Poor Teacher

One day, when I came home from work, my wife told me that something that she thinks is very funny that had happened in my eldest daughters school. My daughter (Vannesa) is already grade 5 by the way. So this is how the story goes.

Teacher: Sino sa inyo class ang gustong maging teacher? Taas ang kamay.

(Almost all of the children raised their hands except for my daughter, and her teacher noticed this immediately.)

Teacher: Oh, Vannesa.... bakit hindi ka nagtaas ng kamay? Ayaw mo ba maging teacher?

Vannesa: Ayoko po.

Teacher: Bakit?

Vannesa: Mababa po kasi ang sahod.

Teacher: Ouch. :-(

I was laughing when I heard this. And partially I am part to blame on how did my daughter got that idea. Narinig nya siguro kami ng Mommy nya na naguusap kung paano ako naawa at kung gaano kahirap ang pagiging teacher dito sa atin dahil mababa ang sahod nila. I was laughing for a few minutes but after that, reality sets in. Nakaka awa talaga ang pagiging teacher. Required silang magbantay at mag asikaso tuwing election. At maniniwala po ba kayo kung sasabihin ko na P4,000 lang kada bwan ang sahod ng mga teacher duon sa school ng anak ko? At balitga ko ay madalas pa daw ma-delay. Hindi na talaga ako nagtataka kung yung ibang teacher ay nagtitinda ng kung ano ano sa mga estudyante nila. :-(

I have once interview a few applicants in our company in ortigas, and sad to say that most of them are not qualified for the position. When I asked them with a few techinical questions, they could not answer it. "Hindi po iyan naituro sa amin, puro theory lang po kasi kami sa school namin sir." yan ang madalas kong marinig sa karamihan sa kanila. From there, I had really wish for a better educational system in our country. But how can that be with a very very low salary of the teachers?

I could only hope that the current political leaders would look deep into this.