Mahmud Batubara: A teacher's tale

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Mahmud Batubara has worked for 30 years without being paid a dime. However, the 52-year-old teacher has no intention of calling it quits.

"My living expenses are taken care of by the school's foundation. If I need rice, I'll be given enough rice. It's hard, but it's my life," Mahmud told The Jakarta Post on Monday at the private school he works at, which is run by the Al Wasliyah Education Foundation in Medan.

That day, he walked in the heat of the midday sun, relying on his walking stick, to his house, some 20 meters away from the school. While most people could make the trip in half the time, it took Mahmud half an hour, since he was born with small feet.

Mahmud, who studied at Al Wasliyah University -- albeit for two semesters -- does not like to dwell on his disability. He simply feels lucky to be a teacher of the school, which has 384 students, from elementary to senior high school levels.

Mahmud had been forced to drop out of school as both his parents passed away and he could not finance his education.

After staying with a relative for three years, Mahmud and his five siblings moved to an orphanage run by a foundation under the Muslim organization, Al Wasliyah. He started teaching junior high school students there in 1975.

As a teacher with no salary, the father of four had to wrack his brains when it came to sorting out his own children's education.

Things picked up when he received in 1990 a hand out of Rp 1 million (US$100) from an agency in North Sumatra called Bazis, which manages religious alms. With the money, he bought a secondhand motorcycle and transformed it into a three-wheel motorcycle taxi to earn money.

"I didn't want my children to be dropouts just because we had no money. They had to finish school -- even if it was just senior high," Mahmud said.

Now three of his four children have graduated from senior high school, while the youngest is still studying at a junior high school.

Asked whether he wanted to try his luck as a teacher at a state-run school, Mahmud said he would like that, but his disability was an obstacle.

"It's hard enough for the healthy ones to pass (the test to qualify as a state school teacher), how can I pass, with my disability and no money," he said.

Mahmud said National Education Day on May 2 was a good time to ask why the national education system had failed to give the people dignity through knowledge.

"We often hear that many embezzlers in this country are educated people. Although not every educated people is an embezzler, it should make us think -- why would educated people do such a thing?" Mahmud said, voicing his hope that the government would pay attention to teachers' welfare.