No Job Security

Term 3 started on Monday September 6. About two weeks later at a staff meeting I noticed a Special Unit schedule posted on the board, but I did not pay much attention. My day-to-day routine has been unchanged since I started teaching in January.

A few days later I gave the posting a bit more scrutiny. There are 5 teachers at Township that have been trained to teach students with special needs. As noted in a previous blog (BUSTED, June 13), none has ever shown up to join me in the classroom. I studied the schedule for our Special Unit and found that I was not even on it; it was rubber-stamped and approved by the Deputy Headmaster in charge of Curriculum. After the school's dressing down in Term 2, I had been scheduled to teach only 2 classes each day. But nothing changed in the classroom, only on the schedule posted in the Staff Room.

The September schedule was an eye-opener. The 5 teachers were all assigned to teach in the Special Unit, but it was the two periods at the end of the morning that got my attention. The schedule reflects Pre-Vocational Training and includes knitting, crocheting, and tailoring. I ran into the teacher assigned for the Pre-Vocational Training and she asked me if I had any of those skills; I told her I knew how to knit and she was very happy to hear I had a pair of knitting needles. I then pointed out to the man who keeps the schedule current that I taught all 6 morning classes without help from any of the 5 Special Unit teachers. He simply replied with vigor: " Noted! It is duly noted!"

Term 3 is half over this week. The posted schedule remains intact. I still teach 6 classes each day by myself. A volunteer teacher could feel a bit insecure, but guess they can't afford to fire me.