Garth Rattray | The teachers’ flight plight

I recall my mother relating her early days as an educator. She started out teaching at a primary school. She spoke of the day when income tax was deducted from their pay for the first time. The bewildered and teary-eyed teachers ran to the headmaster’s office to complain about the wicked act that diminished their already-meagre income. To their dismay, the headmaster was also teary-eyed and could offer no help to their plight.

Teachers are never paid enough. Teaching does not begin and end with the school day. Aside from keeping up with their subjects, they must do research, prepare lesson plans and mark papers… something that is essential but is the bane of the teacher’s existence. Their salaries never cover those activities.

The working conditions of teachers are sometimes hellish. The public is only made aware of a minuscule number of the horrendous events that take place regularly in several schools. Some students are aggressive, rude, and insulting towards teachers. Some openly use cannabis and/or cigarettes. Some abuse other students, engage in physical confrontation with students and teachers, and some bring deadly weapons to school. Some intimidate everyone because they have gang affiliations.

HAZARD PAY

Things can be so dangerous that many teachers are eligible for hazard pay. I know several teachers who have had to part fights or ‘tek weh demself’ for their own safety. Some students are consummate idlers, while others only show up in classes because there is nowhere else for them to stay at that time of day. Several are only interested in sexual matters and bide their time in order to link up with similarly highly sexed individuals.

Teachers are often frustrated when working under depressing conditions. It breaks their hearts to see many bright and willing children waste away because they cannot afford the proper educational material. Some schools lack the financial wherewithal to provide the optimal environment for the learning experience. Despite the various government-funded safety nets, some students are too poor to afford the clothing and meals needed for their educational development. Of course, these problems are manifest in several schools located within poor communities.

In addition to the challenges with some students, there are instances where parents go to schools to confront and even physically assault teachers. These things were unheard of in the ‘good old days’; however, nowadays such happenings are not all that uncommon. Our society emphasises quick financial success and rapid social ascension. Consequently, for some, the discipline, time and effort spent in acquiring a solid education pale in comparison to the get-rich-quick lure of criminal activities, digital thievery and scamming.

Recently, I saw a high-school principal who was visibly crestfallen. She was retiring soon and was going to her school for the final few weeks of her career. She paused before exiting my office and lingered as she lamented the exodus of teachers. She was worried about the many resignations that she was going to receive that day. The number of teachers leaving to go abroad was heretofore unheard of. Her bewilderment was palpable.

ESSENTIAL FOR SURVIVAL

Education is essential for the survival of any society, yet teachers are not remunerated enough for them to live comfortably and have financial security going into old age. Like many Jamaicans, teachers are having a ridiculously difficult time living from day to day. In a country like ours where exorbitant prices annihilate paltry earnings, more than a few teachers need the assistance of spouses and/or family members to meet their financial responsibilities and/or for long-term financial goals.

Most products are priced based on their United States dollar value. Obviously, that causes a huge problem, because we earn in Jamaican dollars. The income-to-spending gap is about one to 152. It therefore takes a whole lot more of our marasmic dollars to buy everything. We are therefore like frustrated canines chasing their ever-elusive tails.

It was suggested that teachers invest to earn passive income (to make some of their money work for them, instead of working for every penny of their money). But that is exceedingly difficult in our society. Keeping up with basic bills takes most of, or possibly all, our earnings. There is precious little, or nothing left to invest. Banks lend our deposits for profit. Given the plethora of fees, taxes, inflation, low interest rates on savings, and wide ‘spread’, the spending power of our money depreciates while in savings accounts. When we save in regular accounts, it is solely for security and accessibility.

If we invest in ‘paper’, sometimes the returns are nothing to write home about, and are usually below the inflation rate (after taxes). Which means that, if by some great fortune a teacher has some money to invest, big returns require huge deposits, and are usually high-risk. Safer, low-risk investments are very long-term…they require many years to reap modest returns.

Teachers would rather remain in Jamaica and contribute to the education and development of our nation. But their sacrifice is far greater than people realise. If a chance to earn enough income to buy a home, a car, pay bills, take care of personal needs, raise and educate their children, assist ageing parents, receive good medical care, and retire comfortably arises...who can blame them for grasping it? Jamaica can’t compete with the earnings in developed countries, but innovative ideas will reduce the flight of our educators.

Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.