Recognising contribution of women teachers

THE EDITOR: The TT Association of Teacher Educators (TTATE) acknowledges the enormous contribution of women educators in TT to the development of our nation’s children and youth since the inception of mass schooling post-Emancipation.

At this point in our history, female teachers outnumber their male counterparts three to one. However, it is worth remembering that up until World War II teaching was a male-dominated profession and women were discriminated against solely on the basis of their gender.

The historian Carl Campbell (1991) notes that for several decades women were paid less than their male peers, even when they possessed equal or more qualifications. Further, women were forced to leave the teaching service on marriage, and such expulsion was accompanied by a loss of pension and gratuity rights.

It was only in 1946, when women in TT attained universal suffrage (the right to vote), that female teachers who belonged to the political parties at the time agitated on their behalf for equity of pay and benefits and the removal of discrimination on the basis of marriage.

In the 1970s, when men left for more lucrative jobs during the oil boom, women began to dominate the profession. During this period women represented only 50 per cent of the elementary school workforce. However, whereas in that era women were invited into the profession because of their nurturing capabilities, 21st century teaching requires a deep knowledge of human development, learning and pedagogy.

The advent of online teaching during the covid19 pandemic saw women taking on the double burden of caring for family and teaching simultaneously, often supervising their own children while they taught. Their multiple workloads during this period have remained largely invisible.

The work of women teachers is at the core of human development as their vocation spans education from the pre-school to university. TTATE takes the opportunity of International Women's Day (IWD) to pay tribute to the thousands of women teachers and teacher educators who commit themselves to the profession of teaching, even in the face of enormous challenges.

Women teachers, now in the majority both in the classroom and in leadership roles, have the enormous task of transforming our education system into a modern, inclusive entity that can serve all children across our cultural diversity. In celebrating IWD, then, we applaud all women teachers who continue to demonstrate remarkable commitment, resilience and professionalism toward the development of 21st century quality education for all citizens.

DR ROWENA KALLOO

on behalf of the TTATE