LETTERS: Those interested in becoming teachers pursue a degree in education or Diploma in Education in a university or teachers' training institute, where they study the academic subjects plus pedagogy, child psychology, school administration and management.
So when teachers are posted to schools, they are expected to use their knowledge, whether in a teaching or non-teaching capacity, in their work.
Yes, teachers' core business is to teach, but they are also educators empowered to nurture future generations.
People have a negative perception of a teacher's job, that it is a half-day job with lots of holidays.
It was reported in the media that there were teachers who claimed to have been so overwhelmed with non-teaching duties that they opted for early retirement.
But if teachers, for instance, get the same salary as employees in the corporate sector, and we compare their workload and responsibilities, I can safely say that the teachers' burden is lighter.
During my 35 years of teaching, I served in four secondary schools. Dissatisfaction is not uncommon for some in the profession.
I read about complaints on workload and that DG48 teachers still share tables ("Non-teaching duties a major concern" - NST, March 31), that the issue of non-teaching duties depended on the school administration and whether the schools were in rural or urban areas.
It's true that some teachers can be very free in terms of workload. Also, schools with a generous Parent Teacher Association would certainly enjoy better school facilities.
However, our education system has undergone transformation and digitalisation whereby many tasks are made easier.
For example, the attendance of students is recorded online instead of in a register.
Attendance analysis is done by the system and teachers do not have to close the register at the end of every month.
Registration of public examinations is also done online.
Therefore, to cite non-teaching duties as a reason to opt for early retirement does not augur well here.
I believe there are other reasons that could have stressed out the teachers.
Since 2020, when Covid-19 hit Malaysia, teachers have been badly affected by PdPR, or home-based learning.
This new teaching method was and is a challenge to us.
I experienced the new normal teaching method where online lessons were done using Google Classrooms and Zoom Meetings.
All these are new as we were never taught or trained in online PdPR.
But I am grateful to have learned many computer skills during the lockdowns. Necessity is definitely the mother of invention.
A heavy workload sometimes creates an imbalance in teachers' non-teaching and teaching duties and, as a result, demoralises them.
Nevertheless, with their training and passion, together with planning and delegation by school administrators, teachers will discover that non-teaching duties complement teaching duties to create the desired human capital in our Malaysian Family.
In this regard, taking into account the developments in the past decades, including the past two years, the dedication and contribution of educators continue to be a national asset.
L. KAREN
Ipoh, Perak
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times