It’s Tough Being a Teacher

Teaching is one of the tough professions, as you really do not have any easy phase in your career given that children and their parents are more demanding nowadays.

I am not a teacher but my eldest brother and his wife were teachers. There were some horror stories of how hopeless cases were redeemed from becoming a scourge to society.
My brother passed away before he retired and what touched me at his funeral were the scores of school children who attended the funeral service. There was an honour guard of an uniformed group (I don’t remember which) but what touched me was one youth who was crying quietly at attention near the casket. Then there were adults who came to the house and shared how he had touched their lives.

Those teachers who took no-pay leave to pursue their degrees should be encouraged to rededicate their lives to the teaching profession. However it seems that the Education Ministry did not fully consider all factors when they simply transferred all the senior teachers to states far away from their families.

I remember during the 70s, I visited a friend who was a teacher posted to Batang Kali and her place was quite rural in those days. Are new teachers required to serve anywhere for at least three years before they can request a transfer?
In the past many teachers could apply for transfers if their civil servant husbands were transferred and that is a good practice to foster healthy families. But why should civil servants be given preference over others?

It appears that the ministry did not plan carefully on how to deal with senior teachers who obtained degrees or this problem should not have occurred.
Are they being transferred out at a higher scale commensurate with the new qualifications?
Perhaps the NUTP should work more closely with the ministry so that a system of equitable transfers can be properly implemented and monitored.

For those teachers who opt to take no pay leave in order to keep their families intact, I suggest teaching at private institutions or even tuition classes. You may be surprised that prospects may be better elsewhere.


photo: http://www.cfbt.com.my/images/teacher.jpg