Adequacy

We all make mistakes.
 
This article isn’t about making mistakes. It’s about general levels of performance.
 
Would you like to be operated on by a brain surgeon with a generally low level of performance?
 
How about entrusting your life to an Air Traffic Controler who is deemed barely adequate?
 
In both cases, obviously not.
 
We regularly and strictly measure the performance of those with such potentially life threatening jobs and remove the ones who fail to meet the high levels of performance demanded by their profession.
 
Why then don’t we do the same for teachers?
 
These people are, after all, responsible on a day to day basis for the education of future generations of working Islanders.
 
What can be more precious than a good education?
 
And what can be more life threatening than a poor one?
 
Yet we continue to employ teachers who either have never quite matched up to the job or who have drifted in their performance over the years and are well past their “Sell by date”.
 
I know it’s popular to blame the teachers for most things these days and I also know that the great majority of teachers are both dedicated and hard working. But there are also some who are not.
 
So why are they still employed as teachers?
 
If we are insistent on improving the general level of education on this Island then one of the factors is the ability of those delivering that education on a daily basis.
 
Every Head worth their salt, which I hope by now means every Head, should know which of their staff is under performing on a regular basis. Unfortunately they also know just how difficult it is to remove such staff and most try to work around the problem rather than seek to address the root cause.
 
What we need is a way to remove and retrain these low performers so that they may move out of the role to which they are no longer suited.
 
Business does this so why can’t the public sector?
 
As soon as a trader stops delivering the profits, they are off of their desk and in a lot of cases these days, out of the building.
 
I’m not advocating such harsh measures but we cannot excuse long term poor performance in the classroom.
 
In part, the recent voluntary redundancy package has sought to address part of the problem. Yes, that measure is driven by cost cutting but who in their right mind is going to allow a high performing individual to leave their job?
 
What we now need is another programme to retrain those who should no longer be in front of a class. Something which recognises the continuing worth of these individuals but not in their present roles.
 
Will it happen?
 
No, because it is difficult and probably expensive to set up.
 
Nobody is going to incur the real cost of such a program when they can continue to ignore the hidden cost to the education of future generations.
 
Instead we’ll continue to bemoan the low levels of literacy and numeracy in the current crop of school leavers and do nothing truly effective to correct the problem.
 
Yes, this is only one factor in the cause but it’s a vital part of the solution.