Day of Teacher

DAY OF THE TEACHER

Teacher bashing stops for one day!

By Stephen Wilson

 

           "I did not know there was such a celebration in Russia. That is strange. No... we don't celebrate the Day of the Teacher in France" replied a bemused French history teacher working at Moscow State University to the question "Do you celebrate the Day of the Teacher in France?" The Day of the Teacher might seem odd to some foreigners in Russia, but is not as strange as it seems. Compared to the Day of Bedroom Slippers, the Day of Toilets and Doughnuts which all border on the surreal, 'The Day of the Teacher, held on 5th October, strikes most people as sensible, sane and meaningful. On this day the profound role of teachers is openly acknowledged and teachers are showered with praise and gifts. An English proverb goes: "Every dog has its day". Since teachers often work like dogs they surely deserve their day. Unfortunately, because of the Covid 19 crisis few teachers gathered to mark this occasion. Most teachers are being asked to switch to on-line lessons. As many as 3% of school teachers on September the 1st were not admitted to school after being tested and found with some kind of virus.

 

Despite countless letters, petitions and protest to improve the conditions of Russian school teachers, their predicament of doing long hours, doing more paperwork, poor pay and humiliating conditions knows no respite. According to the O E C D T.A.L.I.S. {The Teaching and Learning International Study,} school teachers only spend 24% of their time teaching children in the classroom. The rest of the time is spent on doing paperwork, writing reports, meeting parents, meeting managers and doing courses to upgrade their qualifications. If you speak to teachers at Moscow Pedagogical Institute they lament that only 20% of their time is spent in the classroom while the rest is spent outside it.

 

Low pay plagues the profession of a school teacher. The Russian trade Union 'Teacher' estimates that in as many as 60 regions of Russia teachers are paid below the minimum wage which means they are paid less than 11,500 rubles a month. While a teacher in Altai can earn just 3,145 rubles a month, a teacher in the Moscow region can earn 18,480 rubles. In Moscow a school teacher can earn about 100,000 rubles or more.{if you accept government figures }.The yawning gap is bewildering! 

The method of paying teachers varies from one region to another. It is chaotic, confusing and inconsistent as well as lacking any sense of merit or justice. In regard to incentive pay, there are an estimated 30 kinds of awarding points to teachers. It is so complex that many school teachers don' t know exactly whether they are entitled to be paid for this or that task. Should they be paid for writing an article on class management or not? Should they be paid for the time devoted to putting on a school play?

The number of students per teacher in the classroom has risen. Whereas in 2013, the ratio of students to one teacher was 15.7, in 2019 it rose to 18.4 per teacher.

 

There continues to be shortages of teachers throughout the schools. There are particular shortages of teachers in Math, Physics, Russian and Foreign languages. But perhaps the greatest shortage of teachers is in special needs. Many school teachers are leaving the profession not only because of the pay, but because they are fed up of being humiliated by administrators. Why remain in a thankless job if you earn only 12,000 rubles a month when you can earn say, 72,000 rubles a month or more as a tutor? Not only do you boost your pay by five times, but cut the stress down ten times! I have recently spoken to three teachers who told me that they are considering giving up their work as school teachers and becoming tutors.

 

However, it is not all bad news. Second City Teachers often reports on the woes of being a school teacher. Yet there are Russian teachers who love their jobs and can cope remarkably well with the stress. They are devoted and dedicated to their profession. They can infect their students because they love not only the subject they teach but their students. And the most important thing is that a teacher loves or at least strives to love their students. I have met many Russian teachers who tell me they adore teaching. Some have been teaching for over thirty years. We can learn a lot from such experienced teachers. A sharply perceptive teacher Tatiana Koreleva stated, "What do the old teachers speak about when they gather together? They talk about literature, discoveries,exhibitions, concerts, scientific achievements. But they don't speak about money and clothes and profitable inventions. Perhaps they don't talk about money because they don't have much. Nevertheless, the whole world belongs to them...They are always looking out and taking care of each other!"  

It is difficult to disagree. Although teachers don't have property, prestige and power, they can be endowed with a fiery spirit of inner freedom. And that is why in a sense, the best things in the world such as  beauty and wonders belong to them.