Teacher ‘lang’

For the last three years of my professional life as a secondary-level teacher in a sectarian coeducational institution, I had not given particular attention to how much I earn every payday. With all the monetary perks provided by the institution where I had worked laboriously, I honestly felt secure and thus often dismissed the thought that I should be particularly concerned about my monthly pay.

I may very well say that educators like myself are often (if not always) people who are more geared toward what they can give instead of what they can get out of their labor. I may also say that, for the most part, countless educators can only dream of being given better appraisal instead of being dubbed “teacher  lang  (a mere teacher)”—simply because of the Third World notion that teachers are among those who are the lowest paid.

I tend to think more of those educators who earn little but have the capacity of pouring out more than they can. You cannot find them in the cities; you will find most of them in the far-flung regions. Most of them probably tell themselves at the end of each exhausting day, “It’s not the money that makes me happy. It’s the fact that I touch lives and mold lives.” This somewhat produces a nonchalant expression on my face while I try to comprehend the fact that not all educators have the same mantra. I would rather speak for those who bend more than just their necks in their efforts to help mold learners. I would rather speak for educators whose sense of integrity cannot be associated with the prestige offered by a well-established, high-paying, and “famous” educational institution.

Any teacher would be particularly concerned about the challenge of making every class hour meaningful and relevant to all learners. But at the same time, teachers with meager pay would also be greatly concerned about the challenge of making ends meet. Realistically, it is inevitable for teachers with meager pay to venture into various types of small business just to find extra income for other necessities, or to enjoy simple perks and leisure. They would generally consider relying on their creativity or connections. Tutorials or buying and selling on the side are thus good options.

Then comes the inevitable need to get some form of financial assistance from the government or one’s employer. Salary loans and such come into play, as a teacher would have to properly send one’s own child to school. Thankfully, there is assistance coming from educational institutions, such as discounts or scholarships. But then the challenge continues as a teacher strives to earn more extra income to make his/her own child feel secure. Otherwise, there is the possibility that the child will end up feeling insecure among peers who have the latest gizmos or are prepped with all the fundamentals for every school day.

It would of course be greatly beneficial for a teacher to have his/her child enrolled in the same institution where he/she teaches. Unless he/she does not believe such an institution to be the best place where the child can learn, there comes the need to get a scholarship. It’s fortunate that there are private institutions or nongovernment organizations that offer educational-financial assistance.

So where are the teachers in the scheme of things, particularly in a Third World country like ours? They are still in the field, pushing and striving to make a difference in spite of all the inadequacies of society, or in spite of their own financial inadequacies. But then every teacher should be able to tell oneself that he/she lives a financially secure life—if only a better appraisal would be made of these individuals who do backbreaking labor to ensure the development of the nation’s best resource, and if only our government can see its way clear to giving teachers, particularly those in the public schools, better professional and financial support.

But can we rely on the government’s propaganda? Should we always rely on the government to make things better?

How much should we expect from the government and its system then? Or would it be better to stop relying on it, or stop expecting anything at all? Though hard to admit, it has become a fact that even teachers who receive “competent” remuneration would rather leave the country and try their luck overseas. Inconceivable as it may seem to some, teachers who leave the country have much more earning potential. They also get to travel, with some kind of financial assistance from their employer. But then are they directly involved in nurturing our own nation’s best resource? Meanwhile, lowly-paid teachers in the country know nothing about how they can develop an internationally competitive teaching career. So which is better: Stay here or leave?

We have countless educators who have PhDs, EdDs, or other extensions to their names that give them the “needed credibility” in professing their vocation. They have all sorts of credentials and merits earned through careful study, tedious preparations, paperwork, and talk. But, realistically speaking, why do we also have educators who are primarily concerned only with their professional label? Why are there educators who wish to earn higher degrees solely for the purpose of securing a higher position? Needless to say, this behavior conveys the idea that our educational system is built entirely on a system of merit and credit, and not on vision and performance. As some teachers may contend, the higher a teacher goes up in the academic ladder, the more he/she tends to lose sight of his/her mantra as an educator. So where do we find those who will strongly oppose this?

Either they leave the country or they wish not to get too involved in the big scheme of things or in the system itself.

But the challenge of helping form morally upright and informed citizens continues. No teacher true to his/her oath can rest a finger until this challenge is duly addressed. However, there’s the biggest challenge—the outpouring of one’s own heart and effort despite one’s own inadequacies. As teachers or educators then, we have so much to do in pursuing not only personal and professional growth but financial growth as well. What wrong can there be? Just as we deem teaching to be noble, we should also deem it necessary for our society’s teachers to be financially capable and secure. This Third World nation will have to stamp out the mentality that a teacher is inferior—“teacher  lang”—which, in itself, is another tremendous challenge.

Jeremiah Ma. S. Santos, 26, is a secondary-level English teacher from Colegio San Agustin Makati and incoming secondary-level literature teacher at Singapore School Manila.