Mahmud Batubara: A teacher's tale<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan<\/p>\n
Mahmud Batubara has worked for 30 years without being paid a
\ndime. However, the 52-year-old teacher has no intention of
\ncalling it quits.<\/p>\n
\"My living expenses are taken care of by the school's
\nfoundation. If I need rice, I'll be given enough rice. It's hard,
\nbut it's my life,\" Mahmud told The Jakarta Post on Monday at the
\nprivate school he works at, which is run by the Al Wasliyah
\nEducation Foundation in Medan.<\/p>\n
That day, he walked in the heat of the midday sun, relying on
\nhis walking stick, to his house, some 20 meters away from the
\nschool. While most people could make the trip in half the time,
\nit took Mahmud half an hour, since he was born with small feet.<\/p>\n
Mahmud, who studied at Al Wasliyah University -- albeit for
\ntwo semesters -- does not like to dwell on his disability. He
\nsimply feels lucky to be a teacher of the school, which has 384
\nstudents, from elementary to senior high school levels.<\/p>\n
Mahmud had been forced to drop out of school as both his
\nparents passed away and he could not finance his education.<\/p>\n
After staying with a relative for three years, Mahmud and his
\nfive siblings moved to an orphanage run by a foundation under the
\nMuslim organization, Al Wasliyah. He started teaching junior high
\nschool students there in 1975.<\/p>\n
As a teacher with no salary, the father of four had to wrack
\nhis brains when it came to sorting out his own children's
\neducation.<\/p>\n
Things picked up when he received in 1990 a hand out of Rp 1
\nmillion (US$100) from an agency in North Sumatra called Bazis,
\nwhich manages religious alms. With the money, he bought a
\nsecondhand motorcycle and transformed it into a three-wheel
\nmotorcycle taxi to earn money.<\/p>\n
\"I didn't want my children to be dropouts just because we had
\nno money. They had to finish school -- even if it was just senior
\nhigh,\" Mahmud said.<\/p>\n
Now three of his four children have graduated from senior high
\nschool, while the youngest is still studying at a junior high
\nschool.<\/p>\n
Asked whether he wanted to try his luck as a teacher at a
\nstate-run school, Mahmud said he would like that, but his
\ndisability was an obstacle.<\/p>\n
\"It's hard enough for the healthy ones to pass (the test to
\nqualify as a state school teacher), how can I pass, with my
\ndisability and no money,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Mahmud said National Education Day on May 2 was a good time
\nto ask why the national education system had failed to give the
\npeople dignity through knowledge.<\/p>\n
\"We often hear that many embezzlers in this country are
\neducated people. Although not every educated people is an
\nembezzler, it should make us think -- why would educated people
\ndo such a thing?\" Mahmud said, voicing his hope that the
\ngovernment would pay attention to teachers' welfare.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mahmud-batubara-a-teachers-tale-1447893297",
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