Tangier Golding, a grade five student from St Aloyius Primary School in Kingston, presents her teacher, Maureen Hayles, with a gift during Teacher's Day celebrations at the school yesterday. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

TEACHERS across the corporate area got an unusual break yesterday as students and some private sector groups took over their classrooms in observance of Teacher's Day.

At the Windward Road Primary and Junior High, grade five students, clad in casual clothing, taught grade one students, while representatives from Air Jamaica also played substitute teachers for the day.

Lloyd Newel, a mathematics and English teacher at the school, said while he appreciated the help he was a bit nervous.

"It feels great to not have to teach any classes today, but sometimes I wonder what's going on because it not easy teaching these students," he said.

Meanwhile, Rene Simoes, technical director of the Jamaica Football Programme didn't teach any classes, but he gave the students a pep talk. He told them about the importance of following the rules and staying focused.

A volunteer from Scotiabank instructs students of Denham Town Primary during Teacher's Day activities at the school yesterday. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

"The first rule in the camp of the Reggae Boyz is that there are rules and the next one is to follow the rule," he said. "Learning is a self- decision. It is a decision that you have to make."

At Tarrant High, a school commonly plagued by violent clashes, even the principal and vice-principal gave up their seats to students. While the students did their best to teach their peers, the teachers relaxed during the course of the morning as they waited to be whisked away on a boat tour of Kingston Harbour by noon.

"We started out fairly well. There were a few problems, but they were dealt with," Calvin Hilton, the school's head boy who acted as principal told the Observer, as he was seated behind the principal's desk. "I had to ensure that all the teachers were in their classes and that the morning devotion finished on time."

The real principal, Albert Corcho, said the teachers were also feted by the students.

"The students put on a nice little concert for us this morning to show their appreciation for us," he said.

The Teacher's Day celebration at the Denham Town Primary and Junior High and the Denham Town High School were a little different - the focus was on the students.

Instead of sticking to the curriculum, volunteers from
Scotiabank with assistance from the Peace and Love in Schools (PALS) programme decided to focus on conflict resolution. This focus was chosen in light of the increase in violence in schools.

Volunteers led several discussions with students on how to handle conflicts and peer mediators were also quizzed on the topic.

"A peer mediator does not part a fight, they go and get help," one of the peer mediators stated. "If there was a fight I would go for help from teacher and if the teacher don't agree, I would go to the principal or the vice principal."

Nevertheless, several students were seen with roses waiting eagerly to present it to their teachers at Denham Town Primary.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Bruce Golding in a message said more value must be placed on the work the teachers do in not only imparting knowledge to students, but in moulding their characters and instilling in them the key values that will inspire them to be good citizens.

"Our teachers deserve our constant support in helping them to bear the burden we have imposed on them," he said. "Too often they are called upon to be the fathers and mothers that our children are deprived of because of irresponsible and uncaring parenting. To too great an extent they are required to impose discipline on children totally unaccustomed to discipline rather than reinforcing the discipline imposed at home."

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