Problems facing teachers greater than low pay alone

By Mochtar Buchori

JAKARTA (JP): The teachers' demand for a salary increase is only one aspect of a greater problem. Their grievance does not come only from their meager salaries, but from the loss of their professional dignity and social standing.

Since the mid-1960s their standing within society has declined gradually, and it seems to have reached its lowest point this year.

The combination of low salaries and feelings of being neglected, coupled with the sense that society does not really appreciate their service and sacrifices, makes them bitter, frustrated and angry.

Unfortunately, the way they are expressing their dissatisfaction and demands for better treatment is so focused on the salary issue, the government has failed to sense the true nature of their frustration. Hence the tough and tedious negotiations, or "bargaining", that has been going on between the teachers and the government.

The teachers cannot accept the government's explanation that it is unable to fulfill their demand for more money. One group is convinced the government, particularly the legislature, is discriminating against them. Another group accuses the government of treating them poorly, while giving its favor to those teachers who do not really teach, but carry out administrative duties.

The negotiations have taken a rather hostile turn that, unless an agreement is reached concerning a salary for teachers, threatens our school system with collapse, a possibility which should not be underestimated.

The decision of the teachers in the West Kalimantan capital of Pontianak to return their functional allowances to the government -- suggesting the money be given to legislatures -- indicates that jealousy and anger have begun to enter into the negotiation process. This will only make the problem more complicated and difficult to solve.

What can be done?

I think it would be wise for both sides do their best to scale down their differences. This could be accomplished if they were willing to agree that the core issue at hand is restoring teachers' dignity and standing in society, not just giving them a raise.

At the same time, both parties must also recognize that teachers' standing in society is not determined solely by salary, but by other factors as well. For example, by their intellectual and pedagogical competence and by the ethical standards they adopt to regulate their professional conduct.

Teachers who are too poor to feed and clothe themselves properly will find it very difficult to command respect from their students, no matter how learned they might be.

Conversely, teachers who are considered "dumb" or "outdated" by the students and society will never be respected, even if they drive a BMW or Mercedes to school. And teachers who violate the norms of decency in their classes will also have difficulty earning the respect of students.

And without the respect and affection of students and society, dignity will be elusive for our teachers. In turn, without dignity it is impossible to restore teachers' standing in society.

If both parties can accept this framework, the remaining problem is primarily to decide on a salary that is considered reasonable and appropriate by both parties. This is in itself, without any other complications, a very delicate matter. With which other occupations should teaching be compared?

The most important feature of the teaching profession is that it helps our youth prepare for a life in the future that certainly will be different from life as we know it now.

To accomplish this job, teachers must have adequate knowledge of present trends that will influence the shape of the immediate future, an idealism concerning the quality of this future life, basic ideas of how our present way of living should be modified to meet the requirements of future life and a passion for guiding the young.

This puts the teaching occupation in a special category that is qualitatively different from any other occupation. How do we as a nation value this occupation, and how do we enumerate those who choose this occupation as their calling, their profession?

Certainly it is immoral to give those in the teaching profession a salary that is not even enough to meet their daily basic needs.

One way to answer this question is to imagine what would happen to our nation if our teachers did not possess the personal qualities needed to carry out properly the job of teaching as outlined above.

We do not have to stretch our imaginations too far to get the picture. The present condition of our nation, with its mediocre human resources, bureaucrats and politicians, is the result of a national education system that has faltered and sunk further into mediocrity.

Shall we maintain this sorry condition of our nation, or shall we stop it and begin making improvements?

The way we settle the issue of teachers' salaries will reflect our national resolution in this regard. It is clear to everyone that at this moment, the government cannot possibly give our teachers a salary they consider appropriate.

What can be done is that the government, after reaching an agreement concerning a "reasonable salary", can immediately formulate a plan, a five-year strategy, for instance, for gradually realizing this reasonable salary.

At the same time our teachers must make their own plan, outlining how they are going to improve their teaching competence and ethical standards over the same five years.

Done properly this will result in a gradual improvement in teachers' salaries, accompanied by gradual improvements in teachers' competence and their observance of ethical standards.

This agreement should constitute a kind of contract between our teachers and the government and private employers of teachers.

What about comparing the salaries of teachers with the salaries of our legislators?

This is a very sensitive issue for me personally, because I happen to be a member of the legislature who came from the teaching ranks.

As far as I am concerned there is nothing wrong with this comparison. What I cannot accept is teachers' argument that they are being treated unfairly by the government primarily because so many members of the legislature, at least in their eyes, are poorly educated, coarse, insensitive and greedy.

This is, in my opinion, an incorrect argument. The argument should be that in the opinion of teachers, the teaching profession is at least equally important to the country as the occupation of being a members of the legislature.

And on the basis of this argument they should then demand a salary that is comparable to what our legislators earn. This is, in my opinion, the valid argument. And let society decide whether it can accept this argument or reject it.

One small note about the "poor quality" of our legislators. Whose fault is this? The fault of our political parties, and more generally it indicates that at the moment our political system and our national political life are indeed in very poor shape.

Again we can ask ourselves, whose fault is it that we see such vulgar conduct by our politicians?

It is important here for our teachers to realize that the teaching profession is at least partly responsible for our present political condition. Not our teachers of today, but our teachers of the past 20 to 50 years.

If our teachers can understand this causal relationship between the quality of teaching in the past and present political conduct, then they must accept the moral responsibility that will accompany a salary increase.

The writer resides in Jakarta, where he is an observer of social and political affairs.