Friday, April 18, 2008

Things teachers have to do



C came back with a form from the teacher, requesting for support for the Fruttie Day Programme. The teacher-in-charge of Fruittie Day Programme quoted a survey result reported by the Straits Times (Nov 24, 2007) that while at least 70% of students know about the daily recommended intake of fruit and vegetables, only 24% follow that guideline. The school will declare a day in a week as Fruttie Day and each child will be given a fruit to consume.

This initiative by the school is certainly commendable. However, the amount of extra work (and paperwork) generated for the teacher can be daunting. There will be indemnity forms to be filled up and money to be collected. On the weekly Fruitte Day, teachers will all be mobilised to distribute the fruits to students who have signed up to be in the programme. The teacher-in-charge will probably have to evaluate the programme is successful and write a report.

I'm thinking that we should leave the teachers out of this extra administrative duty and let them concentrate on thier classroom teaching and student development. Parents should be responsible for the child's physical well being. Once the school takes over this responsibility (which looks good on paper), it may give parents an illusion that all is well with the child's fruit intake. A weekly apple is not going to keep the doctor away!

Incidentally, we did not sign up for the programme. Oh yes, we had to explain why ... "We love fruits and we have lots of it each day!"