What of educators in the Hurricane Melissa aftermath?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Everyone seems focused on the reopening of schools. The Government insists, principals echo the call, and many agree that children need to return quickly for their own good. But what about the educators?

So many teachers, guidance counsellors, and deans of discipline are quietly suffering. They have to put on brave faces, even while carrying heavy burdens of their own. Some have lost homes, some are still trying to rebuild, and yet they are expected to stand strong for others every single day.

A teacher shared that a colleague who attended a meeting spoke through tears about the devastation she faced. She had lost her roof during the hurricane, and her house was still in a terrible state. She was still washing, drying, and cleaning, trying to get her home back together while caring for her children. She expressed fear that she might lose her job because she was not ready to return to work. Not because of neglect, but because she was still trying to recover.

Yet there was no compassion, no empathy, no pause. The only response was that “the Government says schools must reopen.”

People are hurting. People are broken.

This is not the time to rush. There should have been space for healing. A chance for those affected to breathe, to recover, and to rebuild before returning in January.

Because behind every smiling face in the classroom, there may be someone silently crying. And sometimes the ones we depend on for strength; the teachers, the counsellors, and the deans, are the ones who are barely holding on.

It is a shame that in the midst of so much personal suffering, they still have to stand in the classroom, with no system in place to care for them.

A VOICE FROM THE

CLASSROOM