Some teachers are so dedicated to the profession that they would be willing to work year round.

President of the Bermuda Union of Teachers Michael Charles made this statement this week as he acknowledged the contributions of hundreds of teachers on World Teachers Day.

Having taken out a full-page advertisement in The Royal Gazette earlier this week to honour many in the education field, Mr. Charles said: "This was our way of recognising teachers who are on the frontline.'' However, he noted that in other countries, such as those in the Caribbean, teachers were given the day off and often held rallies to mark the day.

"This is why we thought it would be nice to take out an ad to acknowledge the teachers,'' Mr. Charles explained.

"Education International is the worldwide body for most of the world's trade unions and this is its way to recognise teachers for their contributions.'' Mr. Charles noted that while teachers in Bermuda faced challenges everyday, they were more fortunate than many of their counterparts around the world.

"In places like Nigeria teachers are under threat,'' he said. "They disappear never to be seen again.

"And in some countries where you have dictatorships, you have teachers really under threat.'' Teachers were also very much underpaid in certain countries, he added.

"In some places teachers are so poor you wonder how they can continue teaching,'' Mr. Charles said.

"For example, in Bangladesh teachers make about $150 a year. The only way they are able to attend conferences is by being sponsored. Otherwise they would never be able to leave Bangladesh.'' He admitted that teachers were financially better off today in Bermuda than ten to 20 years ago.

"They do enjoy a reasonable standard of living,'' he said.

"But we should be recompensed as equals with other civil servants. We did not decide on the length of the school year. We do our job to the best of our ability. If they (education officials) decide to have school year round, that would be fine as long as teachers get their time off.

"I personally don't mind working during the summer.

"But if they want to have school all year round, they have to do something about the physical plant. For example, relief for hot classrooms during the summer.'' Asked if the level of interest in teaching had changed, Mr. Charles said: "There are a lot of young people who want to teach. In fact, I think there are a lot more teachers than jobs for them. There are some people taking jobs as teacher assistants just to get their feet in the door.

"There are some young people who want to give back to society. In fact, children of teachers are returning from university to teach. So evidently there are benefits.'' However, he said, the rewards could not be given a monetary value.

"The rewards are seeing kids move forward when they learn something,'' Mr.

Charles noted.

"I don't think many teachers do it for the money. They can often work somewhere else and make more money. But some people just love kids and that's what it is all about.

"Some of these primary school teachers treat the kids like their own. They hate to be away from them. They put in endless hours. They deserve to receive recognition.''