MADINAH, 7 March 2004 — Schoolteachers are increasingly leaving the profession to take up lucrative jobs elsewhere or moonlighting to make extra money, a newspaper reported.
A growing number of teachers are going into the real estate business or becoming long-distance taxi drivers, Al-Madinah Arabic newspaper said recently.
Some blame low salaries while others say few teachers have any real interest in the profession. “The reason is that some teachers are not fit to teach. Teaching was just an easy option for many graduates,” teacher Naif Al-Harbi told the paper. “As soon as students finish high school, they go to teaching colleges which accept anyone who applies, and these colleges supply a surplus of teachers for the country,” he said.
According to Muhammad Al-Johani, “teachers these days are competing with students in terms of sheer numbers. They too often take the job for financial reasons and because of the long annual vacations. New teachers like the work because they do not have to stay at school for a long time.”
Muneer Al-Qahtani said teachers who are in it for the money benefit no one. “For many teachers, the real job begins after they leave school and do something else. Sometimes, that other job is not suitable for teachers. Some of them become taxi drivers, and some go into real estate,” he said.
“In the past, teachers had good reputations, strong personalities and got a lot of respect from students. Students did not dare to walk on the same street as their teachers or to look them in the eye,” he added. “Not any more.”
