It is high time to improve the teacher's welfare

It is high time to improve the teacher's welfare
JP/6/SETIO

It is time to improve the welfare of teachers

Setiono
Jakarta

Lots of people would agree that unlike lawyers or doctors,
teachers receive very little respect from the community. The
status of teachers is far below that of lawyers or doctors.

As a group, teachers have painstakingly struggled in this race
for status, but they have been among the least successful in
legitimizing their claims for professional status.

Teachers in our culture have traditionally been undervalued,
and their position has not changed for the better in the last few
decades.

Despite the reform era, this sentiment has remain unchanged
and has indeed become a banal axiom.

The government has not taken any meaningful actions to improve
the quality of education here. This is reflected in the amount of
the state budget allocated for national education, which is not
enough to provide a better education for citizens.

It is no exaggeration to postulate that ignorance about the
welfare of teachers is one of the determinant factors
contributing to the poor quality of national education. Consider,
for example, the fate of contract teachers in Lampung. Many of
them have not received their salaries from the provincial
education office.

In The Jakarta Post on May 25, it was reported that an
elementary school teacher only earns between Rp 350,000 (US$37)
and Rp 500,000 per month. A junior high school teacher working at
a state school earns between Rp 1 million and Rp 1.5 million per
month, and a high school teacher can make up to Rp 2 million per
month. Compare this to the salaries of doctors, who can earn Rp 5
million or more per month.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that ignorance about the
value of education goes far beyond the issue of teachers'
salaries. Presumably, if this issue was settled in the future,
the inherent cultural problems regarding the status and prestige
of teachers in society would remain.

To value teachers and at the same time improve their welfare,
the government must allocate more of the state budget for
education and increase teachers' salaries.

More importantly, the government, together with all elements
of society, can create a new system for the teaching profession;
for example by giving teachers more autonomy, providing better
and more conducive working conditions, and giving teachers more
opportunities to pursue career advancement. Only under such a
system can the government help promote the teaching profession in
the country.

The teaching profession possesses some unique skills that
cannot be found in other professions.

Teaching is a skill that requires intelligence on the part of
practitioners. Teaching also requires teachers to give her or his
knowledge away to students -- both knowledge of the subject being
studied and knowledge of how to learn that subject.

Unlike other professions, teaching requires its practitioners
not only to be liable for the students' intellectual development,
but also compels them to act as moral agents. Teaching is a moral
activity, meaning that teachers have specific responsibilities
for the proper and appropriate moral development of their
students.

What makes teaching quite unique from other professions is the
matter of reciprocity of effort. Teaching and learning are two
notions that are indispensable.

Another difference between teaching and other professions can
be seen in terms of social distance. Teaching well requires as
broad and deep an understanding of the learners as possible, a
concern that what is taught relates to the students' life
experiences, and a willingness to engage learners in the context
of their own intentions, interests and desires.

By understanding the uniqueness of teaching as a highly
skilled professional activity, it is hoped that the occupation of
teaching can earn a place among the honorable, noble and
respected professions.

The writer is a lecturer in the Department of English, School of
Education, Atma Jaya University, Jakarta.