What is the Teaching Profession Like?
The best way to learn a job is to embody the role it requires. The sound of the drum has always sounded good from afar. Teaching is called the most popular and sought-after profession today. In this series, I will provide information about the unknown or ignored realities of this profession as a teacher.
Is It Difficult?
1- I always saw teachers as people who had 3 months of vacation. This perception has not changed in the public eye. The reality that no one knows or wants to mention is that teachers have had 2 months of vacation. Please don't misunderstand me. 2 months of vacation is also enough for a teacher. However, it is a sad situation for teachers to be perceived as having 3 months of vacation when they have 2 months.
2- I always thought of teachers as among the high-earning professions. After becoming a civil servant and a teacher, I saw that they were the group with the lowest salary in the civil servant hierarchy. I later learned that while a healthcare professional with a 2-year associate's degree in health received a salary of 3 billion (old currency), teachers received 1800 lira and 500 lira for additional lessons. I later learned that a police officer earned 3500 lira, a nurse 2700 lira, a specialized sergeant 2900 lira, and a janitor who came to the school from the municipality staff earned 3300 lira, while a teacher earned 2300 lira including additional lessons.
3- Before becoming a teacher, I constantly read news about teachers receiving extra payments, having their salaries improved, and receiving constant raises. I realized these news were baseless when I became a teacher. Due to media pressure, teachers are today perceived by the public as high earners and insatiable.
4- I thought teachers received raises twice a year. I later learned that the raise they called %3 was actually 45 lira. Even more interestingly, I later learned that in July, they entered a tax bracket and 100 lira was deducted from my salary. The strange thing is that I later learned that the salary raise we received until July was taken back under the tax bracket in July.
5- I thought teachers taught and then had the rest of their time to themselves. I didn't know that they spent a large part of their day filling out paperwork after school.
6- I believed that the teaching profession was noble and sublime. I used to hear all state presidents praising the teaching profession. I later learned that appreciation was rewarded with the lowest salary within the civil servant hierarchy.
7- I thought teachers could work in the East for a certain period and then be appointed to the place where they were born and raised. I saw the real truths when I applied for a family reunion transfer from Şırnak Province to Mardin Province as a classroom teacher. I didn't know that even transitioning from one eastern province to another was so difficult. I learned that it would take me 10 years to request a transfer to Mersin province.
8- I always thought teachers were stingy. They have always been perceived that way in society. It is very natural for a person to resort to saving if their salary is crushed by inflation and the raise they receive is taken back under the guise of a tax bracket. The fact that a school janitor earning 3300 lira evaluates a teacher earning 1800 lira as stingy is a natural cause of the situation.
9- I thought a sick teacher could take leave. I later learned that a 2-day leave meant a deduction of 125 TL from the salary. I later learned why teachers went to school instead of the hospital when they were sick.
10- I thought teachers received their salaries for 2 months without working. I later learned that 600 lira was deducted monthly from the teacher's salary during the period they didn't work. Today, people still do not accept or want to accept that teachers take their vacation with their own money.
11- I thought teachers received an education allowance at the beginning of the term. However, I didn't know that they received this allowance 1-2 months after the school opened and classes began. Wouldn't it be more appropriate for this money, given for educational preparation, to be given before the start of education?
12- I had heard the name İlksan. I thought it was an institution that paid money to teachers upon retirement. I didn't know that we were mandatory members of this institution. I learned that deductions were made from our salaries to this institution every month when I started my job. Knowing that you will receive 25 lira in 30 years for the 20 lira you deposit today will make you disillusioned with this institution. You will want to leave this institution when you consider what you can buy with 20 lira in 30 years.
13- I thought teacher houses provided accommodation services to teachers. I didn't know that these institutions, established by deducting from teachers' salaries, provided accommodation services at a higher price than hotels. Today, while you can stay at a hotel for 20 lira for 1 day, you pay 27 lira for accommodation at a teacher's house. Teacher houses have also started providing services to civilian citizens. While a civilian citizen stays for 30 lira, teachers stay for 27 lira. These types of hotels use the name
