A moral obligation, teachers are parents too

Editor, The story of a school matron who was arrested for harassing a student, as reported in The New Times last week caught my attention and I want to suggest that teachers should draw a big lesson out of that saga which occurred in that school. Needless to say, whereas teachers are like any other civil servants, they bear a moral obligation to parent the students who come from different families with different backgrounds. I should mention that, the recent history of Rwanda, which left many children orphaned, makes some of those students very vulnerable and they, therefore, need careful handling. Students, especially the genocide survivors, should be given special counseling, advice and support especially during the commemoration time and not matrons or teachers insulting them in any way. This is a call to the teachers to understand that their profession hands them a big responsibility of turning these children’s open minds into something resourceful by teaching them the essence of unity and oneness. It was also discovered that the matron of that school was 24 years old; I don’t think she was mature enough to be able to handle her responsibilities. This calls for setting standards on who should be a matron or patron because, if they are to teach and act as parental figures, should merit their roles. NYAMIRAMBO

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A moral obligation, teachers are parents too