Today is Teachers Day. In my mind I have
one teacher I would have loved to hear him talk today. His name is Afu Stephen,
the President of The Presbyterian Education Authority Teachers’ Trade Union,
PEATTU.
He is a proud teacher, a trade unionist
and above all, a reformist. I remember how on April 24, 2010 despite resistance
from the Presbyterian Education authorities, he took courage in his right hand
and determination in left hand to launch PEATU. I also recalled what (he) Afuh
Stephen said. He condemned bribery, blackmail, tribalism and other ills within
the education sector of the Church, stressing that nobody was more Presbyterian
than the other and concluded that "PEATTU will fight against all such vices
with all its might”. Many factors shape
a child’s success, but in schools nothing matters as much as the quality of
teaching and the conditions of teachers. And nothing as well matters as much as
the teacher expertise.
As we celebrate Teachers Day, Afu stands
tall in the madding crowd of teachers’ trade unionists in Cameroon as an
exemplary voice of the teachers and for grapping the most essential in
perspective. In August 2010, Stephen Afu and Michael Kima, President and Vice,
respectively, were detained following a complaint from Joseph Baboni, by then
Presbyterian Education Secretary. Their crime as Manyong Peterkings puts it was
for “disturbing the quiet enjoyment of “Baboni Mugabe” the then Presbyterian
Education boss”.
The clash had its origins in the wide
gap between the luxury surrounded lifestyle of Presbyterian Education
authorities, Baboni for instance, and that of the average Presbyterian
teacher who lives in a ghetto and feeds on garbage, beans, achu etc.
5
years since the creation of PEATU, one can only borrow from Elizabeth Green,
the author of “Building A Better Teacher” to describe Afu’s worth. He is what
Elizabeth calls the “myth of the natural-born teacher”, a description that makes
a good teacher to be like panning for gold.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
Like father, like son! Keeping aside family ties, I must say this reformist is a force to reckon with as he engages in his task of bettering the conditions of teachers within the PCC. This he does lovingly with the authorities that be as with the slogan "Be a transformed transformer"of the proprietor. Bravo to him and all who work together for a better and equitable world of teachers. Happy Teachers Day Mr. Stephens aka SKB!
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