Teachers are among the three main groups — nurses and police included — for whom we have a really soft spot in this space, because we consider them, more than most, to be on the frontline of the daily stress and trauma of life in this nation.

The pithy 1970’s slogan, ‘If you can read, thank a teacher’, still resonates with us and, we believe, with the majority of well-thinking Jamaicans.

But yesterday, Teachers Day May 5, was not a happy day for the profession, because it sent a very confusing, some would say ugly, signal to the nation about teachers’ motivation in their quest to get paid for outstanding sums owed by the Government.

On Monday and Tuesday, the teachers went on strike to dramatise their demands for the retroactive payments. Understandably, the nation had mixed emotions about the industrial action. The teachers are owed their money, no one is prepared to deny that. But at the same time, no one would also deny that the state coffers are in a parlous state.

We urged teachers on Monday to find means other than a strike in the search for a solution, hoping that they would have continued their negotiations in what is a very difficult situation. They struck nonetheless.

However, it is impossible not to notice that the strike, which had followed a work-to-rule, was so timed that the teachers could return to their classrooms on Teachers Day, when it is known that they would be feted and recognised with assorted gifts and kind accolades.

We are quite aware that all this may be mere conjecture and that the teachers may not have even taken into account that the strike would end on Teachers Day. In other words, sheer coincidence. But for us to come to this conclusion, we would have to believe that they do not plan ahead. Which, in fact, would be worse.

We suggest to the Jamaica Teachers Association, its leaders and members, that they do not overlook the fact that getting their money could be nothing more than a Pyrrhic victory. For if the nation is sorely set back as a whole, they may lose more than they gain in retroactive monies.

Congrats, Lisa Hanna

We feel a sense of national pride in the selection of Ms Lisa Hanna, the Member of Parliament for Southwest St Ann, to represent Jamaica on a United Kingdom general election observer mission.

Ms Hanna is the only representative from the Caribbean region and will be among a group of eight other young parliamentarians participating in the mission from may 2 to 9, 2010. Members of civil society and election officials from nine other Commonwealth countries will join the mission to observe the UK general election that takes place today, according to the British High Commission in Kingston.

The mission was organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS)s to create an opportunity for Commonwealth parliamentarians, election officials and civil society representatives to gain insight into the political campaign and UK electoral processes.

Ms Hanna and the other participants will be involved in shadowing a UK MP for a day, attending training on UK electoral procedure and a session at the UK Electoral Commission. They will also be observing voting procedures at a number of polling stations.

We are sure that Ms Hanna will gain significant knowledge from her visit to the UK and will represent Jamaica intellectually and beautifully.