Teachers and the case of ethics

Updated: 2011-09-13 08:27

(China Daily)

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The Ministry of Education has vowed to take measures to improve teachers' ethics by making it a necessary requirement for their performance evaluation, appointments, promotions and rewards. Though ethics has many manifestations, it should not stop the authorities from making professional ethics a primary requirement for teacher's qualification, says an article on xinhuanet.com. Excerpts:

The crisis of ethics is not confined to the education sector. It is evident in other fields too. Though extracurricular tutorial classes seem to benefit some teachers, it is detrimental to the education system as a whole, for it damages the image of the education system and degrades the sense of honor associated with the teaching profession.

The lack of ethics among teachers evident in many cases can be attributed to the prevailing social environment as well as the loss of professional ethics. If these problems are not solved, society would stop respecting teachers, which in more ways than one would affect the education sector.

Considering the importance of ethics among teachers and how some teachers are found wanting in ethics, the subject has become important for society. Teachers whose behaviors run counter to social customs or established norms should not be allowed to go unpunished. In other words, professional ethics should be given priority above everything else and teachers found lacking in it should be disqualified.

But we should be careful and discrete when taking such a decision, because there is always the fear of such rules being used as a tool by some people to retaliate against those they dislike. That's why it is important to give an opportunity to teachers who are "found wanting in terms of ethics" to present their side of their case to ensure fair play and justice, instead of summarily punishing them.