PETALING JAYA: While the new pay rise for civil servants may be a boost for national school teachers to rethink early retirement, that is not the only factor for them to consider before ending their careers, say teachers and unions.
Teachers approached by The Star said they plan to leave early due as they are overburdened with clerical work, lethargy and the stress of filling up digital forms.
A teacher from Kedah who wanted to be known only as Adri, said the clerical and administrative work dumped on them is too much to handle.
“Even if the pay increases, the stress of teaching in national schools is not worth the burden that we teachers are made to carry,” said Adri, who has been teaching for 15 years.
“I became a teacher as I loved to teach, despite knowing the pay will never be big. However, I was not prepared for the side jobs of administrative and clerical work that I have to do as a teacher.
“I am leaving as soon as I turn 50, pay increase or not.”
On Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced salary adjustment for the civil service which will also benefit nearly half a million teachers nationwide.
For Johor teacher Amin (not his real name), teaching has become a chore, leaving him no time for his family at all.
“The workload increases from year to year. The more senior you are, the more work you get. If we do not perform, our performance is devalued and we do not get a pay raise.
“I have no me-time or family time. As I teach Form Five classes, I have to work on the Form Five syllabus, continuously preparing for the SPM. It is not only physical classes that I have to teach. There are also the online classes, Google classes and the never-ending digital forms and reports to fill,” said Amin.Pahang primary school teacher Jemilah said things are made worse when teaching in the interiors where Internet connection is poor.
“Does the salary adjustment make up for the stress that we go through when we have to wait for hours to download forms which we must fill so that our teaching performance can be assessed by our superiors?” asked Jemilah, who has been teaching in the rural area of Pahang for more than a decade.
