Wrong to say teachers ‘makan gaji buta’ during MCO

 

Most teachers say their main challenge is to ensure the presence of students during the online classes.

KUALA LUMPUR: Allegations by some netizens on social media about teachers “makan gaji buta”, which translates to “getting salary for not doing anything”, following the closure of schools during the movement control order (MCO) and the conditional movement control order (CMCO) is hard to take.

Aside from being accused of getting paid for not doing anything, there are also suggestions by netizens for the government to involve teachers as frontline workers, including to man roadblocks.

This accusation not only disputes the professionalism of the teachers, but also hurts their feelings.

This is because teachers are facing new challenges in having to carry out their responsibility of educating through home teaching and learning (PdPDR) sessions.

A survey involving 1,742 teachers from government and private primary and secondary schools proved the allegations of “makan gaji buta” made against teachers is inaccurate.

The poll by the Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) last month showed 85% of teachers stated that they spent one to four hours daily to carry out PdPDR activities, with the remaining 15% saying they spent more than four hours a day doing so.

On the teaching methods used, 37% of them conducted the lessons online, 16% offline, 45% online and offline, while the rest said they went to community centres to distribute and collect notes, exercises and assignments given to students.

UKM’s Azlin Norhaini Mansor, who headed the survey, said the findings showed that the majority of the teachers performed their actual tasks during the MCO and CMCO according to the timetable given to them.

“There may be questions as to why the majority of the teachers conduct the lessons less than four hours a day. Based on the explanation given by the teachers, their actual task is not only teaching, as there are other tasks that they have to do that is related to administrative work.

“These include checking up on students and their assignments, providing teaching aids, recording the attendance data and other tasks as instructed by their respective school principal or headmaster, as well as the district education office,” she told Bernama here.

In the survey, she said the teachers also shared the challenges and constraints of conducting PdPDR or home-based learning (HBL).

She said 80% of them stated that their main challenge was to ensure the presence of students during the class, followed by the challenges in the students adapting to the teaching methods, their needs and readiness, apart from ensuring that students can focus so that they understand and enjoy the lesson.

“Besides that, some 70-80% of the teachers spoke of the problem of internet stability, the usability of teaching devices such as computers, telephones, tablets, student learning space and parental support.

“Other challenges that threaten the credibility of teachers, include Astro, Netflix, video games, that can be accessed at any time for free and are more exciting for school children, especially teenagers,” she said, adding that a complete report on the survey is expected to be ready next month.

Azlin said in terms of education, it is not appropriate to blame the teachers only as there are many things that need to be taken into account, including mental and physical health of the students having been “confined” to their homes due to the MCO and the CMCO, uncomfortable space and residence, family conflicts and other problems that could disrupt the students’ learning.

Meanwhile, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) vice-chancellor Mohammad Shatar Sabran said the negative sentiments and accusations by netizens against teachers is mainly because they do not understand the duties and responsibilities of teachers.

He said it is wrong to think that teachers are paid a salary based on their presence in classrooms, because there are many challenges and burdens shouldered by teachers, especially during the MCO and CMCO, in ensuring students continue their learning at home.

These include preparing teaching notes, documents and so on, before teachers can start with their online or offline teaching and learning process, he said.

“Can we say firefighters are getting their salary for not doing anything because they are not putting out fires, or likewise for the police because they do not catch thieves or criminals.

“So, even though schools are closed, there still are classes or lectures, and it does not mean that teachers only eat, and sleep. They still work as usual, especially to prepare notes, which they share with their students,” he added. - FMT