Hail the generals!

For Keisha Hayle, the principal of Padmore Primary School in Red Hills, St Andrew, the ideal gift for the educators as they celebrate Teachers' Day today would be to have dancehall artistes Valiant and Beenie Man cheering on their efforts and performing live.

Speaking with THE STAR yesterday, Hayle said Teachers' Day is often underrated, and believes the drive and promotion by dancehall artistes could spread awareness about the importance of teachers' roles in society.

"We want to bring some awareness to Teachers' Day and ramp it up. The day is just too docile and persons are not aware of it, so I am asking dancehall artistes to promote it and ramp it up. We have a couple of artistes doing that. The day is very underrated and right now we are on the road promoting Teachers' Day," she said.

"We want the ones who have the clean music to promote the day. Put it this way, when the politicians want their names to be out there, they turn to the dancehall artistes. So I decide to do the same with some clean music, so we have had promos from Pree Dem, IRuga Style and others who are repping for Teachers' Day. I taught Quada so I had sent him a message also," Hayle added.

Teachers' Day may include celebrations to honour educators for their special contributions. Hayle said Beenie Man has been a force in dancehall for decades and Valiant remains one of the most talked-about entertainers within the genre currently. Last year, he received harsh criticism by persons who believed his hit single Dunce Cheque was glorifying being dunce. Hayle stated that a promo from Valiant about the importance of educators could have a positive impact on teachers as well as students.

"Teachers are the cornerstones and vanguards of education. They are the ones who people put their precious commodities, their children, in their care to brighten their path. They need to be highlighted in a special way on that one day of the year, and we want the parents to just show teachers some love and send them a gift," Hayle said.