Where principals earn N700, 000 per month

But a few years later, I became a teacher.  After secondary school, I wrote my first book, but the dream of making millions from the book didn’t pan out. So I got a job to teach (for a few months) in one of the primary schools I attended – I attended two simultaneously.  To rub […]

But a few years later, I became a teacher.  After secondary school, I wrote my first book, but the dream of making millions from the book didn’t pan out. So I got a job to teach (for a few months) in one of the primary schools I attended – I attended two simultaneously.  To rub it in my face, my dad called me and reminded me that the teaching I was running away from had caught up with me.  However, by this time I was already enjoying my new calling – although sometimes, I finished my salary in one day.   And since then, I’ve enjoyed teaching.   The joy of standing in front of a class to teach human beings something that they didn’t know a few minutes before is too previous for me to pass up.
 Over the years I’ve always asked myself why I didn’t want to be a teacher.   Was it because people were warning me about the limited opportunities which awaited me after graduation?  Was it because of the undignified environment of the school?  Was it because, at that time, our society no longer respected teachers?  Many factors must have contributed to that decision; thus, when I came to Malaysia, I wanted to see how the society regarded teachers – through one uninhibited and honest source, the children.  We had many experienced teachers in some of my classes doing master’s and Ph.D.  So I asked them what their children thought about teaching.  At first, they didn’t understand, so I said, “if you ask your children what they want to be in the future, what are the top five (or three I can’t remember the exact figure I gave) they would mention?”  Teaching was one of the top three they mentioned.  It was surprising because in Nigeria, I knew of only two children who said they wanted to be teachers and one of them actually said “head teacher”. 
Then I spoke with the trainee teachers (those who were doing their bachelor degree in TESOL, mathematics, etc.) in the faculty of education.  At that time, I was a mentor to some of them, thus it was easy for me to gauge their enthusiasm and what they felt about their prospects in teaching.  One said she loved teaching and it’s the natural career choice for her because her mother was a principal and her father was also a teacher teaching in the same school with her mother.
Still I didn’t fully grasp the status of teachers in their society until I read a letter to the editor in one of the newspapers.  The writer advised teachers (whom he called the elite) not to look down  on or talk down to people (parents of their students) who may not enjoy the same social status as the teachers.  Wow!  In my society, teachers don’t look down on anybody.  They can’t, because they are the ones that are down.  And because of that, it’s very difficult to find a teacher who’s not actively looking for another job (immigration service, customs – anything but teaching).
So if Malaysian teachers are so proud of their job, how much exactly do they earn?  The average salary of a teacher in the civil service is RM2750 (about N150, 000).  A beginning teacher earns RM2500 (N132, 000) including allowances.  The payment is by far better for those teaching in rural areas – this group earns hardship allowance among others.  The student I mentioned earlier facebooked me that she’s moving to a rural area.  A secondary school principal not far from where I live receives RM14, 000 (N700, 000) – yes, our university is located in a rural area.
This pay scale – together with other reasonable policies by the government – has made teaching attractive to the citizens.  The chairman of the teachers union, Jemale Paiman, told the The Star newspaper last year that teaching is fast becoming the career of choice among fresh graduates.
“With the new time-based promotion,” he told the newspaper, “teachers can enjoy faster career advancement if they perform well.”
However, they only accept top performers.  The Star reported that “only the top 30% of graduates will be recruited as teachers beginning 2013 in an effort to enhance the quality of the profession.  This is in line with the fourth shift in the new Malaysia Education Blueprint that emphasises on transforming teaching into a prestigious and elite profession.”
 That’s why the literacy rate of Malaysia is incredibly high at 93.12% and the unemployment rate is 3.7%.  A country is said to have achieved full employment status if the unemployment rate is less than 4%.
Further, 99.59% of students progress from primary to secondary school. 
A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Farooq Kperogi made a passionate plea for the return of teachers colleges.  The government should listen to him and while it is at it, the government should also consider increasing teachers’ salaries to make teaching a “prestigious and elite profession”.