Titser Lang?

I want to share with you guys about an article that I have read in a magazine called Quality Teacher. It is such a good article that I have to re-type it and share it here. It's entitled "Titser Lang?" by Maycee G. Mercado

Just so you know, I am also a teacher that's why I posted an article like this.
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Titser Lang?
by Maycee G. Mercado

"Paano kung bigyan ka ng magandang offer ng isang kumpanya, pipiliin mo pa rin bang maging isang titser lang?"

That's the reaction of a friend when I told her that I plan to teach in ther future. It seemed an innocent question at first. When I thought about it, I figured a hint of apprehension, a tinge of remorse about the idea that I want to teach. She must've thought it was absurd, abominable even, that I wanted to be a teacher. I don't blame her though for feeling that way. It is true that teachers today do not enjoy the same esteem as what professionals like engineers or doctors or lawyers enjoy. Titser nga lang eh.

The phrase teacher nga lang is "just a teacher" when transleted to English. It connotes a deprecated image of the teacher, a slave of the educational system who toils to earn but a measly remuneration. True?

Based of the 5% Across the Board Salary Scale Schedule of the Department of Education (DepEd), the Public School Teacher I rank receives a basic salary of PhP 9,939. Teacher II and Teacher III ranks receive PhP 10,535 and PhP 11, 446 resepectively. And despite the regular increase in the prices of commodities, public school teachers have had no salary increase since 2001. An article about the situation of education from ther website www.bulatlat.com cited the result of a DepEd study during the time of ther late secretary Raul Roco which said that a teacher "has about 16 non-statutory deductions, including payments for insurance premiums and loans." Here is the clincher: according to the Department of Labor and Employment, a family of six needs PhP 17, 820 a month of PhP 594 daily to live decently as of February 2004. It is true, then. Teachers work very hard and get paid very little. Titser nga lang eh.

Titser nga lang ba?
In reality, teachers are not just teachers. They are classroom managers. They are chief operating officers of cramped classrooms with some of the most rowdy and academically challenged students. They manage class discipline, maximize the scarce resources, act as counselors to students, and, as if all those tasks are not enough, they take home a mountain of paper works at the end of the day. And to top that, teachers are second parents, they are confidants, they are mentors, they are friends.

The result of a research made by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reveals how overworked Filipino teachers are. The study shows that Filipino teachers work for an average of 1,176 hours a year, attending to several classes of over 50 students each.

According to Antonio Tinio, president of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), the standard number of students per class is 25. But here in the Philippines, the average class size is double and sometimes triple the standard. "The Philippines has the worst pupil-teacher ratio in Asia." Tinio said. Further, he cited an assessment report made by Education for All in 2000, "Japan has the lowest pupil-teacher ratio at less than 20:1, followed by Malaysia and Thailand, at 21:1 and 21.5:1 respectively. The closest to the Philippines is Laos (31:1) and Vietnam (31:1)."

But here's what's puzzling. There are teachers that last 25, 30, or even more years in the profession despite being overworked and underpaid. That's a big deal - an incomprehensible sacrifice of putting all the best years of their lives as educators. Titser lang?

Titser lang ah?
Since the early years of Filipino migration jobs overseas, teachers have been on of the country's most popular exports. An article from the University of the Philippines Forum shows that the number of teachers deployed overseas increased five times from 1992 to 2002. And judging from the enormous demand for teachers especially in the United States, the number could be higher today. The same article reports that 45.2% of migrant teachers were deployed in the US, while 18.2% and 5.9% went to teach in Saudi Arabia and Brunei respectively.

The depressing side of teacher overseas migration is that some teachers choose to work abroad as domestic helpers. www.bulatlat.com reported in 2005 that some teachers work as house maids in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Middle East to escape the toil of teaching in the country. Who can blame them?

Notwithstanding the close to unbearable disposition of teachers in the country and the promise of the greenest pastures abroad, there are those that choose to stay to teach the Filipino students. No corporate bigwig, lawyer, politician, or hotshot professional can make the sacrifices that a teacher does. Titser lang! And there would be no corporate bigwig, lawyer, politician, or hotshot professional if not for the teacher.

It is hard to dig gold. That's what regular professinals do. But it's harder to develop potentials and mold minds and hearts to make men and women from boys and girls. Only teachers can do that. Titser lang!

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Source: Quality Teacher Vol. 10. Number 2. Teacher Lang? by Maycee G. Mercado. Page 6-8.