a pay rise for teacher?

Friday May 11 2007 saw our PM asserting a statement that all 1.2 millions public servants in the country will be promised a pay rise.

10 days later which was yesterday the May 21, we see our PM once again announced that government servants will get a pay rise between 7.5% and 35% beginning 1 July. In addition, the cost of living allowance as reported in the star will also be increased by 100%. One may wonder why our government may or may not have unexpectedly made such a decision.

The first reason is definitely the increasing living standard and cost of living in the country, particularly in the urban cities. Comparing our country with other developing countries in the world, Malaysia has relatively lower living standard. In a sense, this also indicates that pay or salary received is relatively low as compared to other developing countries, for example Australia. In retrospect, i was paid $15 per hour to pick lychee or sweet potatoes. This however is impossible for anyone in Malaysia to receive such amount considering the fact that they too are taking up the same job. Hence, the decision to increase pay rise for teacher is definitely a wise thing to do in the society today. The current pay today of a beginning teacher is around $1500 is simply not sufficient enough to raise a family. Yet, they should have been smarter EARLIER!

Also, with the increasing price of petrol every year, our government is compelled to increase the servants' pay. It is not surprising to find our friends who are government servants to take on additional job to supplement their low salary. Working with only the government does not allow them to endure the high living cost and the high petrol price. there is a saying in the Chinese culture which says that working with government is like a steel-rice-bowl. It will always be the same regardless of the years pass by. Speaking of additional jobs, most of these jobs offer far more rewards and money to us teacher. If you have read on some comments made by teachers in schools or of other government sectors, most of them opt for 'outside' jobs for some extra money to make up for their family expenses. One friend of mine used to tell me something which shocked me. He said his chemistry teacher used to come to class, asking them to open to Page 45, and start reading. That was it. The teacher however was a totally different person during tuition. It was during the tuition that he really taught him and his friends the 'real' teaching. What made the difference between the teaching in school and in tuition is the matter of money received out of tuition.

Another reason for pay rise according to our PM in Utusan Malaysia is to attract and maintain efficient, qualified, prestigious and motivated servants. This is of utmost importance because we need to appreciate the efforts put in by these servants, and that one way to do so is through pay rise. It should be understood that money should be awarded in relation to the efforts and contribution and amount of work produced. Even employees in private sectors expect their bosses to do likewise. However, this is not always the case in many government sectors in many global countries. Teacher, for example, suffers one of the lowest paid jobs in the world. Society should understand and know how much dedication and commitment a teacher put in to teach not only a class of 40 students in class, but 4 to 5 classes of 40 students. Not surprisingly my friend's chemistry teacher chose tuition as a channel to provide 'real' teaching, which as a result, bring more benefits to him.

One other reason as mentioned by our PM is of the relative increment of income tax in the country. I basically have no knowledge in this field of discipine, hence dare not comment on it. But one thing i do know is that the taxation money government holds must indeed be used efficiently so as not to waste money on unnecessary things. Lately, we heard cases of leaking roof at Parliament House which cost approximately 1.5-2billions of maintainence.

The last reason is not known by many yet. Yet, mamak talk as well as kopitiam talk have started spurring it. And, i was one of those people who participated in this conversation. It's the general election in Penang in this coming July. Not sure if it's for real or not, UMNO in New Strait Times 7/5 voiced of reclaiming the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat from Parti Keadilan Rakyat. Also, they are planning to recapture the Permatang Pasir state seat from PAS. What we can see from here is that our government is pouring in thousands and millions of money to better our society as well as the system in the country, be it education system or other pivotal sectors. Also, the decision for pay rise mark the effort made by our government to appreciate and acknowledge the commitment and amount of work we teachers have put in in developing our students to be holistic and useful citizens in the future.

After all, what will become of students if it's not because of teachers who shape them?