In this festive season of giving and receiving, I can’t think of a more deserving person than a teacher- the person entrusted with the task of molding the nation. After tirelessly working throughout the year, every teacher- irrespective of level- deserves a take-home Christmas package if it isn’t too much to ask.

Most cynics would have it that teachers are paid to do a job - much like lawyers, dentists, and any other person. They claim they wouldn’t buy their lawyer a present (for any reason) and certainly not their dentist - so they wonder why on earth a teacher should be given a Christmas package. Even worse is that some teachers, out of sheer pride or some disturbingly vain stoicism, are feigning content with "what they have”. Well the wise have it that a stomach which does not rumble will never receive food.

In all fairness, a teacher’s salary is the lowest in comparison to other professions with equal academic levels. You seriously wouldn’t compare a teacher’s earning to a doctor’s or a lawyer’s. Besides, there is nothing even remotely wrong with appreciating a work well done; much more when the Christmas packages are not from individuals like parents or students but rather from institutions.

There are many ways in which schools can send their teachers off to a merry Christmas. One most appreciated way is the gift card. A school can prepare gift cards of reasonable limits for teachers to pick their own preferences from specific supermarkets. Though limiting and for understandable reasons inadequate, it is better than nothing.

Schools can also supply teachers with some necessities at the end of the year. I once worked in a school where at the end of every year, the school would give its employees a given quantity of sugar, oil, rice, beans and beef or money equivalent. This definitely doesn’t match anything Santa would bring home for Christmas but like I said, better than nothing.

Alternatively, schools can give an enveloped package of cash to teachers at the end of the year. It can go as low as it is affordable- something extra in the salary. It is something done ones a year and for a good course; so, why not? Don’t be too stingy- it is a time of giving and receiving.

If all these fail, boarding schools can distribute surplus food items to teachers at the close of the year. They seriously can’t be contemplating storing maize flour for three months; if anything, what good is a sack of weevil infested beans? Whatever the cost, teachers should not be sent home to a lean Christmas.

In short, a good teacher is simply priceless compared to what you stand to lose with a dispirited teacher. Even motor parts need constant oiling, much more for the teacher. To build a strong and committed work force, institutions should use the festive season to motivate their employees. As Achebe clearly states, "A man who does not lick his lips cannot blame the harmattan for drying them.”

The writer is a lecturer at The Adventist University of Central Africa.