It may seem simplistic to some people, but the comment from an irate teacher that “…the teaching profession is from where every other profession comes” is the gospel truth.

The great majority of us, in and out of the recognised professions, were shaped to some degree by our teachers, mostly for the better.

The comment published in Thursday’s Jamaica Observer was, of course, in reference to the delay in salary payments for some teachers which has left them financially embarrassed and struggling to cope.

There appeared to be some disagreement as to how many teachers were actually left unpaid — some for two months — up to early this week.

What is not in question — based on interviews done by our reporter — is that there was a big problem. Further, there is no question that, as the teachers’ union, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), and individuals pointed out, such problems have popped up too often, going way back.

“Years on top of years, on top of years [this has been happening], and I really and truly believe that it needs to come to a stop…” says our unnamed teacher, quoted earlier.

No one can reasonably disagree.

And, it’s not as if when the salary does come it covers much more than basic expenses. Low pay and poor working conditions are the main reasons many teachers, along with nurses, other medical personnel, police, et al, are migrating in droves to greener pastures.

The testimony of several teachers regarding the hardships they have gone through as a result of the latest salary breakdown is heartbreaking, to put it mildly.

“I didn’t come to work yesterday because I literally don’t know how I would actually commute to work and go back home as I didn’t have the funds,” one teacher told our reporter.

He said that, over the last two months, there have been times when things were so rough he had to go through the work week with no lunch.

He, like many other teachers from time immemorial, offer “love” for children and job satisfaction as reasons for continuing to serve.

Said he: “So we will go out on a limb to ensure that they get what they’re supposed to get, even though we are not getting what we are supposed to. It is not a high-paid profession, but at least at the end of the day, whatever we are doing here will make Jamaica into a better place in time to come.”

Obviously, those who serve so faithfully for very little shouldn’t be asked to deal with the pain and humiliation some have had to endure in recent times.

We hear from the authorities of “glitches” and forms that weren’t filled out on time, as being among the reasons for the recent delays in salary payments. It’s human to err and, given the tangled bureaucracy involving government structures, not least the education system, delayed salaries on very rare occasions are perhaps inevitable.

It seems to us, though, that in Jamaica such things happen too often. Further, we think that under no circumstances should such delays extend beyond a month. Those responsible need to take stock.