06/08/2026
Dear Department of Education... Help!
A teacher's day begins long before the first school bell rings and only ends long after the last learner has gone home.
Our mornings often start before sunrise, responding to messages about lost clothing, absentees, homework, and assignments. We open school gates in the cold, supervise learners, teach lessons, comfort children who are hurting, apply plasters, search for missing shoes, listen to broken hearts, and somehow still make sure every child receives the best education we can possibly give.
What many people never see are the countless hours spent on administration, assessments, planning, reports, meetings, and online training. Time that should be spent teaching is increasingly consumed by paperwork.
Schools are expected to produce outstanding academic results, yet many struggle to fund the most basic necessities. Fundraising is no longer just for excursions or special projects—it often pays for toilet paper, stationery, electricity, and the everyday running of our schools.
And then there is sport and culture. Teachers set up gazebos, prepare fields, coach teams, organise events, supervise competitions, and still go home with piles of marking waiting for them. Many teachers put their own families second so that someone else's children can have every opportunity to grow and succeed.
To parents, we have one humble request: Please speak to us with kindness. Every decision we make is with your child's best interests at heart. Not every child develops at the same pace. Not every star shines at the same age. Sometimes we see potential that is still waiting to bloom.
When we finally arrive home, there are meals to prepare, our own children's homework to help with, family responsibilities to manage, and tomorrow's lessons to plan.
Yet every morning, we get up and do it all again.
Not because it is easy.
Not because the hours are short.
Not because the salary reflects the sacrifice.
We do it because we believe in the difference we make.
But the truth is this: Teachers are tired. Emotionally exhausted. Physically drained. Burdened by an ever-growing mountain of administrative work.
Department of Education, there is a problem. The very people entrusted with shaping the future of our children are being overwhelmed by everything except teaching.
Give us more time to be teachers.
Because at the end of the day, it is our children who pay the price when the people responsible for building their future are running on empty.
Please speak to us with respect. Work with us, not against us.
We are teachers.
But above all...
We are human too. ❤️🍎📚✏️
