Aside from being given the opportunity to mold the minds of the youth and be the society's liberator from the chains of ignorance, many Filipino teachers aspire to enter public service due to security of tenure, work benefits and other incentives.
However, focusing mainly on the perks of the job might lead one to frustration once hired by the government. Setting the right expectations is key in having a long and fruitful career as a public school teacher.
Here are 5 things that one can expect when hired as a public school teacher:
1. Delayed salary
Aside from the long wait of being given an Assignment Order (AO), the processing of a newly-hired teacher's paycheck can really take a long while (roughly 3 months or so). As a result, teachers circulate jokes about "London" (loan dito, loan doon) as some are forced to borrow money from financial institutions due to several months without an income.
It might help a bit if one - even prior to public employment - can open a Landbank ATM account and secure the requirements such as TIN, Philhealth and Pagibig numbers so that these information will be available at the onset of employment.
Also given the government's slow bureaucratic process, the ideal scenario would be to allot an emergency fund equivalent to 6 months of your present income to offset this agonizing waiting period.
2. Collections
Many public teachers are sometimes overwhelmed when asked for contributions for various school activities and unexpected solicitations. Many times, teachers have to shell out money from their own pockets to cover for expenses like decorating the classroom, transportation, payment for tickets, occasional meal or pencil for needy students, etc.
Similar to #1, it would help if teachers can find another source of income aside from compensation alone so as not to compromise the budget for one's household.
3. No Nannies
It's pretty normal for newly-hired teachers to ask a lot of questions about their new job but doing this all the time can be annoying to colleagues, especially for old-timers. Just like in college, feel free to form cliques - a kind of support group, or form ties with a trustworthy mentor - but be sure to maintain a sense of personal responsibility to explore, learn and accomplish things for yourself.
4. Paper works
New teachers are typically full of enthusiasm, eager to display their eloquence and to apply the pedagogical strategies they learned from the university. However, teaching is only one facet of an educator's job.
Aside from preparing visual aids and powerpoint presentations, new teachers are also expected to be efficient in accomplishing reports as these documents will also be used as proof of one's performance inside the classroom.
5. Seniority
As with any organization, employees adhere to a certain office culture in which veteran employees can be a little intimidating for newbies. Although the famous adage states - respect is earned, not demanded - it certainly wouldn't hurt if newly-hired teachers try to adjust their egos in order to set a friendly and professional work atmosphere. Besides, more experienced teachers have been tested by time so they surely have acquired wisdom coming from years of being an educator.
As many people would say, teaching is such an extraordinary profession. Thus, aside from the love for learning, teachers also need to be mindful of other challenges that the may face in fulfilling their noble vocation.
Please feel to share your thoughts or add more to this list.
