Kassinathdoss Jeeanlall
21 August 2007
Port Louis — Expectations have always been high on the eve of every Pay Research Bureau exercise but, inexorably, utter disappointment has followed every publication of its report. Primary school teachers strongly feel that the Bureau has continuously failed in evaluating and appreciating their job at its real value. The importance of the primary sector in the education system has been overlooked up to now and the status of primary school teachers in our country is deplorable. Those joining the profession nowadays do so more because of a lack of career opportunities on the labour market than any real vocation for the job.
The relativity concept: the relativity concept overriding every salary revision exercise runs counter to the merits of the teaching profession as a whole. Teachers cannot be subject to a system of sacrosanct salary-ratio in which merit is sacrificed in favour of some mathematical concept. Ex-Education minister Kadress Pillay was the first to advocate exemption from relativity for the teaching profession. Should we continue to compare teachers with police officers, nursing officers and the clerical class? Do they upgrade and qualify at the same rate as teachers?
The principle of alignment: primary school teachers have been asking for salary alignment with their secondary counterparts on the basis of qualifications. It is very surprising to note that Diploma holders at secondary level have a starting salary of Rs 10,600 while the same category of primary school teachers start with Rs 8,025. The PRB report 2003 mentions a 'hierarchy' in the salary system to explain such discrimination.
Conditions of service: teachers, being civil servants, cannot be discriminated against when it comes to vacation leave. The PRB 2003 report, however, re-invented the wheel when it cut their yearly leave entitlement by 50%. In fact, the PRB had committed the same blunder in 1993 and corrected the mistake in 1998. Teachers couldn't take the matter to the CSAT in 2003 due to a subsequent amendment brought to the IRA, which precludes civil servants from declaring disputes while accepting favourable terms of the report. Will teachers be able to cope with overcrowded classes, overloaded curriculum, acute competition and the resulting stress up to the age of 65 in such conditions?
Promotion at primary level: there is impending threat that the ministry puts an end to seniority placing for promotion in the primary. It is also rumoured that the PRB report next year will link the reforms regarding promotion with the pay packet and thus dishonestly force teachers to accept them in toto. The authorities should think carefully before taking any hasty decision in that respect. The seniority criterion was established to counteract political intervention in the promotion exercise. If teachers by and large resent competition today, it's no mere coincidence. The recent promotion exercise to the Mentor grade through competition has further consolidated teachers' beliefs. And they'll fight tooth and nail to protect the seniority principle.
Fear and frustration
In the event of competition being introduced for promotion, what is the guarantee that only the really deserving will be promoted? Teachers are so vulnerable, at the mercy of parents political-agents. What will happen to those who aren't selected? Will they continue to teach up to the retirement age of 65? With reduced vacation leave, will they be able to keep the same working spirit? In terms of salary, will they continue to bear frustration and at the same time deliver world-class quality education? These issues have to be addressed at the earliest opportunity.
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