curricular activities. Why then would they want to be further burdened by going into politics? Teachers in government schools are civil servants who serve the government of the day and are supposed to be apolitical. Lets keep it that way.

If teachers get actively involved in politics, there is no doubt in my mind that they will neglect their duties as a teacher. I cannot see any logic at all to allow teachers into politics unless there is a hidden agenda in this move to recruit teachers to promote a certain political party and undermine other parties.

Lets keep education free of politics. Already there have been many complaints of the substandard level of education in our public schools, declining respect for our public universities and the outrageous number of students being awarded Ph.D, and other degrees. Many graduates remain unemployed or underemployed for obvious reasons.

We should, on the other hand, focus on encouraging those with excellent basic education results to go into the teaching profession, improving teacher training and instilling a sense of discipline and commitment to the teaching profession.

This move seems an effort to further ruin education in our schools and institutions of higher learning. If a teacher wants to go into politics, I strongly urge him or her to simply resign!

Dr Peter Joseph Pereira

Petaling Jaya