By Dr. J. Kerkula Foeday
My Weekly Poetic Reflection, Issue 21, Monday, August 3, 2026
A society reveals its deepest values not by the infrastructure and monuments it builds, but by the dignity it affords those who educate its children; train its doctors; prepare its engineers, its economists, its accountants, its lawyers, its scientists, and its politicians, as well as inspire every generation of leaders. When teachers are neglected, it is not only educators who suffer, but also the future of society itself is diminished.
What have teachers done wrong?
Tell me,
For I sincerely want to understand.
Are teachers guilty …
Because they choose to build minds instead of mansions?
Are teachers guilty …
Because they sow seeds
Whose harvest they may never live to enjoy?
I thought teachers prepared …
The doctors who heal our bodies.
I thought teachers prepared …
The engineers who build our roads and bridges.
I thought teachers prepared …
The lawyers who advocate for justice.
I thought teachers prepared …
The economists
who shape our prosperity.
I thought teachers prepared …
The accountants
who protect our resources.
I thought teachers prepared …
The scientists who expand human knowledge.
I thought teachers prepared …
The political scientists who study good governance.
I thought teachers prepared …
The politicians who promised a better tomorrow.
I thought teachers prepared …
The historians who studied the past and present.
I thought teachers prepared …
Every profession that keeps a nation alive and prosperous.
So tell me …
What have teachers done wrong?
Why are teachers whose hands shape the future
So often left to struggle?
Why are promises made with conviction
So easily forgotten once applause fades?
Why do classrooms still lack chairs,
Appropriate books,
Laboratories,
Technology,
Electricity,
And sometimes even hope?
Why must teachers continue
Performing miracles with empty hands?
Across Africa,
Countless teachers rise before dawn
To nurture dreams larger than
The classrooms they enter.
Many walk into lecture halls
And classrooms with unwavering commitment,
Only to return home with salaries
That scarcely sustain their own families.
Yet they return,
Day after day,
Because someone must keep hope alive.
When teachers speak,
They are sometimes called “impatient.”
When they organize,
They are called “selfish.”
When they demand fair wages, safe workplaces,
Or the tools they need to teach effectively,
They are accused of abandoning students.
Yet few pause to ask
Whether a teacher who lives without dignity
Can consistently teach with peace of mind.
No teacher celebrates
An interrupted semester.
No lecturer finds
Joy in an empty classroom.
No student rejoices
When learning is delayed.
When education stops,
Everyone loses.
The teacher.
The student.
The university.
The nation.
This should never become a contest
Between teachers and students.
Nor should it become a struggle
Between administrator and faculty.
For those entrusted with leadership
Often carry more than one responsibility:
To uphold institutional integrity,
To defend those who teach,
And to protect those who learn.
Education is a collective bargaining.
Teachers deserve fair conditions to teach.
Students deserve a stable environment to learn.
Universities deserve leaders who listen and act,
Governments that live up to their commitments,
And communities that value education
Before crisis forces attention.
Perhaps,
The real question is no longer:
“What have teachers done wrong?”
Perhaps,
We should ask:
What have we,
As families,
Communities,
Universities,
Governments,
And nations,
Done wrong
That those entrusted with preparing
Every generation,
Every profession,
And every future,
Must continually struggle to survive today?
For no nation can consistently
Neglect its teachers and still expect
Its classrooms to flourish,
Its universities to excel,
Its professionals to lead with excellence,
Or its future to remain secure.
Until we answer that question honestly,
The silence within our classrooms
May become louder than the lessons
Ever taught within them.
*This poem is the updated version of the poem I posted on my Facebook page in December 2025. It is a reflection on the challenging conditions African teachers confront as they struggle to impart knowledge and prepare future generations and leaders.
Author the Author
Dr. J. Kerkula Foeday is the Chairman of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology at the Amos C. Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities. He is also the president of the National Association of Social Workers of Liberia (NASOWL). Dr. Foeday is passionate about social justice, good governance, and community development issues. His writings reflect his core beliefs and values.