As a facilitator who interacts with teachers regularly it has struck me how often our teachers are the victims of abuse.
One of the activities that the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE) offers as part of a strategy towards HIV and Aids prevention and awareness is a workshop on violence against women exploring domestic violence.
At every workshop, at least one teacher would share her story about being a victim of domestic violence.
Every time I drive back home from such a workshop, my head wants to burst with questions:
How do victims of domestic violence cope with the daily task of facing a classroom of 40 or more learners? How do they hide the sadness that they must experience from colleagues and learners? How do we stop this? If our teachers are victimised this much, what chances do other uneducated and unemployed women have?
Do teachers who are victims of domestic violence subconsciously teach girl children to be submissive? To what extent does domestic violence influence the quality of teaching and learning in our schools? How do they find support in rural communities?
I do not know the answers.
But surely it must affect every learner in a class if the abused person is their teacher. The importance of awareness to legal remedies to stop domestic violence must be promoted for the sake of our teachers and learners.
Despite the hardship that teachers face at work and at home, it seems that care and support systems are greatly lacking in the education system and rural teachers are even less likely to find the support they might need.
My last question, before I turn into the gate to my safe home, is how do we, as school communities, support our teachers effectively so that our children can benefit from quality teaching and learning?
Elzet Utley is the CIE’s HIV/Aids and Gender Unit Leader. She is currently providing workshops on gender abuse and violence at the CIE