On days when I am on duty, I leave my house at the ungodly hour of 5.40 a.m. It is still pitch dark at that time, and I suppose most people would be still snuggling in the warmth of their blankets and bedclothes. It takes 10 minutes for me to travel to school.
Why so early, you may ask. Well, because it's school policy that the teacher-on-duty stands guard at the gate before 6.00 a.m. when the students start arriving. We need to assure parents that there are teachers present at the gate to see their children enter the school compound safely, lest they wander off the the tuckshops nearby.
In training college, nobody told us we had to double as security guards too.
Roll call begins at 6.40 a.m. That's when students' attendance is taken. Disciplinary problms are ironed out too at this time. Spot checks are carried out on certain days for prohibited items. Announcement of school activities are made, and wisdom words from the school authorities are conveyed during the roll call.
Classes begin at 7.00 a.m. right up to 2.05 p.m. on most days. Each lesson is 40 minutes long. There is a 25-minute break from 9.45 a.m. to 10.05 a.m.
On Wednesdays, the school carries out CCA - Co-curricular Activities. It begins at 2.30 p.m., and ends at 5.00 p.m. On the other days, other activities are carried out, such as sports practices, meetings, extra classes, staff development activities and so on.
I leave school at 5.00 p.m., and it takes 30 - 40 minutes to reach home due to the heavy traffic.
When I reach home, I'm beat.
April has been a crazy month. And heck, it's only been 2 days into the month!! I have to organise a seminar on Saturday (yes!!! I also work on Saturdays!!!), I have to prepare for a study visit by teachers from abroad, I have to plan activities for our annual Academic month, I have to oversee the preparation for the inter-school public speaking competition, I have to manage an English Language Learning Programme for Mathematics and Science teachers who are yet to be proficient, I have to get ready the activities for English Camp ... the list is endless ... and for each of the activity I had just mentioned, paper work entails .....
That aside, I cannot put aside my core business of teaching. I need to get ready my lessons every day, I need to mark essay exercises which I have given out, I need to set exam papers for the coming semester examination ....
I haven't even begun talking about the sorts of characters that I have to put up with in school. Not every student is an angel. There's the smart aleck, the punk, the liar, the wanderer, the prankster (fortunately I escaped April Fool's unscathed) .... another endless list ...
That's why I get extremely annoyed when people quip that teaching is an easy peasy job, that it's only a half-day job and it comes with plenty of school holidays. Has this person been living in the 50's all this while? Perhaps teaching WAS a half-day job then. Whatever it is, it is no longer so and it's about time he wakes up that realise that we teachers are doing an honest pay's work!!
I had had that kind of life 5 years ago. I woke up at 4.45am and I had to start my journey before 5.30am. I reached school around 6.25am because all teachers must clock-in before 6.35am and be at the garden before 6.45am. School ended rather early, before 1pm. Then, extra classes 2.30pm till 4.30pm. Ko-k 4.30pm till 5.30pm. I will only reached home before 7pm. Teachers must be well rounded. From teaching to care taking, from gardening to cooking, from maintaining school's properties to planning and building. I had done all those works. Doing SPM registering during the non-peak hours that is 2am. Doing security job at 12am. Fire drill at 1am. Going into the forest, hunting for bamboo and opened a trail for station games. It is fun but tiring. After 5 years leaving that school, I don't think I can go back to that kind of life any more. And yes... teaching is definitely not a half-day job.
ReplyDeleteThank you for understanding. I wish more people would.
ReplyDelete