Society
Underpaid, overworked and ignored
By Hu Yongqi in Anhui and Peng Yining in Chongqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-10 07:02
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“Without substitute teachers, China could not have given its citizens nine years of compulsory education. They have worked hard for decades and done what many others would not do. They educate people in remote areas, giving children hope and knowledge. How we treat them weighs on the society.” Hou Xinyi, CPPCC member and vice-dean of Nankai University law school
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“Substitute teachers have devoted their youth, health and even life to teaching children in rural areas. The nation has been paying substitute teachers minimal wages for years. In a way, the government owes these teachers a debt and has a responsibility to pay them back.” Li Junru, CPPCC member and vice-president of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China |
“The key to solving the problem of substitute teachers is for governments at all levels to shoulder the responsibility. We need to have concrete, timely measures. It is the nation’s responsibility to better treat substitute teachers.” Zhao Yuan, CPPCC member and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researcher |
"Those teachers have made great contributions," said Wang Gang, deputy director of the Training School for Teachers in Zhabei district, Shanghai. "Some of them have become very experienced after years of teaching. It's unfair for them to be deprived of their jobs just because they do not hold the proper certificates."
All 80 substitute teachers contacted by China Daily were in their 40s or 50s and had at least 10 years' experience.
Wang said the government should provide a level platform for competition by offering training and qualification tests to those teachers.
Before he was sacked in 2001, Yu Dingguo was a substitute in Qijiang county, Chongqing, for 19 years. He used to have to walk
10 km to start work at 7 am every morning, and said he taught all subjects to classes of between 13 to 38 students.
"Chinese, math, physical education and science - I had to prepare all the courses, except music. I'm good at math but I can't sing," he said, laughing. "We don't have the right certificates but we can teach and we are the only ones willing to teach in these places. Most regular teachers used to be reluctant to work in remote schools because the local government didn't have the money to pay them. So substitute teachers became a backup."
Yu and his colleagues across China have helped thousands of young people in the countryside to realize their dreams of going to university, say analysts.
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Yu Dingguo, above top, was a substitute in Qijiang county, Chongqing, for 19 years before he was sacked. Zhang Zongmin, above, turned to construction work after being laid off . PHOTOS BY PENG YINING/ CHINADAILY |
However, the 51-year-old, whose father was also a teacher, has warned his own son against following in his footsteps. "It brought me nothing but poverty," he said.
Yu attempted to become a full-time teacher in 2007 - when the county held only its second teaching certificate test in 27 years. He failed. "They tested me on science and psychology, other than the knowledge I had been teaching," he said. "The test was for young people. I have more teaching experience but I'm too old to learn. Now the government has more educational resources and more talented teachers, they don't need me."
The county authorities paid Yu just 450 yuan in compensation when they called time on his 19-year teaching career in 2001. He now works as a construction laborer in Chongqing and earns 700 yuan a month, three times the salary he received as a substitute. "My old students can't believe I am a laborer now. I can see pity for me in their eyes," he said.
Zhang Zongmin, 49, one of Yu's roommates in a makeshift dwelling at the top of a 10-story apartment block, is also a former substitute teacher who was sacked after almost two decades of service. He said his 19-year-old daughter has since had to quit school and find work in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, to help the family.
When Xiang Zhixiang was a pupil in junior school, he was ranked third in his class. Despite his intelligence, however, colleges refused to accept him when he applied in 1984 because of his disability, according to his former teacher, Du Zhengming.
With few options open to him, Xiang leapt at the chance to work as a substitute teacher in 1985. According to his students and their families, it is a job he has thrived in ever since.
When villagers in Zhongxin learned he was to be transferred away from their primary school in 1988, they petitioned the township government in a bid to keep him. He was also popular when he taught in Xiaoshui, a village in the mountains 45 km from his home, between 2001 and 2006.
"I'm just glad I took the chance to teach children and help them to fulfill their dreams in the future," said Xiang, who also helps to care for his 78-year-old father. "I'm very grateful for the care people have shown me during my career. Villagers have often brought me gifts of vegetables and meat."
Wang Qianjin, village head of Huanglong, where Xiang currently teaches primary school, said substitute teachers contribute much to their communities and deserve better treatment from the authorities.
Temporary teachers who are still employed will be included in the urban social insurance system and rural cooperative medical care system, according to Lu Yugang, deputy director of the personnel department at the Ministry of Education. The move means they will receive pensions when they retire or are sacked, guaranteeing them an income in later years. However, Lu did not specify when this will happen.
"The government has a responsibility to compensate substitute teachers and ensure they are able to live decent lives," said Qiao Xinsheng, director of the social development research center at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.
He urged the government to not only bridge the huge gap between salaries for qualified teachers and temporary ones, but also give substitutes special awards to thank them for their contributions to education.
Zhu Wenjing, 48, a former substitute teacher in Gansu province who now runs a pig farm, was promised 800 yuan in compensation - her monthly salary of 40 yuan multiplied by 20 years of experience - by the Weiyuan county education bureau when they sacked her in 2003. She has yet to receive a penny despite several attempts to petition the authority. The bureau did not respond to calls by China Daily.
The ex-teacher, whose first husband divorced her in the 1990s because of her low salary, said she understands that local governments do not have unlimited funds "but that does not mean they can default on paying people wages for such a long time".
Weiyuan county once had more than 600 substitute teachers on its books. Today, there are only 80.
Bringing Hope to Teachers, a charity campaign launched in 2005 by Southern Weekly, a leading Chinese newspaper, is aimed at helping struggling teachers to find alternative careers, such as farming.
"I was moved to help by their persistence in cultivating students and also their optimism," said volunteer organizer Zhang Liwu. "They need respect."
Mother-of-three Zhu agreed and said: "Life was hard for me and my family because of the low payment I received as a teacher but I always believed I could conquer my difficulties with my own two hands."
The Red Cross Society of China also provides a platform for volunteers and sponsors to offer guidance to laid-off teachers, said Liu Xuanguo, deputy secretary-general of the society. "It is important that these sacked teachers know what they have done and what they are able to do in the future. They need to know people are concerned about them and want to help to change their lives," he said.
The Bringing Hope campaign last year received more than 5 million yuan in donations, which is being collected by the society and will be used to set up more programs to help teachers improve their skills or develop new ones, said Liu.
As China now has more qualified teachers to send from the city to impoverished rural areas, the need for substitutes is disappearing. However, education experts warn that the transition will not be an easy one, mainly because most college graduates from urban areas will have trouble understanding the "countryside psyche".
"Young teachers just don't understand what children are thinking about," added Zhu. "Also, I don't think a lot of them will be able to bear the boring countryside life. Some of them who have tried left after just two or three years of teaching.
"Who can guarantee that all the certificated teachers will be able to withstand the temptation of working in prosperous cities?"
Qian Yanfeng contributed to the story
