A few days ago I was chatting with one of my colleagues — an experienced educator — and among the things we talked about was the current state of the education system and in particular the importance of teacher attitudes in making or breaking students, especially those "at risk" students.

Echoed in her sentiments was the notion that, while we have a number of teachers in the system many of whom are professionally trained and some of whom are currently undergoing professional training, in fact there aren't many heroes in the system.

Secondary school teachers across the board will agree that in the current school system there are quite a number of students who are literally in need of "saving''. The baggage which many students come into classrooms with is all too familiar; much of it is linked to psychological and sociological issues, but most arises out of varying degrees of academic deficiencies, what I call educational baggage — the inability to read and/or write, for example.

Today, no matter what forum they are at, teachers are asking, "how do I deal with this educational baggage?" How can I teach science or geography when my students cannot even read or write? Simple as it may appear on paper, this is a massive challenge for teachers; it is a big question which teachers all over this country want an answer to.

It is an issue that persons at every strata of the education system — from politicians, policy makers and technocrats, planners, school supervisors and administrators, teachers, parents and even students themselves — are quite familiar with, yet it is an issue that apparently continues to challenge the minds of all involved.

The harsh reality, and one that teachers know all too well, is that there is no easy answer, no quick fix, no crash course that will help them deal with this problem.

In this context it is obvious that the solution cannot come from outside but rather from within — within the education system itself. This is where the heroes come in! While we would like to adhere to the certification model upon which our education system has been built — and I'm not advocating that we toss it out — I would like to see a broadening of the focus in education to include more than certificates, diplomas and degrees.

Many of our teachers realise the need for such a broadening, but they are constrained by the parameters imposed by school administrations, examining bodies, school supervisors and even the Ministry of Education. They realise, too, that they are not assessed or graded by the number of students they save along the way, or by the number of students they take out of the "unable to read" domain and put into the "able to read" domain but instead they are appraised by how many students they can get to score A's in the external examinations.

Their mandate seems to be to get students to pass exams and in endeavouring to satisfy this mandate, students in their classes who cannot read/write — those that need saving — are inadvertently but literally left behind.

Getting students to learn to read and/or write is not seen as part of teachers' mandate at secondary school level. And who can disagree if teachers feel that way? Who praises a teacher if she heeds her conscience and sense of compassion and works with students to move them from being unable to read to being able to read, write and spell? Which award is given to teachers such as these?

At which graduation ceremony are they recognised? At which Ministry of Education function are they honoured? Indeed, those teachers whose students get the A's, it's their names are called at graduation ceremonies; they are recognised, congratulated and praised.

It is no surprise, therefore, that teachers opt to "teach'' science, history or geography to those students in their classroom who can read and write, often ignoring, in large part, students who cannot. And I say again, this is where we need heroes!

We need teachers who are strong and determined enough to step out of the status quo and truly stand up for our "at risk" students. What we need are teachers who are willing to let conscience, compassion and care guide their practice instead of continuing to let loud-mouth, ill-informed and out-of-touch, administrators, supervisors and other officials who claim to know about the education enterprise dictate their practice.

• Dr Rawatee Maharaj-Sharma is a lecturer at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine