If Teachers are Denied Dignity Today, Who Will Be Next Tomorrow?

We, the RMSA 2016 Teachers’ Association, write not just as educators but as voices of pain, resilience, and hope. For nearly a decade, we have been wronged — treated as if our labour, our dignity, and even our future do not matter.

We were appointed through due process. We are qualified. We are committed. Every day, we carry the burden and privilege of shaping young minds — the very children who will grow to become tomorrow’s doctors, engineers, leaders, and teachers. Yet, while society expects us to deliver excellence, the State denies us our basic dignity.

Let it be known — we are not asking for favours. We are not seeking charity. We are demanding justice. Justice that has been delayed for too long. Justice that cannot, and must not, be denied. How much longer will the government continue to deny us justice?

For years we waited, reasoned, and pleaded yet the government’s silence spoke louder than our cries. And so, with heavy hearts, we were compelled to take the painful path of democratic protest.

We ask — what kind of leadership drives teachers from classrooms into protest grounds? What kind of governance silences the very voices that hold the pen in one hand and the future of our children in the other?

This struggle is larger than salaries. It is about the dignity of labour. It is about justice. It is about ensuring that teachers, who carry the nation’s future, are not treated as expendable. Because if teachers are denied justice today, who will be next tomorrow?

Our struggle is not without pain and sacrifice. Let us share with you the human cost of this struggle:

·        Just last night, one of our mothers endured the tragedy of a miscarriage after joining the protest for five long days.

·        Among us is a grieving mother who lost her husband barely two weeks ago — yet she continues to stand in solidarity.

·        Another mother, who lost her beloved one-year-old son just two months ago, still joins our protest despite her grief.

These stories reveal the depth of suffering and the seriousness of our cause. If these mothers, bearing unbearable sorrows, can still rise and fight, what excuse do the rest of us have to remain silent?

When teachers are pushed to the streets, it is not just our dignity at stake. It is the dignity of every parent, every child, and every citizen who believes in justice.

They say, “People get the government they deserve.” Do we deserve a government that forces its teachers to bleed, to grieve, to miscarry on the streets while begging for their rights? Or do we deserve a government that upholds justice and treats teachers and every citizen with dignity? This is a question every citizen must answer.

We also turn to the Church. The Church has always been the moral compass of our society, the voice of truth, the defender of justice. But today, when teachers — who are also members of the Church, who raise the very children sitting in Sunday schools — are suffering, why is the Church silent? Why are our cries not echoed from the pulpits, and why are our struggles not carried on the wings of prayer and action? If the shepherds do not protect the sheep, who will? We urge the Church to come forward — not tomorrow, not later, but now — to speak, to act, and to uphold the truth it preaches.

Let us also remember: “The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people.” If good men and women — if the people, if the Church remain silent today, then injustice wins.

This is not only a teachers’ struggle. This is a struggle for every parent, every child, and every citizen who believes in the dignity of labour and the power of justice. Because if teachers are denied justice today, tomorrow it may be someone else.

We appeal for the solidarity of every citizen, every civil society body, and every Church leader to stand with us in this hour of need. Stand with us. Raise your voices. Because together, we are stronger than the silence of any government. And until justice is delivered, our struggle will not end.

RMSA 2016 Teachers’ Association