The old belief about teaching and practising medicine being two of the most noble professions in the world has not lost its appeal, even as the financial plight of teachers the world over is becoming a growing cause for concern. For decades now, the inequality in pay scales for teachers, depending on the school, curriculum, country and employer, has been the defining factor in the education domain.
The lacunae must be addressed and the disparity in salaries between different schools be adjudged for their tenability. Even though it is true that there is no regulated minimum salary scale in the UAE for teachers, the fact that some earn as little as Dh3,000 is a matter of grave concern. How can we, on the one hand, place the teaching profession on a pedestal, celebrate its transformative powers in a child’s life and on the other, pay teachers such paltry sums in recognition of their efforts?
A school’s most important asset are its teachers and they must be paid well and trained to excel if they are to be perpetual motivators for tomorrow’s leaders. The sooner schools address this issue, the faster will the gap close between aspiration and outcome.
